Don't run, don't bike, what do you do?

November 25, 2024 10:18 AM

I used to run for exercise, but I had to stop after developing plantar fasciitis (still suffering from it, going on eight months now). I switched to riding a stationary bike, but now I have to stop because I developed hip pain. What do I do now?

I have a long history of being sedentary, but I began exercising regularly at the start of the pandemic. I've worked really hard to achieve a decent level of cardio fitness, but now I'm in danger of some serious backsliding.

For various reasons that aren't relevant here, I can't really do swimming. What other options do I have?

I suppose I can switch to strength training, but I don't have any equipment, and I worry that it wouldn't be aerobic enough.

I also thought about buying an elliptical machine, but I've heard mixed reports about whether plantar fasciitis is exacerbated by elliptical training. Plus, those machines are expensive.

Any suggestions from people who are knowledgeable about fitness?

posted by akk2014 to Health & Fitness (32 answers total)

Best answer: Talk to a PT before doing this because some forms of hip pain can handle it and others can’t, but a rowing machine may be a great fit. Form really matters, so invest 30 minutes watching form-related videos on YouTube. I like Training Tall’s, but there are many.
posted by moosetracks at 10:26 AM on November 25 [24 favorites]

Hip pain from cycling is often due to poor bike fit. If you're riding an actual bike on a trainer, can you invest in a fitting session? If you're riding a stationary bike, maybe a PT can help.
posted by ssg at 10:36 AM on November 25 [10 favorites]

Seconding the "talk to a PT first" from above, but ask them what they think about bodyweight exercises like Pilates and Barre. Done properly they can help strengthen surrounding muscles to help with things like hip and back pain -- done improperly they can probably make such things much worse.

It's possible that including some of this into your routine will make you better able to tolerate cardio like biking/rowing. Barre can also be modified to incorporate a fair bit of cardio, especially if you join a studio where they have multiple formats, and it is famously low-impact.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 10:37 AM on November 25 [1 favorite]

My wife suffered from plantar fasciitis and managed to cure it with trigger-point therapy.

I don't know if your hip pain on the stationary bike would be remedied by correcting your position, but it sounds like it might. There are professional bike fitters who specialize in doing exactly that.
posted by adamrice at 10:38 AM on November 25

I have nerve pain in my hip and knee from shingles complications (get your shingles vaccine once you're 50+, everyone!!!) and swimming has been amazing. It is so low impact and I find it hugely lessens my pain, but if it doesn't work for you, it doesn't.

The kind of on-land version full-body workout that's as good for you as swimming is, in my educated opinion, rowing on an ergometer/rowing machine - rowing done correctly, that is, which is not what most people are doing in the gym on the rowing machine. If you can get some instruction from a rowing club and/or do some in-water rowing (it's so great), even better, but at least watch some youtube instructional videos so you can properly use the rowing machine, and use it at a lower setting than you think would be giving you a workout because it's about the flow, not about the difficulty.
posted by urbanlenny at 10:57 AM on November 25 [4 favorites]

Do you have a cause for your hip pain? Because cycling is so repetitive, you can get hip pain (and leg/back pain as a result) from tight or weak hip flexors. This has been a big problem for me, but one that I have finally mostly solved through really aggressive massage. (also, if you were running and then cycling, you were doing two primary exercises that have repetitive forward/back motion and can lead to hip tightness and weakness).

Your problems may be better dealt with using exercise - if you google "tight hip flexors" or "weak hip flexors" you will find a number of gentle exercises to try, like clamshells. I also found that exercises for weak glutes helped a lot.

For me, I found that some muscles including/around the piriformis (I'm not an anatomist!) were literally so spasmed that I could feel a band of contracted muscle all the time, and once I started "massaging" (pressing really, really hard with my thumbs and knuckles to release the tension) every day for a week or so, the muscles relaxed and I can no longer feel the spasmed area and no longer have pain. It is the weirdest thing - I could literally feel the spasmed muscle and now I can't.

