Need exercise suggestions with recovering Achilles

JeanCricket

Hello Everyone,

Have been limited in my exercise by a bad Achilles. Out of the camboot but still have to be careful.

Any cardio suggestions? Running and too much walking not an option...

Thx,

Jean

lokihen

When my achilles is troublesome I limit myself to cycling.

JeanCricket

Thanks Lokihen! Great suggestion!

lokihen

I started doing this (thanks to a suggestion from another MFP member) and haven't had any achilles problems since. I don't like getting on the floor, so I do it sitting in a chair with the foam roller on a stool.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=yeNQXu9r2nQ

melchorsherri

JeanCricket wrote: »

Hello Everyone,

Have been limited in my exercise by a bad Achilles. Out of the camboot but still have to be careful.

Any cardio suggestions? Running and too much walking not an option...

Thx,

Jean

I had a full knee replacement so I'm exercising off hasfit videos you tube chair exercises

bellefll

Hi there! I am recovering from Achilles Tendon surgery and still in cam boot. Already overweight and overwhelmed so looking here to find cardio suggestions to get heart pumping a bit.

ttippie2000

I sympathize. I tore my Achilles Tendon late last year (still attached). I gained weight and now am cautiously adding back exercises. At first I could barely walk and iced it about 5x a day and went to physical therapy. After a couple of months it was just walking my dog and doing some non-leg weight room stuff. About a month ago I started getting on my bicycle, and that felt good. I picked up swimming about 2 weeks ago. My swimming needs a lot of work, but it's the easiest thing on my Achilles.

What I cannot do is run. And I have a bunch of weight to take off. But I'm starting to see light at the end of the tunnel.

So, my suggestions are:

1. Swimming. Your go to option
2. Bicycling (you have to go painfully slow at first, like a Sunday stroll, and rest is afterwards)
3. Kettlebell. Kettlebell training is all flat footed. It can be done not only for muscle tone but for aerobic and anaerobic fitness as well. This is the kind of thing you would want to find a local class for to get started because the safety issues in kettlebell training are closely related to form. Learn good form and you'll be fine, but take learning good form seriously.
4. Gym weights. There are lots of exercises you can do in the weight room, whether it be free weights or machines. Keeping some muscle tone will keep your metabolism up and help you lose weight. (I know I put on weight while I was out.)

My recommendation is to mix it up, give yourself some rest and lots of ice and cautiously explore what your body will allow you to do. I found that any one thing, bicycling in my case, started hurting after a while, so I created a rotation.

I hope this helps. I'm right there with ya.

Machka9

When I tore (micro tears) my Achilles tendon, I did a lot of upper body and core work.