Newly sprained ankle & needing exercise ideas please!

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ace175
ace175 Posts: 518 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
So Monday I sprained my ankle pretty bad running. I had just started to get back and motivated on my weight loss journey [after gaining back quite a bit of weight :( ]and it was my first day doing c25k when it happened. I'm currently in a walking compression boot, and the swelling/pain has gone down a lot, however it will start to hurt if I'm standing for too long (like a few minutes). I'm totally bumming because I was just re-starting and the past couple of days I've been failing miserably with my eating but now I want to try to get back on track even with my ankle. I'm just not sure what exercises i should do. I have some free hand weights, as well as a barbell with four 20 lb plates, so I could use those if I'm sitting in my chair.
I'm just wondering if anyone has any other suggestions I could do, or exercise videos I could look into that would be possible to do with my ankle. I have this boot on for at least 2 weeks, and I don't want to wait that long without exercise, because I feel like I will never get back on track.

Any suggestions are greatly welcomed! :smile:

Replies

  • 2hobbit1
    2hobbit1 Posts: 820 Member
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    Do you have pool access? How about swimming or water aerobics?
  • Arleigh7
    Arleigh7 Posts: 150 Member
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    As somone who tore their Anterior Tibual Tendon I feel your pain! :)

    There is a new machine at my gym but I can't remember the name of it. It's like a cycle except for your arms. So you sit on a seat and instead of pedling with your feet you "peddle" with your arms. You can change the traction to make it easier or harder and even move the handles up and down. That should be perfect for someone with a sprained ankle.

    Other things I can recommend are lifting weights in a gym but using machines with benches so you don't have to put any weight on your feet.

    And finally at home you could do various ab excercixes and stretching where your lying on your back or stomach and not putting any weight on your feet.

    Best of luck!
  • ace175
    ace175 Posts: 518 Member
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    Do you have pool access? How about swimming or water aerobics?

    I have a pool, but my foot isn't really flexing how you need it to when you swim...but that's a good idea for when it starts to heal more!
  • ace175
    ace175 Posts: 518 Member
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    As somone who tore their Anterior Tibual Tendon I feel your pain! :)

    There is a new machine at my gym but I can't remember the name of it. It's like a cycle except for your arms. So you sit on a seat and instead of pedling with your feet you "peddle" with your arms. You can change the traction to make it easier or harder and even move the handles up and down. That should be perfect for someone with a sprained ankle.

    Other things I can recommend are lifting weights in a gym but using machines with benches so you don't have to put any weight on your feet.

    And finally at home you could do various ab excercixes and stretching where your lying on your back or stomach and not putting any weight on your feet.

    Best of luck!

    That bike sounds interesting! I haven't seen it at my gym unfortunately. Yeah it looks like I'm going to be doing solely weight lifting...I'm just worried how that will impact my weight loss if I'm not doing cardio like the treadmill/elliptical, etc.
    Thank you for your suggestions!!
  • Shannota
    Shannota Posts: 312 Member
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    I had a BAD sprain April 2011. I was pretty much down for 6 months, as far as exercise was concerned. On crutches for about 3 weeks before I could even put weight on it. Best advice I can give is to be super careful about your diet. I used it as an excuse...I couldn't walk on it, so I couldn't really cook, so I did the drive-thru thing.

    Do not try to rush it. It will take awhile for it to heal. Sometimes it can be a year before it is back to normal. The dr. probably gave you stretches to do once you can move it again...do them. Things like tracing the alphabet with your foot, circles clockwise/counterclockwise, etc. These will greatly speed recovery if you can do them 2-3 times a day. I found that is was best if I did them before I even got out of bed in the mornings.

