HELP! Broken foot = no cardio!

SMILLS2122

HELP! So this weekend I broke my foot. i'm thinking great no CARDIO. I don't want to stop loosing weight so i thought i would turn to you, how can i stay on track with my workout with out actually running or doing much of any cardio (minus the workout i get on my crutches) any help at all would be grateful!

Thanks so much

sarah

PinkEarthMama

Check out videos for people who are wheelchair bound.

Strength train your arms, good leg, core, back, etc.

I spent six months in a cast, and put on THIRTY POUNDS... on top of the 30 I already should have been losing....

gemiwing

Rowing can be good cardio. There are rowing machines designed for wheelchair users that you could pull up a chair to- no back and forth motion to hurt your foot.

There are also seated workout videos that actually do work up a sweat- these are also designed for wheelchair users so there's no standing needed. I've bought mine from College Video (bad name but great workout videos).

psuLemon

Start lifting weights, and lift heavy. And in reality, you don't need exercise to lose weight. But weight lifting will help maintain lean muscle mass which will help prevent your metabolism from decreasing.

StephnElbow

use your arms!
try shadow boxing, where you dont need a bag to punch at but you pretend you do. put on some fast paced music and just go crazy. its not the same as running but you can still get your heart rate up. you can even learn some boxing moves.

bciochetti

You could find a gym with a hand bike as well!

EMarvie

sit in a chair and do punches - great way to elevate your heart rate.. go accross your body on a diagnal !
hope you heal quick!

kaetmarie

you can also use this time to focus on your food! you will continue to lose weight if you are on a calorie deficit

p0stdramatic

Punches!

runnermel

I found myself in this same situation. I had worked for years to lose weight, finally did it, then broke my ankle! I was so scared of gaining it all back. so, I asked my doctor what I could do to workout. which, I couldn't do much the first week, but after that, he told me that anything I could figure out how to do with my walking boot on, then I could do it. so.....you will laugh....but i did the eliptical!! I just used the one leg to move the pedals. it looked ridiculous, and people watched in horror, but I didn't care!!! then, I also went to taebo/kickboxing class, and did what I could, all the punching and arm movements and raised the one broken leg. it worked!!!! and I also paid very, very close attention to my sugar content. kept it as low as absolutely possible.

FrostyBev

As mentioned above maintain your healthy eating habits. Don't create to much of a deficit from food though or you'll slow your metabolism.

Are you in a cast or a boot that can be removed. If it's possible you can try water aerobics. Such low impact it shouldn't effect your healing injury but still give a decent cardio work out.

audddyy

When I broke my foot I had a fibreglass cast, which meant I could still swim and do a lot of things. Not run though which I was gutted about YET I could do water running with a belt so I maintained my fitness and didn't gain on that occasion. I only gained the 3rd time I had an injury, just lose interest and took a complete break for 5 weeks... not good made it so much harder to get fitness back and gained 5 kilos argghhhh... Good luck with it, hope you're not out for too long. Whereabouts did u break? I think the worst was when I not only fractured my tibula but also tore a ligament, it was the ligament that took longer to heal omg!

Dtrmnd86

Strength training is a great workout and you can just do arms/upper body. Or you can check out some boxing DVDs, which always gets my heart rate up without any lower body.

KyleB65

Is there a boxing gym near you? There are lots of upper body cardio exercises that boxer do.
Depending on the severity of your break and the adaptability of the gym you could work with a speed ball easily.

poledancing_ninja

When I tore a ligament in my ankle I did a ton of strength training and core stability and still lost weight Got really toned arms too!

jens1285

i've broken my foot several times along with various other bones. I tried to eat mostly vegetables some fruits and lean meats, whole grains and dairy once or twice a week. I aslo got many resistance bands which help tone and the doctor gave me the ok to use them on my broken leg (i'd check with yours first tho) but now is the time to really target certain areas.

aflane

I broke my right foot back in May, and then my left big toe 6 weeks ago (dropped a dumbel on it, doh!) -- so I'm going to speak from experience.

