Doctor's orders suck. Help?

acpgee

I like the rowing machine. It does use knees, but no pressure on feet. Rowing on water is probably more fun.

acpgee

And bike?

xixshaiyaxix

You have a pool? Stop whining and go swimming.

this. i wish i had a pool >.>

MeadowSong

Had similar problem a few years ago. It's a mess trying to deal with it. Besides swimming, take up cross-stitching or something you can do while your feet are up and NOT EAT. Reading/studying won't do it. Follow the dr's orders--getting well quickly rather than dragging it out even longer is good. Keep all the fitness you can and don't gain weight and consider it a raging success.

aylajane

I recently injured one shoulder... talk about sucking... EVERY exercise seems to use your shoulder when trying to lift weights etc! What I did was to use all the machines I normally avoid - the isolated muscle ones where you just sit and work your lats, or biceps, or hammies (no stress on feet probably). Can work with heavy weights without hurting your foot. I also used a weighted vest for squats and running (since I couldnt actually hold weights). That doesnt help you at all, but gives you an idea of how you can work around things. Put on a vest and do chair dips! Be creative

If its only the one foot, you can still do one legged squats (tho will make you lopsided in a smith machine (for stability) for example. You can also use the smith for inverted rows (like doing a pushup upside down under the bar set low - sit on the floor, stretch feet out straight then do "pushups" upside down). Lots of workarounds depending on what muscles you are targeting. Sit on a stability ball and do shoulder exercises or bicips/triceps, etc. - works your core at the same time, and you can cushion your foot on something so no weight.

For that matter, you can do regular pushups - just holding the one foot slightly off the floor. I do that (alternating) anyway. You can also use this time to work on all the various forms of pullups! No feet needed

BerryH

I'd be curious as to any type of weight training I could possibly do in the pool that (real) people have actually found to be helpful..not just people in videos doing it for the video.

Google aqua dumbbells (Amazon sell a selection). You use them like regular dumbbells but in reverse - they float so your pushing against gravity going down instead of up.

365andstillalive

Even if they are for your own good.

Three trips to the pediatrist, two bunions, one needle to the toe, tendonitis in my achilles tendon, severe pronation, and a fancy new ankle brace and set of inserts later...I've been told that I can't have any fun for the next six weeks. Basically. I can't do anything that puts any type of stress on my foot/feet. I was specifically told (with finger counting and wagging) "No walking. No running. No treadmill. No elliptical. No biking. No heavy weights. No jumping. Nothing." I said, "Well what CAN I do?" Swimming the response I received. That's great I can do that. I have a pool. It just gets old after about an hour.

Six weeks is a long time. Especially when a lot of my work outs DO include my legs/feet. I've come this far and I don't want to backslide. It terrifies me even though I *know* I will not allow myself to do that.

So, here I post to you fine people looking for advice, upper body workouts, and full body work outs that 1. will not strain my freakin' foot, and 2. I can actually do at the gym (or in the pool).

:flowerforyou:

Realistically, it's 6 weeks. My straight forward advice is to follow doctors orders and only swim or do any other activities that his office specifically clears.

Foot and ankle injuries can completely derail your life long-term if you don't take care of them. I ended up not being able to work, exercise, walk without crutches etc for 5 months because of an ankle injury, and now, a year later, I still have to be cautious when walking/running for long periods of time, jumping etc and I'm 22. This injury will literally impact my activity level for the rest of my life. If you don't take care of it now and give it the 6 weeks the doctor is telling you to, the likelihood of you ending up in a position where you need surgery (which means more recovery time) or end up with a chronic injury that will impair your quality of life significantly increases.

It's 6 weeks in your very long life; take it easy, do what the doctor allows, and stay on top of your logging and you'll likely still lose or be able to maintain your weight over the next 6 weeks.

Capt_Apollo

the foot is the most neglected part of the body. people just wrap a piece of rubber around it and expect it to be just fine. people just shove them in shoes and kind of ignore them. There are 26 bones and 33 joints in the foot. If you are holding tension in the foot muscles, the joints won't be able to move.

dbmata

I like the rowing machine. It does use knees, but no pressure on feet. Rowing on water is probably more fun.

Rowing machine exerts a lot of pressure on the feet. That's one reason you strap them into stirrups, because that's one thing you're pushing from.

OP - just go swim, don't overthink it. There's a reason your doctor wants you to rest. If you don't like the prognosis, see another doctor.

jessiruthica

Search for "water weights" on Amazon or similar. We used these in a pre-natal water aerobics class and they can definitely give you a workout. Not the same as "real" weights as they work against the resistance in the water rather than weight, but maybe something new to relieve the boredom?

therealklane

Even if they are for your own good.

Three trips to the pediatrist, two bunions, one needle to the toe, tendonitis in my achilles tendon, severe pronation, and a fancy new ankle brace and set of inserts later...I've been told that I can't have any fun for the next six weeks. Basically. I can't do anything that puts any type of stress on my foot/feet. I was specifically told (with finger counting and wagging) "No walking. No running. No treadmill. No elliptical. No biking. No heavy weights. No jumping. Nothing." I said, "Well what CAN I do?" Swimming the response I received. That's great I can do that. I have a pool. It just gets old after about an hour.

Six weeks is a long time. Especially when a lot of my work outs DO include my legs/feet. I've come this far and I don't want to backslide. It terrifies me even though I *know* I will not allow myself to do that.

So, here I post to you fine people looking for advice, upper body workouts, and full body work outs that 1. will not strain my freakin' foot, and 2. I can actually do at the gym (or in the pool).

:flowerforyou:

Realistically, it's 6 weeks. My straight forward advice is to follow doctors orders and only swim or do any other activities that his office specifically clears.