    Hope you are feeling better soon!
  • sarahjay1
    sarahjay1 Posts: 175 Member
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    On the 30DS video, Jillian suggests punches if you have a lower body injury. Do air punches, really fast to get your heart rate up. Combine with your weight training.
  • Heyyleigh
    Heyyleigh Posts: 268 Member
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    Girl, I feel your pain I am currently wearing a compression sock and pull off cast on my left foot. The my right foot had monster blisters! Hot mess. All done with exercise! I did go to the doctor and had xrays, and got some steriods, nothing that will make u gain weight and mine is getting better, and certaily not as bad as yours, but do control your diet and as others suggested & Jillian Michaels does offer the 30 DS. The key is to raise your heart rate you can do that sitting with some had weights :) Good luck and feel better.
  • i_am_losing_it
    i_am_losing_it Posts: 310 Member
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    I recently had an injury and got through most of the time doing chair (or wheelchair) aerobics. You can buy dvds for them, but I just used the ones on youtube, not much there but I would line several of them up on different tabs and do one right after another until I got a good workout. There is also some chair aerobics sites, they show you how to do seated twist crunches and other things while seated. Good luck, where there is a will there is a way!
  • hdsqrl
    hdsqrl Posts: 420 Member
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    When I was 19, both of my ankles were broken in a car accident (and subsequently patched back together with plates, pins and screws), so I'm well acquainted with trying to exercise with ankle limitations. :\

    The first exercise they had me do in therapy was to ride a bike. I don't know if that's possible with the boot, but it's something to think about doing gently when the boot can come off. I agree with your hesitation about the pool - everyone and their brother told me to take up water aerobics, but I found that the flopping of my feet in the water would cause my ankles to swell afterward. Not a good plan for me at all.

    What works consistently for me when my ankles get fussy is walking (very gingerly to start, and then they seem to loosen up and I can walk a little faster), weights, and ab work. I also try to work my ankles specifically by doing calf raises or other similar movements with little or no added weights. That helps to keep them strong and prevent future accidents.

    Hope you heal quickly!
  • pigote
    pigote Posts: 615 Member
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    One legged hula hoop? Boxing (seated of course)?
  • andeey
    andeey Posts: 709 Member
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    I tore multiple ligaments in my left ankle about six weeks ago and am in a walking boot, too. The ligaments healed a couple of weeks ago, but the flexibility was gone so I need the boot to walk. About a week after my injury, I started back at the gym and did purely weight lifting and focused solely on upper body stuff, absolutely zero cardio or lower body. After my ligaments healed, although I can't walk on my own, I begged my ortho for a brace to wear and so for the past two weeks, I go to the gym in my boot, then change into my brace and shoes and now I've slowly added lower body back (still no cardio, though) so I again am using machines to get some leg movements in and I have the ability to put full weight on the leg with the brace, so that's helped. I'm pretty much done and super swollen after an hour and go home to an ice bath for my ankle.

    So, I would suggest taking it in stages and don't push the lower body stuff until you get the "ok" from your ortho. The only reason he partially cleared me is that I told him I work with a personal trainer who has a background in sports medicine and the ortho felt comfortable with allowing me to use the brace while I work with the trainer. I'm in physical therapy now and getting more movement/flexibility every day, but it's frustrating, so I know where you're coming from. Just do as much as you can and feel good knowing you're not just sitting on the couch, even if you can't do a full body workout - every little bit helps!
  • dsjohndrow
    dsjohndrow Posts: 1,820 Member
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    While I was recovering from knee surgery I used the following at my YMCA gym: a rope climb machine, a bicycle/egometer (pedals for feet and hands) and a recumbent elliptical (sitting elliptical). All of those can work your upper body and get your heart rate going. So will running light sets with quick reps on a upper body circuit. You can skip using the bad leg, or both of them.

    Then you can do the ab works such as crunches, planks and leg lifts for some strength.

    One warning. Rotator cuffs are NOT knees and are going to require great care to not overuse them. I was riding 3 or 4 miles on a ergometer using my arms alone. I learned the hard way. It's easy to overuse them when you are used to running.
  • ashgav
    ashgav Posts: 8 Member
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    Don't rush it I had a bad sprain years ago and I became active with it too quick and to this day one wrong step and i'm in a brace like I am today. Let it heal correctly or you will regret it for life

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