Exercise helped on its own but not enough. I had cycled as my primary exercise for many years before this problem became apparent.
posted by Frowner at 10:58 AM on November 25 [3 favorites]

Can speak from experience that “long history of being sedentary” and tight/weak hip flexors go hand in hand (also can cause anterior pelvic tilt which can make hamstrings and then lower back unhappy). Seconding the above rec to work on strengthening glutes, can assist with tight hip flexors. Youtube for “glute bridges” , good to start with both legs until hip flexors are moving in right direction. Key to the bridges: don’t move fast and when you’re raised up to the top , squeeze the those glutes together and HOLD.
posted by jerome powell buys his sweatbands in bulk only at 11:25 AM on November 25 [1 favorite]

What is your "stationary bike"? Is it a gym machine, or a real bike on a trainer? How many adjustments can you make?

Gym machine bikes can be more easily adjustable, but some (most?) don't offer adjustment in a critical plane. Gym machines almost *never* have an adjustable or even a reasonable seat; usually a too-wide variety. All of that can certainly set up hip pain.

Real bikes are better .... but only if they're fit to you. As someone wrote above, you sit essentially fixed in position for a long time, so any miss in fit is going to scream. I'm a longtime cyclist with a custom fit, and I caused myself pain on my own bike just being an -eense- off camber (tilt from side to side) because my basement floor is not perfectly flat.

And even when everything's perfectly rigged to you, any cyclist has to work on hip flexiblity and rotation strength, because a bike motion strengthens muscles in exactly one plane. Everything else atrophies and locks up.

Moral of the story being, don't give up on cycling just yet. And if you do, find a good stairwell and make friends with it.
posted by Dashy at 11:46 AM on November 25 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Due to body imbalances, I am prone to injury from both running and cycling. Rowing doesn't aggravate those imbalances in the same way for me. Rowing is a full body but low impact exercise.

There's a huge difference between rowing using correct form and hopping on a rowing machine and doing whatever you feel like. I would suggest watching the Dark Horse Rowing form videos on Youtube to learn proper form first. Once you've gotten started a little bit, you can also submit a form video to Reddit and get personalized feedback.

I have never had an issue with rowing on a Concept2 rower. I am emphasizing the brand because there's a very cheap rower that I have used that gave me mild back pain, presumably due to some slightly off proportions or angles. Even that was pretty mild though and if I was thoroughly warmed up, I was ok. I also suggest a Concept2 if you can use one because they have a lot of suggested workouts and training plans available that can help you switch it up and feel effective, such as a Workout of the Day feature.
posted by tofu_crouton at 11:48 AM on November 25

Best answer: YouTube has thousands of great dance, aerobic, calisthenic, yoga, isometric, and strength training videos. You can find "no equipment" workouts that just use body weight, and maybe home props like a chair, towel, soup cans, or small dumbells or resistance bands. I enjoy the variety, and I really love being able to search for a video that's the perfect length for my mood. I can't always do a full half hour but I can almost always fit in 5-10 minutes.

Good keywords to search may include words like, beginner / easy / intermediate / advanced, low impact, aerobic, strength, stretch, gentle, intense, endurance, personal attributes like knee injury, plus size, postpartum, older, arthritis, etc, or no equipment, isometric, body weight, energizing, inspiring, etc. If you don't have much space or equipment, you can also try searching for "Hotel room workouts".
posted by nouvelle-personne at 11:59 AM on November 25 [1 favorite]

I know of a couple of people that have gotten past plantar fascitis with the calf stretch / foot rocker. (Very inexpensive, available on Amazon naturally). For them the result was near miraculous. Worth a try if you have not tried it yet.
posted by jcworth at 12:11 PM on November 25

Physical Therapist. Get help with an exercise program with specific exercises to strengthen areas that are causing problems.
posted by theora55 at 12:11 PM on November 25 [7 favorites]

I am terribly sorry to repeat the advice to go to a physical therapist. I also recommend resistance training. Building and maintaining muscle is as important as cardiovascular health. But I don't think you should keep hopping to new things when dealing with injuries, but instead treat the injuries.

