Need help finding fitness routine-Plantar Faciitis and uncooperative knees

[MarieRMc]

Hi all!

I need some help.  I'm a smidge frustrated at the moment and I thought I would see if anyone out there had any suggestions.

I have terrible plantar faciitis which can be pretty painful at times when working out.  Additionally, I guess I reached a weight where working out in basically any capacity makes my knees and lower back KILL.  (220, 5 foot 2; age-26)

The first workout I did on December 18th was Hip Hop Abs for an hour and that night my knees hurt so bad and were so swollen that I had to ice them.  

Since then I've done it successfully again for 30 minutes (a week ago-with next to no pain afterward)  and 60 minutes (2 days ago).  Well I tried to do it today even though yesterday I had some upper thigh pain...I had to stop after 20 minutes do to severe lower back pain/thigh cramping.  I told myself I was going to do an hour though, so I popped in a beginners yoga dvd that I've done a ton before.  Well as soon as I tried the triangle pose for the second time, my knees started popping LOUDLY and hurt.  I said...screw it...and turned it all off and went upstairs.  The whole time I was going up the stairs sounded like I was walking on rice crispie treats.

I bought the PiYo dvd set on ebay and it should be here within the next couple days, so I'm hoping that that will be low enough impact.

I just need some advice on excercises or dvd's that might be better for me.  I can't swim (I'm too afraid of drowing....since I'm so short).  I will have access to a gym with excercise classes in the new year as well.  I know that doing cycling will be good, but I can't start that for another week.  

Any advice would be great!  

Oh and my gym offers personal training sessions...worth it?  

[HelenaFitbit]

I had a ruptured fasciia a couple months ago, so I feel your pain. (literally!)

How about pilates? Check if your gym has those available. Or some Fitstar routines? They do not require equipment and there are different levels of intensity. 

[MarieRMc]

Yeah the plantar fasciitis is awful!  It tends to cramp up if I go too hard which is really annoying.  Sorry you have to deal with it too!!

I know our gym does have pilates, but it's at an extra cost that I don't think i can afford at the moment.  They do have a combo pilates/yoga free class that doesn't use the machines that I think I'm going to try.

I had never heard of Fitstar before, so I'm checking them out right now thanks!  

[WendyB]

You can alos check youtube for Pilates Videos. They have a lot of just about any exercise.

Welcome to the forums!

[vin1949]

I had plantar Fasciitis for many years and eventually went to a podiastrist and he took plaster of Paris moulds of my feet, sent them to Canada and they sent me a pair of orthoptics specifically for me. Within 3 months the probem pain disappeared and has never returned. I still wear the orthoptics every day

[MarieRMc]

I actually went to a podiatrist for about two years to try to get relief.  I have custom orthotics which help quite a bit.  Without them I would be limping by the end of the day and unable to get up on my own in the morning and at night.  I still limp in the morning and at night, but it helps during the day unless I walk too much.  They did injections a few times, but they stopped being helpful.  I try to do the boot at night, but it's really painful to keep on, so I've basically given up on that.  I did physical therapy twice a week for 8 weeks (which was pretty expensive!) with no relief.  

I was told my real problem is my tight calves...they just will not stretch out even with the physical therapy and daily stretches.  I was recommended surgery to cut my calf muscle and relieve the tension there...but I just don't have the time/money to do it.  I'm hoping that by losing the weight, and practicing yoga, I'll be able to relieve some of the calf tension.  I think that's why my knees hurt so bad too.  Darn calves.

[emili]

good for you that even through all that you are determined and moving- huge kudos. I am always a huge advocate for working with a trainer, however, please make sure they are a certified trainer. And please sit down with them before you sign or pay to figure out if they can modify training specific to your needs. You will need to weed through the sales pitch and general BS, but its so important that you are both on the same page around your goals, limitations and pain points. Good luck and please update us!

[MarieRMc]

Thanks!  The ones that are at the gym I'm starting at in the new year are all certified and some of them actually are sports medicine physical therapists as well, so I would probably choose one of them.  They have a special where its about 120 for 8-45 minute sessions for the new year resolutioners.  That's a pretty good deal right?  I keep waffling on whether or not I want to spend the money on it.  

