I am sure that this is a common problem, but i wonder if anyone has got any tips for me....

I weigh around 250 pounds, and have been lowcarbing for a year and in the last 5 weeks I have been going to the gym 2- 3 times a week plus a swim.

I am finding that when i get on the running machine and go from a power walk into a jog within seconds my ankles really start to hurt. I realise its because my body is not used to me running with that weight - but still I was dragging another 50 pounds around before and my ankles did not ache like that!!!

I know that my calves & thighs could go on and so could my lungs, its so annoying to be let down by my ankles!!

Does anyone have any tips for me? I am already taking 100mg of potassium a day, are there any more supplements that might help or is it just a case of perciveriance? I have looked at some of the ankle wrap things but they are quite expensive and i don't want to waste my money if they won't work

I know my knees do the same thing to me. If I walk I am fine, but the added pounding effect of running puts stress on the lower legs and cause joint pain. I do wear knee wraps when I jog to help support that area. You might try something like an ace bandage, wrapped around the ankle to test the support issue before investing in the specific wraps. At least that is what I did.

Hi There,
How are your shoes? Are they old and worn out? If so, please replace them with good running/walking shoes, it is worth the money to take care of the feet. ANother thing is that you may have weak ankles. A way to strengthen them is to stand on one foot with the other foot held out in front of you. This is balancing act and if you need to hold onto something until you can do it go ahead. WHen you can do this on your own you will feel the lateral (side to side) muscles working. I run many miles (mostly on trails) and I perform this exercise to prevent ankle "roll out" on the trail. We are strong going in forward motion but the other muscles need to be strengthened too. I don't know what to tell you about potasium but I take 200-300mg per day. I hope this helps you and keep up the good work.
Maureen

I have that problem but it seems to only bother me on Mondays. ITs a snowball of a mindtrip too. Once you start to realize they hurt you cant take your mind of it and it becomes unbearable. Heres some stuff that helped me, I dunno if it would help you.

I found that socks are bad haha. My ankles hurt more when I wear socks. Stretch before hand, like really stretch, at least 5 minutes. Stretch when you are done too. on occasion I will stop running and squat, just drop down and bounce a lil then walk for about 20-30 seconds and the ankles dont hurt for at least another 20 minutes. Also if you grit and push through it it usually goes away. I am convinced they are mostly psychosymatic(sp) for me.

Another option is low impact, elliptical, Nordic track, stationary bike type excercises. Maybe starting on a bike for 10-15 then finishing off walk/run.

Thanks for the tips guys ... iwill give these things a try