Why do my legs get so fatigued so fast from light jogging?

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artdiva28

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Here's my Backstory:
1 year ago I was 280 pounds- I've now lost 90 pounds and weigh 190- 5'10" tall. I have continually tried jogging on the treadmill throughout this, but haven't had much luck. My breathing is still fine, but my calves, and knees become so fatigued it makes it virtually impossible to continue after 1 minute and 30 seconds. My knees have always given me some trouble, they click terrible. This week I've been doing 4 minutes walking and then 1 minute running which has been ok, but It's damn near impossible to increase this much more, and I been trying for some time to work on this but having seen much improvement. What am I doing wrong? I know I'm heavy still but my breathing is usually pretty good and I could continue if my legs didn't feel so shot immediately. My diet is a lot of fish, grilled chicken, vegetables, fiber through oatmeal and whole wheat items. I typically drink a gallon of water a day if I can.

Side note:
I can go on the elliptical for an hour even two and be totally fine! I've tried raising the incline of the treadmill and also running flat, I also am not running at extreme speeds, just normal jogging with alternating short and long strides.

Any thoughts? Thanks!
 
I would say the issue looks to be impact at a level you aren't used to.
Running or jogging are very different to walking. As soon as you take both feet off the ground and start landing on them one at a time, the shock to your body becomes massive, doing so repeatedly increases the effect of this immensely.
Impact is not affecting your breathing which is good. But it is taking a toll on your legs especially your knees. Below are some things to watch for.

Your feet should remain as close to the ground/ belt as possible to minimise impact. I have commented before what I think of those saying 'keep those knees up.'
Speed is not a factor. Slow down to get technique perfect even if this means not speeding up when switching from walk to jog. Speed will follow technique, not the other way around.
Ensure all is going back and forth, no side to side movement.
Make sure your knees and feet are in line throughout. If you land without this alignment the stress on your knees could easily be dangerously high.
Keep your upper body relaxed. This can be difficult especially on narrow treadmills where you end up hitting your arms on the sides if not holding your shoulders high. If you can't do it, please find more suitable treadmills, this is important to your running posture.
Find comfortable stride length. I am a long stride runner and have found machines with belts too short for me to use comfortably, so I only used them once. Anything you are doing that feels un-natural will likely be making you run in a way that is causing at least part of this issue.
Try to be relaxed, not easy when thinking about so much but it helps immensely if your movements are smooth and relaxed.

One final thing.
I love running and likely always will. I have often said that it is one of the few activities we are literally designed to do.
However nature makes us one way and life makes us something else, and not everyone can run without damaging themselves. If you are fit and healthy without running and gradually dropping to a weight where you will be able to run safely, patience may be your best option. It is not crucial to be able to run and if in doubt don't.
To flip this on it's head, I hope some of the tips above help and you are able to run and enjoy it.
 
You may also want to try a form of cardio exercise that's lower impact in order to gradually get your muscles more used to endurance. The ability of your muscle fibers to utilize energy will come with time, but you'll need to start by doing moderately long, softer-impact forms of exercise to achieve that and work from there. (You'll see less gain from simply gassing out what little you can with running in short durations.)

I would try switching to the cycle or elliptical in the meantime.
 
Thank you to both of you. You've given me some great advice. I think the biggest thing is just going to not only exercise more with cardio but also exercise my patience! I so desperately want to go out and run, and I actually do love the freedom that running gives me (beings I haven't really ran since I was 14 it's freeking liberating!). I'm just ready to start my life the way it should have been started, and this is one of those things that will be a goal just like my weight-loss goal. I think I'm also going to start watching some videos on proper running form. I wish it wasn't so cold outside so I wasn't confined to a treadmill.
 
My normal comment to those saying it's too cold to run is run faster. Not always practical, but I do work like that, may explain the crazy part of the name.
I hate treadmills, have only used them on a few occasions and much prefer to run in the real world. Treadmills are not a good way to get to and from work either.
 
While we face any problem then we need to go the root of the issue. So that it will not appear again. In fact when i decided to exercise regularly i faced same problem as you are facing right now. Now i do not face this type of problem any more. Fact is if i do not exercise in one day i fell tired. So what is the secret reason behind that? Our body, yes , our body always needs some time to adjust. At initial phase we feel tired but please don't give up. It would feel you bad than you realize. What i like to suggest you is to maintain a balanced routine for yourself. Keep it mind that if i share my routine than it may not suit you.

So please make your own routine which is very much adjustable to your body and keep maintaining your routine regularly. Within very short period of time we would see the result and you would not feel bad any more.
 
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