[__turbobrew__]

I find that being sedentary can get you stuck in a weird local maxima where your body hurts, but it hurts even more when exercising (back hurts, RSIs, etc) and so people don’t exercise and they protect their body like it is glass. If however, you can do some moderate exercise (swimming worked well for me) you can gradually build up your strength again and all of a sudden your back isn’t killing you anymore and you are able to strain you body much more without being in pain.

I personally went through this journey where I was sedentary for about 10 years and in my late 20s I could not run, I could not walk long distances, by back was killing me, I had wrist issues. Seeing a physical therapist who could help rebuild my body while starting with light exercise and gradually building up worked for me. I spent 2 months just strengthening my ankles and feet before I could run because they were so atrophied.

Eventually I got past that local maxima and now I can run 25 km with 2km elevation gain up a mountain and back which would have killed me before.

Lastly I will say that exercise should be gradually eased into, a lot of people are put off by exercise because they start too hard and make themself miserable. For cardio you should try to keep your heart rate within a lower range (zone 2 cardio at around 70% of max heartrate). For most people this means your cardio starts with walking up a hill, and you won’t get to actually running until later.

[MrDresden]

I work from home, and around two months ago it dawned on me how little movement there was each day. So I got myself a under desk walking pad. And now I'm doing around 5-8 km each day. It feels great!

And for muscle training, nothing beats a few kettle bells and a rubber mattress in the corner.

[em-bee]

i go for actual walks 1-2 hours each day. it's my time to listen to audio books, and when i am immersed in the story i don't even notice how long i am walking.

[e40]

Can you please say which device you bought?

[kayge]

Not the OP, but I've been using this one for about a year and it has been a great addition to my WFH setup: https://amzn.to/3ZXD88h

For something smaller or cheaper (or if you just prefer cycling movements) they also have some 'peddler' options as well, but I don't have any personal experience with those. Enjoy!

[MrDresden]

I decided on the Kingsmith Walkingpad A1 Pro.

I chose that one because it folds together when stored, goes to a decent speed (at the max I can have a brisk walk), my stride fits in it (I'm 194cm tall) and it can carry my weight (~90kg).

[tessierashpool9]

> but it hurts even more when exercising (back hurts, RSIs, etc)

I think that's where I am at right now. I have always been exercising to some extent. But it feels like the older I get the less one kind of exercise focusing on some set of physical and physiological aspects transfers to another set. Meaning, to go biking a lot, doesn't mean you can run.

> strengthening my ankles and feet before I could run because they were so atrophied.

Even after years of semi-regular weighted calf raises and yoga I just recently noticed that I could barely do a few hundred rope skips cause of my feet. 15 years ago I remember cardiovascular obstacles and the usual DOMS but I don't remember that my feet hurt.

---

Currently my lower back / sciatica is giving me serious issues. I think I got it from some overexertion due to prolonged pelvic motion ... so that's yet another physical department to keep in mind.

[__turbobrew__]

I personally found that doing single foot tree poses in yoga can really get in there to strengthen your feet and ankles. If you really want to isolate the ankles band exercises are pretty useful. For foot stuff the majority of things I worked on was dexterity and proprioception. For example, spread all your toes apart, pull all your toes together, lift only your big toe, lift all your non big toes. For me I was missing the mind body connection to move me feet how I wanted to move them and regaining that took me time.

Another thing to consider is that sciatica can manifest in your feet depending on how the nerve is being pinched. It can be very confusing when your feet hurt but the source of hurt is not actually in your feet.

I hope for the best on your journey.

[sorum]

> but it hurts even more when exercising (back hurts, RSIs, etc)and so people don’t exercise and they protect their body like it is glass.

100% this. Whenever I've had longer breaks from strength training, clocking in the kind of hours I do in a desk chair eventually gets me to back pain, Aeron chair be damned.

The only thing that works for me then is to hit the weights; squats and deadlifts to be specific. Obviously not doing 1 rep max, relatively high rep range (8-12).

- Week 1: muscle soreness is horrible.

- Week 2: muscle soreness is quite OK and the regular back pain is all but gone.

- Week 3 onwards: gravy.

[pjc50]

> hurts even more when exercising

This is really under-rated. People will happily keep pushing exercise as a health intervention (hidden implication: instead of other interventions?), and forget that quite a lot of people have health conditions that get in the way of their ability to exercise. Especially older people. Who have poor health outcomes.

[ijidak]

This is good feedback.

I'm sort of in that local maxima now.

A good reminder that getting past the hump, it gets better.