Plantar Fascia Strain: New excercises needed urgently!

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stevepound
stevepound Posts: 28 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I have been doing well with my lifestyle change, managing to do walking and jogging as my main excercise. I was really enjoying it too. Now I have strained the Plantar Fascia tendon in my foot, so I have to have it taped up and rested for 3 weeks.

I have been using the Playstation move tennis game as a form of excercise which gets me working a sweat. However I really need some other excercises to do in my own home to burn calories, without putting strain on my feet.
Also I need to be burning at least 300 calories in any excersise suggested.

All comments welcome!
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Replies

  • Sharonbed4d
    Sharonbed4d Posts: 163
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    Swimming is a great low impact exercise.
  • foxylady8098
    foxylady8098 Posts: 57
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    I would say get a boxing game for your playstation. I have a Gold's gym boxing game for my Wii and I build up a sweat every time I play that.
  • stevepound
    stevepound Posts: 28 Member
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    ah yes, i didnt think of swimming!
  • stevepound
    stevepound Posts: 28 Member
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    I think theres a boxing game coming out for the PS3 move actualy :-)
  • Andi_Mo
    Andi_Mo Posts: 243
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    Hi there,

    I just went to an Air Force running class on Monday and she discussed this condition. They said it is one of the ones where you really need to avoid the high impact exercises so elliptical, swimming, weight lifting or the stationary bike would be great. If you don't have any of these in your home, you could do a low impact DVD like walk away the pounds or something. Good luck. I know how painful this is : ( Get well soon!
  • stevepound
    stevepound Posts: 28 Member
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    its not majorly painfull to be fair. But it is a bit tender in the evenings after a the days out. Im hoping that the fact it isnt that bad means if I take care of it now, it will heal properly quite quickly?!!
  • RedneckWmn
    RedneckWmn Posts: 3,202 Member
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    I had it really bad before I started my lifestyle change. To the point where I couldn't walk in the mornings hardly. After about 30 or 40 pounds lost it is almost non existant. It gets sore from time to time but nothing to stop me from doing anything now. Def stick with swimming or elliptical. It will get better, I promise!
  • Michelle_A_Richmond
    Michelle_A_Richmond Posts: 7
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    I have knee and ankle pain from old injuries, but find that I can run and jump when I use these special shoes called Kangoo Jumps. It's worth a look - some gyms have Kangoo classes where you could try them out and see if it hurts your foot. http://www.kangoojumps.com
  • panther87
    panther87 Posts: 78 Member
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    I have had Flare ups of Planter Fascitis off and on over the years. I had a chiropractor instruct me to roll my feet on a golf ball at the end of the day. it was really tender the first few days but now i look for ward to my 'foot massage' at the end of the day. I also know avoiding 'white' foods' really helps too. As they are the ones that tend to add to the inflammation. As for exercises i would do biking, elliptiacal or swimming as they all can burn a fair amount of calories in a fairly short time and are lo impact. Good Luck.
  • CakeFit21
    CakeFit21 Posts: 2,521 Member
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    I'm currently recovering from this, (plus Achilles tendonitis) and my doc has told me I can continue on the elliptical as long as don't use any incline. He also said to stay away from major mileage, (I took this to mean more than 3-4 miles) in the beginning and add gradually add. Also, said the bike, rowing machine and weights were fine. I've been off of high-impact for almost 3 weeks and healing is going very well. I expect to be jumping and running next week, (fingers crossed). Stretching has been the thing that has moved my progress along the fastest. If I rush stretching before I feel the twinges towards the end of the workout. Also, taking time to stretch throughout the day has really helped! It's true, if you do take care of it now it will heal quickly but it can come back if you aren't stretching properly. (That's what the doc told me)

    Did you have a list of stretches to do? I can send you a link if you like?
  • DJeter22
    DJeter22 Posts: 8
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    I had the same thing and it was at the point for me that it was really painful. I iced my foot at night and filled a plasic water bottle with water and froze it and used that to roll my foot on. That felt amazing. After getting a great pair of shoes and working out on a regular basis the pain started to leave and is now gone. The rowing machine would be a great workout along with elliptical and stationary bike. You could also do push-ups for a good cardio workout. I hope it feels better soon and good luck with the new exercises! :)
    Dea`Dra
  • DJeter22
    DJeter22 Posts: 8
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    I have had Flare ups of Planter Fascitis off and on over the years. I had a chiropractor instruct me to roll my feet on a golf ball at the end of the day. it was really tender the first few days but now i look for ward to my 'foot massage' at the end of the day. I also know avoiding 'white' foods' really helps too. As they are the ones that tend to add to the inflammation. As for exercises i would do biking, elliptiacal or swimming as they all can burn a fair amount of calories in a fairly short time and are lo impact. Good Luck.