One another note, I just did the first video for piyo (it just shows you how to align all the moves you are going to do in the rest of the videos and goes over terminology) and I'm not too sure it's going to be great on the knees.  There was a lot of warrior pose and triangle pose (which killed my knee in Yoga a couple days ago)..but I'm going to stick with it for a bit and see what the rest of the videos are like.  

[emili]

that is a good price- I paid more. I would do it. Here is why: they will show you how to maximize gym time, how to avoid injury, the proper posture to avoid strains, etc, etc. Here is what you need to do: remember they work for you. set expectations clearly about what you need. Let them know that you don't just want to blindly follow what they say, you need to learn why, how and when - why you are doing it, how to optimize it and when to increase either the weight or the reps depending on the goals you agree to. Have them write stuff down for you. 8 sessions will fly by- you want to keep exercising and benefiting from it after the 8. Do it. You wouldn't think twice about spending that money on dinner, a movie and an outfit to wear to dinner. This is more important. Best, E

[MarieRMc]

Thanks I think I will 🙂  Have a great new year!

[CraftieKewpie]

I wanted to jump into the discussion, because I'm right there with you.  Terrible PF in both feet and trying to figure out a fitness routine that I'll stick to and not injure my feet.   

[Heybales]

Tight calves for plantar issues?

That's strange idea if you follow the insertion of the 2 calf muscles and the plantar.

They all attach to the bottom of the heel bone.

The soleus or gastroc don't wrap around the heel and attach to the front of the foot, and aren't part of the plantar.

So they have no bearing on the plantar itself. Some Dr's don't explain this very well.

Perhaps it was meant that tight calves made you walk funny and negatively impact the plantar.

It can heal - but it takes a long time because of lack of blood flow to that area compared to others - and the fact we are using the plantar merely for daily life.

Hence the need for orthotics.

And no extra use with exercise. The less you do - the faster you can heal.

Took me a year with orthotics in all my shoes to heal - after 8 years with it effecting me.

Biking was it with stiff soled bike shoes - same type of platform you get with a plantar sprain (which I got later after recovery and overdoing it again, but healed in 6 wks doing it right).

And weight lifting that didn't use plantar - so heel press stuff.

For better body transformation - the strength training will be better anyway.

As long as you eat less than you burn in total by reasonable amount - you can lose fat - the strength training will help prevent muscle loss if you keep it reasonable.

And you can do all the machines probably except the calf raises.

And if you do circuit training on the machines (2-4 rounds of 15-20 reps heavy as you can get, max 1 min rest), you'll still burn alot and get to eat more.

If non-HR based Fitbit, you'll need to manually log that as Circuit training - step based will be way off.

And yes, weight loss will help the daily abuse of the plantar from just walking and allow faster healing. Yoga can help the calves which can tighten up the whole area and may cause you to walk bad for the plantar.

[BohemianFit]

I, too, have plantar fasciitis and the only thing I've found to work is running. Now, let me be clear, I am NOT what you would call a runner. I don't have the t-shirts, I don't post the motivational junk on Facebook about "running is my serenity" bla bla bla, and according to my mother, I look like Hop Sing from bonanza when I run (just YouTube it if you're curious). But, there are no mirrors in front of the treadmill so I'm blissfully ignorant if she's right. I run for 2 min (6 mi/hour), walk for 1.5 (4 mi/hour) for 20-30 minutes. The early morning pain has been cut in half and the end-of-day aching is gone. I also buy new running shoes every 9 months at the most. I have severe bunions and hammer toe as well and after switching to Brooks brand, my feet have never felt better. Hope this helps!

[MarieRMc]

Tight calves for plantar issues is usally the main culprit actually.  That's why most of the streches to relieve it are in fact calf stretches and night splints to keep your foot at 90 degrees.

