Exercising with bum ankles?

hdsqrl

Hi all,

When I was 19 (I'm 40 now), I was involved in a rollover car accident that left both ankles crushed. The orthopedic doc on call in the ER that day was a miracle worker, and went in with pins, plates, screws, etc., patched them back together, and although my parents were told my ankles would never be weight-bearing again, I was up and moving in physical therapy within 6 weeks' time. The 19-yr-old body heals remarkably well.

That said, I do have considerable limitations with my ankles, and have been fighting weight issues my entire life (even before the accident.) I know that both weight training and cardio are necessary to help drop the pounds (which, in turn, will help my ankles even more because they'll have less weight to bear), but here's what I'm running into:

Walking: I can do fine, assuming I'm on flat ground and there are no weird weather patterns coming our way. Inclines ask my ankles to flex more than they're able to. Weather can cause the ankles to be stiff, ache, and sometimes swell.

Running: I can run to the car in the rain, or trot out to the mailbox across the street, but can't actually -run- even the length of a city block, due to ankles needing to flex as I hit the ground. Each of them are pretty much limited to a 90-degree angle, flex-wise, and they can point only at about a 150-degree angle (I can't get a straight line on my foot when I try to point my toes.)

Swimming/aqua aeorbics: No-go. I tried for several months but realized the flipping of feet in the water will lead to ankle pain the next day. Same with the running-in-place in water.

Stationary bike: This I can do, but often feel pain in my right knee (not sure what happened to the knee, but it also gives me trouble on the quad machine. Leg press machine is okay, though.)

Elliptical/Cross Trainer: This I can also do, and is how I've been finishing my workouts lately. I'm starting to get bored with it but am not sure what else might work for cardio.

P90X & other at-home DVD-based solutions: Since I've battled weight my whole life, and have quite the collection of at-home workouts, I ordered the P90X with the thought of "how hard could it be, REALLY?" Hah! Yeah, well, it's freaking HARD. And you can forget the Plyo workout (ankles won't permit jumping/bouncing), and any other portions of workouts that ask you to jump in any manner. I've looked at some of the other BeachBody workouts as well, but am concerned they'll also ask for lots of jumping.

Help? What am I missing here? Surely other people with bad ankles also work out...what possible cardio options am I completely blanking on?

bjfrezell

Either try talking to a physical therapist or a personal trainer to get some ideas. Either one can probably design a program specifically for your needs.