need to lose weight, some help

[RSSGreecePoolee]

I need to shave off some pounds to go to bootcamp. Currently I'm 6'4" and 253. My recruiter told me to not eat after 7, and to run 2 miles every other day. Unfortunately, during our last DEP meeting we ran 4 miles, and I now have shin splints, making it impossible to run. I'm look for some other ideas to lose the weight, perhaps how many miles biking would be the equivalent to running, or a dietary suggestion?

[Chumley]

Poolie,

Shin splints will come and go. Bottom line is you must exercise. The 2 miles set by your recruiter is the MINIMUM. You need to do much more than that in order to lose those kinds of lbs. When the shins splints are acting up, yes ride a bike for a day or two, but you must get past the shin splints by stretching thoroughly, before and after exercising. Running is a requirement in the USMC, so get used to it.

In order to lose, you must burn MORE than you eat. Trick is the more you work out, the more your body will crave food / energy. Eat sensible amounts of healthy food and drink lots of water everyday - drink water before meals too to keep the hunger down and eat less. Don't stop eating - you do need energy to work out.

If you PT everyday, for a half hour, you are probably only burning the food you ate that day. You may not really lose much weight, even though you may get a little toner. I suggest to build yourself up to 1 hour a day of exercise for about a month. At least a half hour of it should be cardio, the rest should be stretching and weight training, push-ups, etc. You need to start burning up the reserve fat you are carrying. THE FIRST HALF HOUR DOESN'T COUNT, it just burns what you ate today. This will get you in shape to increase the time you spend working out.

After 3-4 weeks you need to kick it up to about 2 hours a day. Play basketball, do aerobics, ride a bike for an hour or two, do anything that makes you sweat hard. Continue drinking a lot of water.

You are going to Marine Corps Boot Camp. If you aren't sweating at least 1 hour a day everyday, you are not preparing for reality. So not only do you need to lose weight to go, you need to get yourself prepared to succeed. This is not the time to bellyache about the shin splints and blisters. Work-out smart of course, but suck it up.

There's a zillion posts on this subject on Leatherneck. Please read and heed.

Good luck to you!!
C

[RSSGreecePoolee]

I can bang out 20 miles on a bike no problem, I just have to pick a course. I was warned by everyone on the high school track team that if I keep running with shin splints that eventually I'll get a stress fracture, and that just puts me back further.


Is there anything I can do to make them go away quicker?

[bbond007]

I have shin splints and i run everyday man over come it. Just do it. ICE them everynight and then put heat on them. And a bike is good cardio to, but it does not beat running.

[Chumley]

Yes, they can get worse, and take time to heal. Stretching thoroughly is a good way to get these areas stronger and prevent further injury.

In my opinion, stretching is taken way too lightly. In HS soccor, we would spend a good ten minutes just stretching the feet, ankles and lower legs, especially in the early season.

You do need to rest and heal, but my experience with shin splints was that they were more frequent when I was out of shape. You need to work through this in a healthy way. Rest for a day or two, then back on your feet. Make sure you invest in GOOD running shoes - not track shoes unless you are a sprinter, but quality athletic shoes.

There is a certain amount of discomfort that comes along with getting into shape...running especially. There is a definite line between discomfort ( which you need to get past ), and pain/injury which you should address immediately.

There is no shortcut to getting in shape; so exercise wisely. Just because you ran 4 miles once doesn't cut it. You hurt because you exceeded your comfort fitness level. It will take you time ( a few months ) to get comfortable at 4-5 miles.

If you are injured see a doctor, and maybe a physical therapist. Muscles have one purpose, to move you around. They love it. They do not like inactivity. They make you pay for too much laziness with soreness and pain. Make your muscles happy everyday. Stretch them, then exercise them, and stretch some more. Be consistent for best results. Cross train - swim, bike, run, gym, aerobics, go to Boot Camp, everything will pay off. To be great at something is to be good at many things.

C

[Brandon1]

Swimming really helps to. I've never had shin splints before, but every other day I would swim. Pretty much my cardio routine was "Monday: Run, Tuesday: Swim, Wednesday: Run, Thursday: Swim, Friday: Run, Saturday: Swim, then Sunday off". You can even swim when you have shin splints. I think? Like I said i've never had shin splints, so dont quote me on that :).

[Big Jim]

I had developed shin splints on my second enlistment. While they were healing I rode for hours on a stationary bike in between lifting weights. It really kept my body weight under control and I even gained some endurance surprisingly...swimming is also a good idea...

[RSSGreecePoolee]

I do regret not swimming this year. I swam for school the past 4 years, but I didn't this year due to scheduling conflict. I'll stretch today after dinner and go for a run and see how my legs are, I haven't in about 2 weeks.

[DanCross]

Shin splints are a general term for a number of lower leg conditions. Frequently, they occur when the muscles and connective tissues start to pull away from your shin, putting strain on the bone. Continuing to exercise on them can put so much stress on the bone that you do end up with a stress fracture.

The Corporal's advice is good: ice your legs (that's one of the best things you can do). STRETCH before and *after* exercise (exercise after is way too often neglected). Massage your shins. Take anti-inflammatories to promote blood flow. Make sure you eat *properly* and hydrate.

Yes, some discomfort is to be expected in preparing for recruit training (and in boot camp itself, of course), and you can and should suck it up and push through that. But be smart about it and don't injure yourself. Make sure, like the Corporal said, you get some good running shoes (not cross-trainers or soccer shoes or whatever, but actual running shoes), and condition by stretching before and after working out. Make sure you are building yourself up to it without killing yourself and you will be able to do work up to where you need to be. To quote a Gunnery Sergeant from when I enlisted, the human body is an amazing machine: you put yourself through physical stress that makes you feel terrible and then be ready to go at it again all over again a day or two later. Most people probably aren't even aware of what they can do.

Poolee RSSGreecePoolee: If you are getting shin splints this quickly, that probably means that you are not running properly (yes, there are both right and wrong ways). Pay particular attention to technique and make sure you have the right shoes, and that will go a long way toward helping with the pain.

Poolee bbond007: Here's an assignment. Ask your recruiter to go over "JJ DID TIE BUCKLE" with you, and pay particular attention to the "C" (here's a hint if you don't know already: it stands for 'courage'). Remember that there's a difference between physical courage and pushing yourself to injury. Yes, suck it up and push through discomfort, but don't overdo it and make yourself a liability.