Foot and ankle injuries can completely derail your life long-term if you don't take care of them. I ended up not being able to work, exercise, walk without crutches etc for 5 months because of an ankle injury, and now, a year later, I still have to be cautious when walking/running for long periods of time, jumping etc and I'm 22. This injury will literally impact my activity level for the rest of my life. If you don't take care of it now and give it the 6 weeks the doctor is telling you to, the likelihood of you ending up in a position where you need surgery (which means more recovery time) or end up with a chronic injury that will impair your quality of life significantly increases.

It's 6 weeks in your very long life; take it easy, do what the doctor allows, and stay on top of your logging and you'll likely still lose or be able to maintain your weight over the next 6 weeks.

Trust me, I understand about the chronic injuries. I tore my ACL and fractured my tibia playing softball in 10th grade. The doctor (actual quack) said it would heal on its own and sent me through 12 weeks of therapy that damaged my knee further. My first year of college I re-injured it playing golf, which left me barely able to walk back to my dorm without my leg collapsing from under me. I will never forget that day. Ended up having to have surgery to replace the ACL and repair the bone. I was on crutches and in physical therapy for 12 weeks basically learning to walk again and of course building my strength. I've been very fortunate that I have had little to no pain in my knee from working out, but the issues with my foot are now causing knee pain from the way I've been walking/favoring that foot. As soon as I feel pain in that knee, I'm scared..not for my foot but for my knee. Should be the other way around, I know.


I know I need to take it easy, it's hard to do that when you're used to working out 4-5 days a week. Between finals and attempting to obey doctor's orders, I've only gotten in one day of actual meaningful exercise this week - which was swimming a mile. Today I'm writing a 15 page research paper that is due at midnight..so.. We'll see how much I have done by 5:00 and that will determine whether or not I get back in the gym today or tomorrow (for upper body of course...)

Thanks for the advice so far, guys. I appreciate it

stealthq

You can still do seated weights, free or machine, if you make sure to sit in a pike position or otherwise prop up your legs to take your feet 100% out of the equation, even for stability. That'll take care of upper body.

Weight machines like hamstring curls, leg extension. Ab and back moves done from a prone position - those usually use upper/lower legs for leverage, no foot involvement.

Hand bike (hate these).

Lofteren

I would tell your doctor he better change his attitude about your health or you're going to stop seeing him.

Lol, I think these kinds of responses are funny. Patients seem to have forgotten which person is the doctor. If you know so much about podiatry then why are you going to see them in the first place?

The other day I diagnosed a woman with carpal tunnel syndrome after having done electrophysiological studies on her upper extremities. It is a simple and straight-forward diagnosis and generally has a good prognosis if treated properly. She didn't believe me because she doesn't work on a computer and stood up and defiantly declared that I was wrong.... SMH, some people....

Edit: OP, sounds like a perfect opportunity to work on your bench press and chin up

AllOutof_Bubblegum

Concentration curls, preacher curls, seated overhead press, seated lateral raises, pullups and bench presses are all lifts that you can do with no/minimal pressure to the feet.

parkscs

I would tell your doctor he better change his attitude about your health or you're going to stop seeing him.

Lol, I think these kinds of responses are funny. Patients seem to have forgotten which person is the doctor. If you know so much about podiatry then why are you going to see them in the first place?

The other day I diagnosed a woman with carpal tunnel syndrome after having done electrophysiological studies on her upper extremities. It is a simple and straight-forward diagnosis and generally has a good prognosis if treated properly. She didn't believe me because she doesn't work on a computer and stood up and defiantly declared that I was wrong.... SMH, some people....

Edit: OP, sounds like a perfect opportunity to work on your bench press and chin up

I feel like people who make statements like that just haven't known enough people in their lives that "pushed through the pain" and ended up permanently injuring their rotator cuff, knees and so on. 6 weeks off may sound like a lot right now, but ask someone whose had to go through a surgery and/or will simply never 100% recover from an injury if they'd rather have spent a few weeks focusing on upper body instead, and I'm pretty sure the answer would unanimously be yes.

_funrungirl

Swimming is probably one of the best exercises you can do. It works your entire body.

If you can sit you can do upper body exercises.

simplydelish2

How about some light weight kettle bells - even if you sit during part of the routine. Can you do a stationary bike?

Even if you only swim an hour or so a day...you can do it for 6 weeks.

Best of luck to you for a quicker than expected healing!

squirrelzzrule22

Would it help to get one of those underwater Ipod straps or something? Listen to music or a book on tape while you swim? Swimming for an hour straight will burn a lot of calories and be a great all over work out. I totally recommend trying to get into it if you can. It can be boring but sort of meditative too!

LoneWolfRunner

Wow... some very humorless gents here...lol... I have had both hips replaced because of arthritis... the right one twice because I eventually cracked the plastic liner... my doctors had a fit when I started running on them three years ago... told me I should even be aware of how many steps I take on them... I know full well the difference between pushing through pain and aggravating an injury... I wasn't smacking down on docs... just pointing out they don't know everything and they sometimes give overly-conservative advice so they don't get sued.... I'd rather do an ultra than cheese doodle....

kat00_ca

Core exercises that will not allow you to use your feet to stabilize. i.e. Russian twist with legs up. Do leg lifts lying down. Use resistance band as you get stronger. You can do this on your sides and your back.

Upper body workout (light) so that it doesn't force you to use your fee to stabilize.

Swimming but mix it up. One day, do laps. Next day, do aerobics minimizing your leg movements, etc.

Source? This is what I had to do with a bum knee when I could not put any weight on it. I lost some muscles for a few weeks but was still able to maintain it though leg lifts, etc.

And last point, rest up if you have to but do not under any circumstances do ANY exercises that will force you to use your feet as stabilizer.