Depending on the severity of the break, a broken foot shouldn't slow you down that much. Give yourself 7-10 days for the initial swelling to go down. No running (obviously). The elliptical might be a bit difficult too. However, the stationary bike and rowing machines should be very doable. And while the swelling is subsiding, work those arms! Take a boxing class... you'll work up a MAJOR cardio sweat.

P.S. Anyone want a boot? I've got one for each foot in storage. Oh wait... I'm clumsy... I'll need them again. NVM

SuperMelRunning

Do you have access to a pool? You could do pool running.

MaximalLife

HELP! So this weekend I broke my foot. i'm thinking great no CARDIO. I don't want to stop loosing weight so i thought i would turn to you, how can i stay on track with my workout with out actually running or doing much of any cardio (minus the workout i get on my crutches) any help at all would be grateful!

Thanks so much

sarah

Swim - or think of something.
There are always possibilities when a person is determined.
If it were me, I'd insist on an air cast, then get on a board and swim laps.
Or go rowing in a boat....
Or lay down in an empty room and just rolling across the floor from one side to the other.

The only reason not to do cardio is if you just don't want to.

chrishgt4

Do weights.

Weights are much more effective for losing fat than cardio anyway.

emmaruns

I got into the best shape of my life healing a broken ankle! You CAN do it. If you can, get an "air cast" so you can swim and I'm not sure for a foot but I could do the bike with my post surgery ankle. Also, crutching is like cross country skiing through life - it's a workout!

MaximalLife

Do you have access to a pool? You could do pool running.

Another great idea!
Again, there is always something one can do.
NO EXCUSES!

Butterfly3730

When I sprained my leg, I did upper body workouts with and without weights. I used my HRM to make sure I got my heart rate up there. I knew I could take a break and just focus on food to lose but for me consistency is everything and I didn't want to break from my exercise routine. It worked!

heybales

Spin bike, one legged. 30 min at time, it is hard on the rear.

It's been shown in studies that this still engages the muscles in the other leg at least somewhat, and keeps the nerves firing too.

Did mostly this after a tri-mallaour break. And some swimming. And some arm spinning (boring!)

As soon as he gave me 25 lbs and 10% of movement in the boot, I found I could put the bad foot in and be within that range easy. Just didn't stand.

MaximalLife

Do weights.

Weights are much more effective for losing fat than cardio anyway.

So true, and still there are opportunities to get in some cardio.
But he's right.
Too often we forget how effective resistance is in this battle.

jcstanton

You could find a gym with a hand bike as well!

^^My thoughts exactly!^^ Also, you could look at it as an opportunity to build your upper body strength. You can still go for walks, but use crutches instead. You can still get your heart rate up by using your arms instead, and you're building upper body strength at the same time. Also, check around and see if some one you know has a wheelchair you can borrow for taking "walks" around your neighborhood. Pushing your body weight around in a wheelchair for extended periods of time can really get the heart rate up there.

SMarie10

Start lifting weights, and lift heavy. And in reality, you don't need exercise to lose weight. But weight lifting will help maintain lean muscle mass which will help prevent your metabolism from decreasing.

This^^ I had knee surgery in August, and was back in the gym three days later doing strength training. No reason not to keep toned and you can get an excellent workout with strength training. If you've not done a lot - get a few sessions with a personal trainer to get you started.

jcpmoore

When I had to have knee surgery I used to do a 30 minute abs workout daily that was run at my gym when I was younger. You can add more stuff to it, too. I posted some blogs on sparkpeople.com that you can view with ideas for workouts:

http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=3188515
http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=3194402
http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=3197933
http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=3205808

HTH

Hawksbillus

These are all great ideas. You might also try some pilates or yoga exercises. There are a lot of great things you can do with either of those that don't involves standing on both legs. I have a very bad back and all I do is yoga, for now. I'm not burning a "ton" of extra calories, but with a good diet I've definitely seen some good results.

stormieweather

You can do boxing (with a real bag if you got one!), lift weights, rowing, pushups, pullups, crunches, walks on crutches, etc. Check out http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/TheBeastWCBB/ and see what can be done without the lower body.

aqua_girl

When I had foot surgery a few years ago, I used a pilates tape and did mat exercises