I think I learned on here that, instead of the calf stretches and rest for plantar fasciitis, and you can also do calf and foot strengthening exercises so that you're not just treating the symptoms but also developing the strength in the muscles that lack it.

You might try searching for functional fitness and functional movement, which is focused on moving your body in a variety of gentle ways to make sure you can use all your body.
posted by woolsocks at 12:24 PM on November 25 [2 favorites]

I just started dealing with plantar fasciitis's annoying cousin posterial tibial tendonitis. What I learned is that a lot of these foot related issues start up in the hip and how well these muscles can help us have strong balance. A PT is probably best suited to help you setup the exercises to build this strength. Most of them will be either body weight or simple resistance bands. This is important work that will let you pursue the other cardio in the near term future, but also, don't discount the health effects to a simple body weight strength routine.
posted by advicepig at 12:25 PM on November 25 [3 favorites]

If you want to try Dr. You Tube, I really like Kristie Ennis and Bob and Brad
posted by advicepig at 12:32 PM on November 25 [1 favorite]

What about walking?

I had to stop running due to heel spurs (which caused the plantar fasciitis, if I have the terminology correct). I was able to heal (ha ha) the foot pain, but would not dare to run again...

If walking hurts your hip, yoga is your friend.

good luck!
posted by rhonzo at 1:14 PM on November 25 [1 favorite]

I used to struggle with plantar fasciitis and hip pain, I also had "dead glute syndrome." Learning how to activate my glutes and starting squats and lunges, along with long calf and ankle stretches have completely turned around all kinds of leg and hip pain for me. I really should have been working with a sports medicine physical therapist but I admit I learned all this via YouTube during the pandemic, starting with the channel Squat University. Heads up fitness youtube will slowly poison your algorithm with right wing nonsense.
posted by muddgirl at 1:21 PM on November 25 [2 favorites]

I should add, not just activating my glutes but in general strengthening my core using functional movements.
posted by muddgirl at 1:26 PM on November 25

You can get good cardio doing strength training--check out Fitness Blender for some ideas. I also find that regular strength training prevents some of the injuries that come with other types of exercise.
posted by chaiminda at 1:40 PM on November 25 [1 favorite]

seconding the pipeline from youtube fitness to off the deep end conspiracy. Keep your critical thinking filters on high.
posted by advicepig at 2:09 PM on November 25

Definitely talk to a PT if you can, to avoid further complicating your pain issues. I can't run or jog; my knees are too shot. But I walk about 8 miles every morning, plus reps of body-weight exercises (push-ups, crunches, stretches, etc.) and that seems to be enough for me, and I'm slowly but surely seeing an overall increase in tone and definition, and I feel very fit. I've always been one of those "Eh, good enough" people when it comes to shoes, but since I started really walking during the pandemic, I've paid a lot more attention to the condition of my shoes. I'm walking enough that the... midsole? (not the tread, and not the replaceable insole, but in between those) seems to give out before the rest of the shoe does. I used to just wear shoes until they fell apart, but once I can feel that they're starting to go, I retire them from walking and use them for grubby shoes. My feet and joints are so much happier now that I keep ahead of shoe wear.
posted by xedrik at 2:18 PM on November 25 [2 favorites]

There's some really good strength training online. After perusing xxfitness on reddit, I started doing Caroline Girvan's Beginner Epic 5-day series as a place to start. Almost no impact but can very much leave you sore the next day. It hasn't made my plantar fasciitis come back, but I didn't have hip issues to contend with, so I can't speak to that. Good luck!
posted by slidell at 2:19 PM on November 25 [1 favorite]

> I developed hip pain ... Any suggestions from people who are knowledgeable about fitness?

The physiotherapist can diagnose this and give a precisely tailored set of exercises and stretches.

