Achy feet when working out

I've had trouble finding any information about this anywhere else, so I thought I'd post it here.

I'm very active--I workout at a moderate to high intensity five times/week (which I've built up to). Frequently, I get an ache in my feet that's so painful that I sometimes have to stop and move my feet around to shake it off. It goes away, generally.  

I bought more expensive shoes with good arch support to see if it would remedy the problem, but it still happens.

Anyone else have this problem? It's not going to make or break my workout, it's just kind of a nuisance.

Here are a couple of things to try:

A. If you have insurance (because this can be very expensive), try seeing a foot specialist (podiatrist) or a sports therapist. They would be able to either get personalized insoles for your shoes based on your own feet and where you exert the greatest pressure while working out or be able to refer you to someone who could.

B. Find a massage therapist in your area who specializes in sports medicine. There may be different things they can do to alleviate pain or recommend certain exercises or stretching for your feet/calves, etc. If this seems too expensive, you should call around to massage schools in your area. Frequently, they offer reduced rates for student massages. These are often wonderful because this info is fresh in their minds, and they are very responsive to your needs.

Hope this helps!!

I had the same problem a month ago and was diagnosed with plantar  fascitis..

Well, I was almost cured by regular calf stretching and warm water soaking before I got an appt with the podiatrist. (thanks webmd!)

I cant say if that is your problem but it may help for you to read up about your foot pain symptoms somewhere like webmd or some such health website. I suggest you read up more about your pain so you dont end up injuring yourself.

First, make sure your shoe laces aren't tied too tight, cutting off circulation when your feet swell during exercise. This happens to me occasionally.

Most common foot pain is plantar fasciitis. Classic symptom is heel pain first thing in the morning, getting out of bed. Most painful when feet are bare. Usually improves or goes away as you warm up and get into the exercise. If not properly treated, can become chronic.

Another common cause of foot pain is stress fracture. A fracture tends to develop slowly, insiduously. Unlike PF which improves as you warm up, with a fracture you may be fine until you're half-way through the exercise and then you start getting pain. Stress fractures are typically caused by overtraining. If you are working out at high intensity 5x's a week, this could be the case.

I would get in to see a doctor about this. If it is a stress fracture and you do not treat it, it could ultimately sideline you for months, and you don't want that!

Finally, when I first started exercising after a long (years) period of inactivity, I'd get sore heels - an ache deep within the bone that was different than PF (which I also had a bout of). This has gone away with conditioning. I believe it's because my feet simply needed to be toughened up. But if you've been exercising for awhile, this is probably not the case for you.

Yeah - I have foot problems too.  First I could walk through it... and was doing the treadmill 6 days a week.  I added recumbant bike and weight training but then I suddenly had some tenderness in both ankles - kinda like I twisted them both.  Now it is pretty much the left foot, swelling on the lateral side of the ankle and is primarily pain in my heel.  Advil, compression, elevation and ice helps but hasn't gone away and am not able to work through the pain right now.  Padding/cushioning helps - Gonna try the stretches.  I think it is plantar fasciitis too, just a little different presentation.  Gonna swim tomorrow instead of bike/tread.  Good luck!

Swelling isn't normal - it sounds like you've pulled or ruptured the muscle in your ankle - your achilles tendon. I had achilles tendonitis two decades ago - pulled it while skiing. Took months and months to heal. It's a tricky one!