Sore Feet

N

nbergren

Cathlete
Cathe-

I just recently got turned onto your videos and love them! Before that, I did Kathy Smith, Reebok Intense Moves, Karen Voight and Keli Roberts Step tapes plus weight lifting and yoga. I have been working out at home for years. My question is this... since my introduction to your cardio tapes, MSB, MIC, and BM I have noticed my feet have been aching lately after I work out and not the usual heel pain I have had before (I have othrodics and they work great) but in the balls of my feet. Obviously your tapes are higher impact than the ones I mentioned earlier. When using your tapes I use a step height of 6" usually (I am 5' 10"). My question is this... would it be best to try and lower the impact moves and do the tapes 2-3 times a week or just do high impact cardio 1 day a week and the rest of the weekly cardio is low impact (other tapes or walking)? I am not aiming to lose any weight just maintain and build muscle. I find it hard to low impact some of your tapes, especially the first half of MIC - kills my feet, and when I am doing them, mentally I want to do what you are doing so I really have to concentrate on making the movements low impact.

My next question is this... Rotation seems to be a big discussion here. I have a large video library and have never had a set rotation. I just make sure I do cardio 5 days a week, 2-3 upper and lower strength w/o a week, abs daily, and yoga at least once. To attain this I just mix and match all the time. Would I see a difference if I selected key videos and used them for 4-6 week and then selected others and did them for 4-6 weeks?

Would love to hear you input. Thanks for listening.

Nancy
 
Hi Nancy! Glad you are enjoying the new tapes. Based on what you wrote, it sounds to me like your achy feet could be a combination of doing too much too soon plus tackling two of the highest impact tapes that I have. I would definitely just do weights for the next couple of days and let your feet recover. Then I would suggest easing into Body Max and Max.Int.Cardio at a less intense pace. I would even go so far as to suggest just starting out with Mega Step Blast on say a Monday and then doing only half of MIC on Friday (feel free to add additional low impact cardio to the end of this workout). You can also do other less jarring cardio in between Monday and Fridays workouts. Try this for two weeks. Then the third and fourth week do the same thing except for try all of MICardio.

Then start over building up the same way but instead of doing half of MICardio and working your way to all of it, now do 1/2 of Body Max and work your way to doing all of it.

This should be a good foundation and progression to acclimate your feet to higher impact workouts.

But if after that you find that your feet still seem to be prone to feeling achy with higher impact tapes, then I think it would be best if you either modify the impact in any of the tapes you select or do an extra long warm up and cool down complete with only one high impact tape per week.

Your goal is to work out injury free. If pain consistently accompanies a workout(injury pain, not muscle soreness pain) you need to change the workout to eliminate the pain.

As for your second question, since you are not looking to lose any weight, I think the system that you have is fine in the way of cardio, however, you did mention that you would like to build muscle. In this case, sticking with one weight program (say PS Series or MIS)for 8 to 12 weeks at a time would be better for muscle development. Constantly changing your weights week to week doesn't allow your muscles an opportunity to commit and respond to a workout. Now if you were just maintaining your strength then it would be okay to mix and match some.

Good Luck!
 
Shoes......Too!

Hi Nancy -

I'm offering this as a humble opinion of someone who remembers the first few months after discovering Cathe tapes...I also used Kathy Smith, Gin Miller, etc. for some time before discovering Cathe. My workout shoes lasted longer before Cathe. I found that for best cushioning and support I now change my shoes every 3-4 months instead of every 5-6 (for someone who is working out as frequently as you are). Again, this is just a suggestion to think about after you consider all of Cathe's advice, but I know that for me, realizing that the higher impact required more attention to my footwear made all the difference in the world.

Thanks also for your rotation question - what yoga videos in your collection do you like the best?

Happy exercising.

JanetH
 
HI Janet!!

Where have you been girl? I was just ready to shut the computer down (it's been a looong day!) and decided to jump in here real quick just to say Hi to you!! Good to see you posting! Sorry for posting here on "Ask Cathe", but I couldn't resist. Also, I 2nd. your suggestion to Nancy on the imporortance of good shoes. Hope to see you around.

Your-Friend-In-Fitness, DebbieH :)

"If You Get The Chance To Sit It Out Or Dance...I Hope You DANCE!!"
 
RE: Shoes......Too!

Hi Janet-

Thanks for your reply. I will try getting new shoes more often and see if that helps. As for yoga videos, my favorites so far are KS New Yoga and New Yoga Challenge because the approach is more athletic and it offers easier or more difficult moves. I also like Ali McGraw Mind and Body a lot but I have to feel spiritual that day. Great scenery in that one too.

Enjoy!
Nancy
 
RE: Shoes......Too!

Just my experience. I had achy feet so badly I would wake up even in the night. They just ached. I got new shoes, same thing. I have finally figured out that if I take my vitamins faithfully they don't hurt so much even doing Cathe, the Firm, baseball whatever 5 or 6 days a week. I take a multi, cal/mag/zinc, and Vitamin E. Don't know which one makes the difference but it's working.
 
RE: Shoes......Too!

There's also foot type. I have very high arches. I seem to need alot of stability in a shoe as well as cushioning. I saw a podiatrist years ago and I wear orthotics for extra support. There are a number of great over the counter orthotics as well. Check out www.roadrunnersports.com. They have great products and well-trained staff.
 
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