I keept wanting to exercise, then I do, maybe some weights or a little jogging here and their when I walk. But, a few days later, my lower back and hips are out and I'm at the chiropractors. I wear really good shoes with arch sapports (I have flat feet), I try to go slowly but I still end up at the chiropractors office and have to go regularly till things settle, and that includes no weights or jogging.

Today I resumed weights, for my lower body(legs and butt), I felt more core working all the way around too (good). I'm wanting to pick back up on jogging on and off durring my walks, but am concerned. I am wondering if I should stick with the weights a while till I get stronger, then, maybe my body can handle jogging?

I didn't know if heat on my more injury prone areas after workout would help too.

Any ideas?

Oh, my stats, I'm 5'10" and appx 172lbs, only 25lbs from goal.

Jogging is said to put 3x the stress on joints that walking does. Depending on your biomechanics you can cause all kinds of damage to your body jogging. I would say your body is trying to tell you it's not for you (it's not for me either).

I think you are on the right track working to build muscle with weights - yoga or pilates are also great ways to build muscle, with the added benefit of increasing flexibility without damaging joints. Just today I met with a personal trainer at a gym who said, "Don't spend too much time on cardio, it just makes you lose muscle. " Who wants that?

You could always skip the jogging and weights and just do some walking and pushups.

You know, I thought of that. I'm going to walk 2 miles today, and lift for my upper body today but I'm thinking of going with HIIT if I do any cardio. I don't need to loose what little muscle that I have. I do want some endurance though, so I will walk off and on, enough to keep the endurance up. I can walk 4 miles in 55min, I don't know how neccisary that it, but I don't really want to loose it.

The bad part is, when I walk, it tends to lock up my lower back, afterwards, I'm on the heating pad trying to keep the muscles relaxed so I'm not running to the chiropractor, its not as bad as jogging though.

I have high hopes with a stronger body, I will be able to walk, and possibly jog someday. If my back is stronger, then maybe it wouldn't lock up on me?

I do have a pillates tape and I like it, but I don't feel sore later. I don't think it works me hard enough, no wonder I like it.

Hmmm, it sounds to me if your back locks up after walking 4 miles in 55 min that you are either walking too fast, or you have imperfect biomechanics (and, really, who doesn't?). Have you tried slowing down? I've had to do that as I age, particularly after I resume exercise after a break. I find if I start out slow (3-3.3 mph), I can quickly build up my muscles and stamina. Still, though, while I was easily walking 4.2 mph in my 30s and early 40s, I'm now walking closer to 3.5-3.7 mph in my late 50s. I am a big believer in consistent non-damaging exercise to keep the joints lubricated; any time I get injured, I see it as a signal to back off a bit.

As far as pilates, it's a different kind of sore - you should be accessing muscles deep in your body that never get a work out. So, there will be some soreness, but never for more than a day, and not the same kind that comes with weight training. In the class I took 2-3x weekly for 7 years, we used to joke that we never felt sore after class, never felt like we were doing much until we went on vacation and came back - THEN we would realize how hard we'd been working. I'm a huge advocate, btw, of taking a class or working with a trainer to learn the basics of a new activity.

If you have access to a swimming pool, you might want to try some water workouts. By being in the water, a lot of the pressure is taken off the joints, and you can get a safe and effective workout. Local YMCA' s etc often have classes.

This makes me wonder about body mechanics too. Have you heard of Chi Walking? It's a practical method to line up your body for walking that can help. It sounds woo woo but when you get down to it, it's easy things we've heard before, like walk soft-footed, tilt your pelvis and engage the core, relax the arms. All done in do-able baby steps. This stuff is the real deal. I have a friend who's an instructor and it's very good education on body alignment.

http://www.chiwalking.com/learn-it/find-an-instructor/

I'd love to take a class, but I live out in the middle of no where. 30min from the nearest town with a gym and classes. I don't drive into town but once a week, can't see the gas going out for a work out class.

Obviousely my biometrics isn't quite right I was really hoping by strengthening things up, slowly, that the muscles would hold things in place better. My chiropractor told me that the reason my back gets tight is because the muscle is not fit. I use the muscles, it tightends up from the use, and pulls the bones around and then, because everything is screwed up, it can't go back into place, and the muscles stay tight. Something like that.

I don't usually know my shoes are wearing out till my back gives me troubles and my chiro can't keep me in, daily trips is not good. Get new shoes, and within a few weeks, visits to chiro, and stopping the offensive exercise and i'm in much better shape (less pain). Stopping exercise is not the answer though, I'm 35, I don't want to be crippled when I get older.

