I do exercises at the pool, my problem is when I get out after about an hour I can barely walk which last for most of the day, so now I'm wondering if I can do leg exercises anymore. Any suggestions

Hi poochie.

Can you still do leg exercises? Yes.

What you are experiencing can be normal. You are probably over doing it at this point. You might need to re-evaluate the amount of swimming and/or switch to a less strenuous exercise.


Take care...

It's hard for me to do much in the way of exercising. What I do I hardly think of as exercising but I guess it is....considering my condition. I've always heard "if you don't use it you'll lose it" so I try to move as much as I can...albeit slow and uncoordinated. I just do what I can.

Poochie, I reread your post and you said you had a hard time after an hour in the pool. I think you're overdoing it.

Doing exercises in the pool can fool you into thinking you can do more because its easier on your joints and muscles. The water makes it much easier to do more. Problem is when you get out of the pool your body has been through an intense workout and is feeling it.

Maybe break it up into two 30 minute workouts (AM and PM) or even 15 minutes if your body still gets fatigued quickly.

Good luck!

Would definitely agree with kitty, it sounds like too long for a single workout and pools make it very easy to overdo it. Water is very low impact which is great, but even just freely floating in a pool engages nearly every muscle in the body. You might not feel it but everything is working almost twice as hard as on dry land, your body is trying to keep warm as the water lowers your core temperature even in a heated pool, forces of gravity maybe overcome by buoyancy but the resistance is that much higher. It makes swimming a great exercise to get in and stay in shape, but it’s killer when it comes to dealing with fatigue and weakness.

I would strongly suggest cutting the time you spend in a single session in the pool way back, and give yourself plenty of breaks in between. You might even do better to simply do a lap or two and then rest out of the water for a bit before going again. Taken slowly you can still get an hour’s worth of swimming in a day without having jelly legs, but a far more realistic goal if swimming just to exercise would only really need to be 30 minutes in a day.

I'm with Kitty on this one. You are probably overdoing it. Pace yourself and try to gage how your legs are doing. It is much harder to do that in a pool. Like Kitty mentioned, being in water can fool you. I break up my exercises because I fatigue quickly. Some days are better than others. Some days, I can only do 5 minutes. Other days, I can do 20 to 30 minutes of yoga (not walking or more strenuous exercises). Most of the time, I try to do 5 to 10 minutes in the morning and 5 to 10 minutes at night.

I hope this helps.

I did physical therapy for my knees during the months of March, April, and May. I started with pool therapy and went twice a week for 45 minute sessions. I found that pool therapy was easier and less painful, but it would wipe me out. I assume this occurred because the water was so warm. I had to stop at times and sit on the steps and drink cold water because I was getting so hot. I switched to regular pt and while it was more challenging I usually didn't have the same problems with fatigue and legs that felt like they were going to give out.