Also, there are no secret techniques that yoga or pilates instructors know that physiotherapists are ignorant of.
posted by sebastienbailard at 3:44 PM on November 25

Best answer: I confess to not having read 100% of the 23 answers above, but could you use an elliptical at a friend's house (assuming that exists) or in a store to see if it gave you problems? Of course I don't know if your P/F is triggered quickly or only after long term insults.

Currently I am under instruction from my physician to NOT use a treadmill because of impacts (hip and spine problems) whereas they have given me the OK to use our elliptical (we have both in our home gym). Just a thought FWIW.
posted by forthright at 5:08 PM on November 25

I had a virtual professional bike fitting with Team Wilpers and omg. From totally untenable knee pain to totally fine in 45 min. Amazing.
posted by HotToddy at 5:11 PM on November 25

Get your doctor to give you a referral to a physical therapist who will figure out what exercises you can do and also how to restore some of your lost function
posted by Jacqueline at 6:00 PM on November 25

Ok this is off the wall and not workable due to location and so many reasons for many -- but Ice Skating works well for me, it's a non-impact (yea yea, my joke is "except occasionally" but I rarely fall and most I see) as it's a lot of steady movement. But works for me now as there are rinks close. Totally rehabilitated my calves, legs and posture! So just throwing out a flyer.
posted by sammyo at 6:32 PM on November 25

Aqua jogging
posted by cotton dress sock at 6:33 PM on November 25 [1 favorite]

Probably lost down here at the bottom and probably off topic but I finally went to podiatrist after the exact situation (made cardio gains, discovered the joy of plantar fascitis, backslide). Ya. Turns out the stretches he recommended and religiously wearing the boot for 60 minutes a few times a day simply made it go away. Now I wake up and kinda pull my foot with the blanket and sort of tuck it under my butt to hold it and to replicate the boot stretch for 5 minutes in the morning and it's literally gone and never come back for 11 months now. I work out at Orange theory doing running, weights, rowing etc... Zero issues. So if you were enjoying your cardio gains just kick the plantar fascitis out of your life.
posted by chasles at 7:30 PM on November 25 [1 favorite]

Typical causes of hip pain while cycling: Seat too high, seat too far forward, pushing to high a gear.

There are some others, but those are the main ones. You can google various bike fit instructions & videos. The principles are the same regardless of whether it is an outdoor bike, gym bike of various types, and so on. You're still looking at the relationship between your body, legs, hips, knees, ankles, feet, etc etc while seated and pedaling.

Anyway, your cycling hip pain might be cured by something as simple as adjusting the seat an inch or even a half inch.

I had my bike dialed in and was riding it literally thousands of miles every year. Suddenly I started having knee pain. Could not figure out why - a bike that I had dialed in, nothing had changed that I knew of, and so on.

Well actually, the seat had slipped backwards, less than an inch, for some reason. That was all it took to go from perfect fit to a world of pain . . .
posted by flug at 9:34 PM on November 25

I've been really enjoying GMB, which I found through a recommendation here. The focus is on gaining strength and mobility, and it's done wonders for injury prevention.

They have a fair amount of free content, especially if you get on their newsletter. But I have found both their elements and integral strength series well worth the money.
posted by lab.beetle at 10:19 AM on November 27

Response by poster: Thanks for all the tips. It turns out that the town where I live has a fancy rec center with all sorts of gym equipment, and residents are allowed to use it for a fairly minimal cost. After Thanksgiving, I will do some testing with a rowing machine and an elliptical trainer. Hopefully, one or the other will work for me, and then I'll probably end up buying a rower or an elliptical (I dislike the inconvenience of having to drive somewhere to exercise).

I might continue using the exercise bike after doing some research on how to adjust it properly. However, the bike is a pretty inexpensive, low-quality machine, so I might just ditch it. And hopefully my plantar fasciitis will clear up before spring (it's already getting better), so I can start running again.

Thanks again to everyone.
posted by akk2014 at 6:23 PM on November 27