I used to be fit, as a teenage, I was a few lbs heavy but nothing to shake a finger at. I rode horses for fun, bareback and saddled, went everywhere. I barrol raced, had to work the horse daily, lots of long trotting to keep his muscles up. Showed my stud horse in halter class, to get a big butt on him , I made him back, a long ways down the road, plus, made him walk up hills and sometimes back up them. He wasn't broke then, I had to do it all on foot with him. Boy am I glad he's broke now! We baled hay, cut wood, was always dragging feed bags, hay bales, wood, and I can't remember all the stuff we did on the farm. (girls weren't sapposed to do those things) I was always into trouble for doing things that the "boys were to do." I can clean house, do dishes and hang laundry on the line in 30 degree weather with the best of them.

My house wife, life, has gotten the best of me. My mother has been a house wife most of her life. She took jobs off and on, to help with the bills but my father wanted her at home. When I was in high school her vertibrea blew out, she had to have surgury. I've tried for years to get her to work out, but she says it will hurt her. I even got her an expensive sit up lounge chair to take the pressure off her back, its a towl rack now. I see her in pain, I remember her surgury, and I do wonder how a person gets her back problems in the first place. Lack of strength? I don't want to get into that position like she's in. Its funny, she says she can't lift the grandkids, but she raises Mini Ausies, and she lifts them around all the time

http://www.dailyspark.com/blog.asp?...or_healthy_hips

I don't know if it applies to you, but my back problems seemed to disappear when I stretched my hips...

I agree with Lily's idea of hip joints. Besides the stretches she shows, I've found a piriformis stretch helps me immeasurably if/when I have back or hip pain. Here's a video that really helped me - he shows the right way to do it as well as the wrong ways, so that you know what you're trying to accomplish.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qZ517Rw7ME

I hear you on the exercise, it's essential to keep yourself moving. However, I've slowly come to the conclusion (the hard way) that it is better to modify your activity in order to keep doing it, and keep improving, than to cycle between overdoing it and not being able to do anything at all.

Do you have Skype? some trainers nowadays are set up just for people like you. They make it easy to consult with them.

If you really want to have a healthy time in the years ahead, how do you see yourself getting educated on exercise for your body? I think you gets to pay your money and take your choice. If you don't want to drive to town. I don't think I would either, if I was in the country like that. I do like it outta town

There are strength training home systems for realigning body mechanics. The T-Tapp exercise system is one. It strengthens and aligns all those sorts of things you mentioned. And you could do it at home. but you would have to wanna - it's hard to learn these new things without the company of a trainer or class or other people, some way or other.

If you would rather just keep trying what you know and have done in the past, and then go to the chiro for a fix, that is another route. It might still get you there. Just slower, and why wait, when with a little education it might get you there much faster? I know people that make a little vacation weekend out of seminars for things like that.

to me it's a way good way to invest in health. Learning about the movement side as well as the food side, I mean. When I think of how I learned about movement - seriously, high school gym class, and then whatever is on TV? not very substantial!

Ya, I don't think I've learned any more about body movement than the next person.

I looked at T-Tap, I may look into it a bit more, it looks interesting and very well could help.

I am going to see about getting in with a physical therapy, I'm thinking some one on one work would be helpful.

My hip is out again, I laid on the heating pad last night, did ease the pain. Again on the heating pad this morning, my hip is deffanitely tight. I can feel the difference sitting in the chair. I am going to do my pilaties today rather than weights. I should go see my chiro, Id hold off, but its getting torwards the end of the week, don't want to be in pain all weekend. Were taking the kids camping, my idea BF and I get to sleep in the horse trailer with a good mattress, the kids get the tent with the air mattresses. Were going to fish, hike, and I heard something about smores. I don't want to be in pain all weekend though, I'll be off in an hour!

I always new their had to be something wrong with the way I'm made. I'm kinda bow-legged, I've brought this up to my chiro and he said women with larger hips tend to be that way. I mentioned it to BF and he said he wondered if thats part of my troubles. I am flat footed, gotten worse as I've aged and had kids(weight gain and loss). I wear very sapportive shoes but I obviousely need more help.

I've been thinking about the Z-Coil shoes. They have a big spring in the heal that takes alot of the preasure off our bodies. I've had a pair a few years ago when I worked in the factory, they were a god send. My mother wears them, now only when she walks alot. I don't know if they really help her or not, she doesn't seem to wear them very much at all.

My chiro liked them when I showed him. He said it was the difference between normal springs in a car and super, high tech shock absorbers. I wore them out, concrete will do that in a hurry. Many of the parts in the shoe is replaceble so the shoe actually lasts longer than your every day shoe does.

I too, have fallen arches. I walk a lot on cement everyday as I walk dogs professionally. I use special arch supports that I get from an arch support store.

But that isn't what I want to share with you. Before I found out that I needed to wear a shoe that had motion control, I felt it in my hips and back too. Once I started to wear shoes that prevented my feet from being wobbly as I walk, it all changed for me.

So far, the only shoe I wear that helps motion control for flat feet are Brooks. I get the Addiction model and love them I walk daily for about 4-6 hours.

I looked it up on line, there is a Brooks dealer an hour from me. I may go have a look.

Great! Its best to get measured the first time. After that, you can get them online.