Walking

My body aches when I walk more than a minute or two. Do I keep pushing you think, or is that a sign to stop. It is mostly lower back pain. Last night I walked a mile with my daughter, at a very slow pace, and by the time I got home, my back was so sore, and pain was radiating into my leg. I want to start working on this before surgery, and getting in a better place.

How did you ease into exercise, if you had to?

I think the best thing would be to talk to your doctor and maybe see a physical therapist for an evaluation.  I think the answer to your question depends on why walking more than a minute or two causes pain.  Do you have some sort of back injury that needs treated?  Is it the way you're walking?  Would something as simple as better shoes help?  Will pushing yourself even though it hurts cause injury (in which case you shouldn't do it)?  Are there other forms of exercise that would be easier or safer, like maybe water aerobics or swimming?

If you don't want to talk to your doctor and see a physical therapist, I guess I would start walking for just a couple minutes and do that each day and gradually try to increase it.  But the safest thing seems to be getting some medical advice.

Excellent advice Kelly and well stated.

The pain radiating into your leg sounds like me when I had sciatica.  I agree with Kelly about seeing a physical therapist pre-surgery.  They should be able to evaluate you in terms of how you currently move and give you instruction on how to mitigate or prevent injury as you begin to move more.

Jen

Thanks for the tips. I just thought it was because I was overweight. I might go see the a chiropractor for an eval. Today I walked the mall, and was sooo exhausted/sore when done. I am trying to be more active, but it really is hard.