weakness caused by moderate excercise?

Dave C. said:

I'm a middle aged male. I've got a pretty active
lifestyle, but have never deliberately excercised until
recently. I started working out about a month ago, by
walking four hours per week

<snip>

Quoted message said:

as it has lots of hills. My feet in particular are
terribly sore after each walk, but my back and legs get
sore also.

In one go? Four hours? Hmmm.... feet would be sore.

Quoted message said:

About every other day for the past couple of weeks, I've
had periods of weakness. Not terrible. Just feel kind of
light-headed and it's hard to hold my hand steady (it
shakes). In general, I feel weak. Eating food helps.

I would advise you to consult your physician. This might be
serious and a NG is not the place to get a diagnosis. I
would hope that someone on say, news:sci.med would second my
motion, so to speak.

Dave C. said:

I'm a middle aged male. I've got a pretty active
lifestyle, but have never deliberately excercised until
recently. I started working out about a month ago, by
walking four hours per week. ... No pain, no gain. 🙂

Actually, it is not that simple. There is a program in one
Brookly Y that introduces ppl to exercise that doesn't
result in great pain. Pain can be a warning that something
is wrong. IMO foot pain after a sudden four hour hike is
only to be expected.

Quoted message said:

My goal is to keep my heart healthy.

There _are_ ppl who know about this. Find one in Real Life
(tm) and ask them.

Quoted message said:

About every other day for the past couple of weeks, I've
had periods of weakness. Not terrible. Just feel kind of
light-headed and it's hard to hold my hand steady (it
shakes). In general, I feel weak. Eating food helps. Is
this normal?

NO.

Quoted message said:

I know I could ask my doctor, but I'm really not that
concerned about it yet.

Don't wait until you are really concerned.

If your walk is a 'hard walk', and you're working your
muscles, and you've gained 10'lbs of muscles as you suspect
then... you need a rest and recovery period between
workouts, just with any workout that fatigues your muscles.
Rest and recovery is important and if you don't get
sufficent amounts, 'weakness' is the classic symptom.

How about a strenuous walk one day (hilly terrain) and an
easier, brisker walk (flat surface) the next?

Also, a proper workout requires proper nutrition. Your
nutritional requirements (particularily for energy) are
probably different now... especially if you went from being
sedentary.

Though honestly, 10lb of muscle from walking (even strenuous
walking) 4 hours per week for a month seems a little
extreme. Watch out for 'invisible' calories (ie.
eating/drinking more of things we don't really even
notice... ie. drinking an extra cup of juice per day after
your walk?)

You might benefit from buying a scale (such as tanita) that
also measures your body fat %.

also benefit from some of the following in your diet:
Organic 2% milk (preferably from grass-fed cows) yougart
some nuts for your walk (almonds, sunflower seeds, brazil
nuts) a little more protien in your diet a multi vitamin
(preferably with good quantities of B complexes)

Good luck!

Dave C. said:

I'm a middle aged male. I've got a pretty active lifestyle,
but have never deliberately excercised until recently. I
started working out about a month ago, by walking four
hours per week. The route I take is pretty strenuous as it
has lots of hills. My feet in particular are terribly sore
after each walk, but my back and legs get sore also. So I
suspect the walks are doing me some good. No pain, no gain.
🙂 My goal is to keep my heart healthy. I'm not trying to
lose weight, but if that happens also, that's great. I
haven't changed my diet at all. I still eat the same foods
in the same quantities, and thus have the same calorie
intake. I've actually gained ten pounds since I started
walking. My clothes still fit loose. I suspect the extra
weight might be muscle weight gain, though nothing is
showing yet.

About every other day for the past couple of weeks, I've
had periods of weakness. Not terrible. Just feel kind of
light-headed and it's hard to hold my hand steady (it
shakes). In general, I feel weak. Eating food helps. Is
this normal? I'm not diabetic and have no known health
problems other than allergic to just about everything
(dogs, cats, dust, mold, pollen, etc.). I'm on zyrtec for
allergies and nothing else, as far as medication
(prescription or OTC) goes. My blood pressure has always
been low, but within normal ranges.

I know I could ask my doctor, but I'm really not that
concerned about it yet. I suspect the periodic weakness
might be related to my excercise. Am I right? -Dave

Dave C. said:

I'm a middle aged male. I've got a pretty active
lifestyle, but have never deliberately excercised until
recently. I started working out about a month ago, by
walking four hours per week.

Quoted message said:

About every other day for the past couple of weeks, I've
had periods of weakness. Not terrible. Just feel kind of
light-headed and it's hard to hold my hand steady (it
shakes).

I wouldn't like that if it happened to me. Runners know
about the funny things that can happen after exercise, so
you might ask on news:rec.running even though you are
"only" walking.