The idea of the gastrocnemius causing plantar issues is that tension in the calf will cause your foot to want to point rather than at the 90 degree angle that it should be at.  When your foot is in that pointed position, your plantar fascia isn't stretched fully.  So, when you walk and create that 90 degree angle, you cause tension in both the plantar fascia and the calf.  That's why it hurts so much in the morning, and why the night splints help so much for some people (I just can't tolerate them).   

In fact, it's been shown that gastroc surgery where they release the tension in the calf is a much more effective surgery (and has decreased recovery time), than if someone has the plantar fascia cut to relieve the tension.  

At this point, it's a chronic condition for me (over 4 years), and I've been using the orthotics religiously for two years now without full relief of symptoms.  I don't know if it will heal fully since I have had it for so long and the research now points to the plantar fasciitis being more of a fasciosis where the tissue isn't really inflamed...it's dying.  I am hopeful though that the weight loss will help and the yoga will get me stretched out without the surgery.    

I'm going to do the personal trainer route and get their opinion on which equiptment works for me like you said.  I know they have a circuit, but I haven't done one of those since I did Curves for a bit in the early 2000s with my mom lol.  

[MarieRMc]

Goodluck Kewpie!  I hope we can both find some relief!  What have you tried so far?  I know that orthotics did wonders for me 🙂

[MarieRMc]

Kudos BohemianFit!  I'm glad you've been able to get it better!

I wish I could run but it's incredibly painful.  😞  I would lose the ability to walk by the end of the day if I did.  The way I explain it to people is this:  I have about 7-8,000 steps in me a day that I can do with only slight to moderate pain.  Anything more than that and I'm in pretty severe pain.  I've only gotten to 10,000 steps once so far and I needed help up to get back to bed.  Maybe at some point I can try running, but at this point it would just probably derail me 😞

Edit:  I wanted to say too that I do have Brooks brand shoes for working out in and they are glorious!  Would recommend to anyone with foot problems!

[Heybales]

I stand corrected on outdated info. I'm glad mine was just because of plain old injury from foolishness of not enough training for the race pace done, and didn't involve all of those attempts for recovery. So glad I didn't go for plantar cut, just sounded foolish.

I had no issues with calves at that time being tight, and my Dr was very careful in explaining what I would need to do to recover - but mainly didn't do.

Night splint was indeed used then to keep forefoot at stretch, same as later on plantar sprain and achilles issue. Achilles has that same fear of chonic injury and finally dying to much and ripping.

I'm wondering if the same eccentric heel drops that have shown success on achilles tendon would have similar type of movement for plantar to effect repair, along with heated ankles to increase potential blood flow to area.

Range of movement so small, hard to imagine any movement being useful or getting eccentric out of it.

For broken ankle, I was able to hobble between those circuit machines pretty easy, and only the leg sled, calf press, and glute machine required use of forefoot. Thank goodness for leg curls/extensions.

[MarieRMc]

Yeah the plantar cut is baaaaaad news from what I've read.  This is one of the articles I read when my Dr's started talking surgery:  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3764291/

I'm not sure if it's available to everyone(since I have access through my school), but I can send anyone a pdf of it if they want one.  It's just a comparison of the gastroc release and the plantar fascia cut.  Cool stuff.  It should really only be a last resort option though.  

Heel drops were one of the things that my physical therapist had me do to try to relieve the plantar pain btw 🙂  He also did ultrasound to try to break up the scar tissue, of which I have A TON. So yeah a lot of the same concepts.

I'm looking forward to trying out the circuits 🙂

[Onmiwei]

I know you state you don't like swimming but have you tried water aerobic or have acccess to it. The gym I go to the pool doesn't get more than 5 feet..water aerobics is done in the lower end. We use water weights as well. I have had foot issues, am over 40 and overweight..also arthitis, herniated discs in back and neck as well and nerve damage from a car accident. It helps the pain and I feel great afterwards! Sometimes our joints don't like high impact aerobics when we are over a certain weight or age. Best of luck to you because I know how hard the extra weight and pain can derail an excerise plan.

[MarieRMc]

Unfortunately my gym doesn't have one 😞  

My university has one for athletes that is open to the public at certain times, but they don't offer aerobics classes or anything.