    Something that feels amazing is filling a water bottle up and freezing it and then rolling your foot on that. You will love that. I also made sure to wear good shoes with high arch supports in them. I have a high arch support and would always walk barefoot, I no longer do that and slip on my flip flops while in the house. :)
  • paddlemom
    paddlemom Posts: 682 Member
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    Two things I discovered about Plantar Fasciitis
    1) It is an inflammation, when I was intructed to ice my feet for 20 minutes the last thing I did before I got off them at night, it worked wonders for eventually giving me relief.

    2) it is as much a symptom of mechanical issues higher up as it is a foot problem. My daughter who is highly flexible saw a specialist who demonstrated to her that because her balance was off as a result of poor alignment of hips and spine, she would compensate in her feet. Try standing up and rocking back and forth, you will notice that you tense in your toes and feet to recover your balance. She was given exercises to strengthen her lower back and hips and improve her alignment so she would more naturally hold her balance. it has made a huge difference.
  • stevepound
    stevepound Posts: 28 Member
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    Yes please I'll have a list of stretches if possible to help me!
  • 35again
    35again Posts: 46 Member
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    I've also had this in the past and what's saved my feet in having a good pair of support inserts. Not the cheapy Dr. Scholls you buy at Walmart. I got some SOLE inserts that are heat moldable. They cost me about $45 and had a 90 day money back guarantee. After wearing them almost the 90 days they weren't quite cutting it and so I went back to the shoe store I bought them at and they did some modifications. I have a high arch and a heel spur so they added some arch support and drilled a hole in the heel area to cushion the spur more. It's made all the difference for me.
  • AEROBICVIC
    AEROBICVIC Posts: 159 Member
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    I've had it in both of my feet several times when i lunge hard (teaching aerobics) so I really have to watch some of my moves. what really works for me other than cortizone shots, doing ABC stretches with my feet (one foot at a time, point and draw A, B, C....to Z with my toes). it stretches every angle your foot can move, wearing Nike Shox shoes because the heel incline, very little walking barefoot, rolling foot on frozen bottle of ice and lots of regular stretcing. i can feel when i over use it or over train so i back off when needed. low impact or cycling classes are great when the problem comes back.
  • CakeFit21
    CakeFit21 Posts: 2,521 Member
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    Here's that list of stretches!

    http://www.plantarfasciitisbraces.com/plantar_fasciitis_stretching_exercises.html

    I was also just reading about how writing ABC's can help with rehab! I thought it was so funny yet made so much sense! It was in the context of an ankle injury, but I can see where it would be beneficial here too. My toddler will think it's hilarious.
  • stevepound
    stevepound Posts: 28 Member
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    thanks for that! Looks like an easy to read website too :-)
  • Nich0le
    Nich0le Posts: 2,906 Member
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    keep walking or running. I had a bad flare up about two years ago and I finally went to see a foot doctor and found out that I wasn't wearing properly fitting shoes and that the inactivity or lack of use is actually worse, you want to keep the fascia warm and stretched to avoid more tearing.

    I was put on a regimen of aleve every 12 hours for one week, advised to do several stretches, including picking marbles up with my toes and I wear an ace bandage designed to hold your arch in place while sleeping. Also Ice when ever possible. I have also found that it helps to rotate my ankles and flex and point my toes BEFORE attempting to get out of bed. Now if I have a flare up it is rare and only lasts one or two days and is generally after I have upped my mileage.

    runnersworld.com has a ton of info on prevention, recovery and stretches just for this subject, I would recommend checking it out.
  • dragonflyjill
    dragonflyjill Posts: 94 Member
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    I used to have orthitics, fitting by a chiropodist, and that really helped. But since taking up yoga (Bikram specifically) I can proudly say it has completely healed my feet! I think the standing on one leg balancing strengthened all those little muscles and corrected the alignment.

    Jill

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