Need help

klew356
klew356 Posts: 4 Member
edited November 2024 in Motivation and Support
Sorry if this is long winded but I need help, last year may 2017 I badly injured my leg resulting in a broken ankle, fibia broken in 3 places, a broken shin, dislocated knee and extensive ligamentous damage of the knee. The ankle and fibia was plated and pinned. I was housebound and off work for a long time. Since then I have had a lot of physio which ended in April 2018. I occasionally suffer with achilles tendonitis in this leg as well which I receive laser and massage treatment as well as stretching exercises, hot and cold treatment etc.
I dont use a stick and I do not wear any form of support as the physio advised against this so I did not become reliant on it. i have a dog which I walk every day. I can walk 3 miles. Can walk more but can do this comfortably. At my own pace. I do not walk as fast as I used to. Difficulty on uneven ground. Physio suggested non weight bearing exercise. I spin once a week. I find it harder getting on and off the bike than I do the exercise itself as I cant twist my knee the way ‘normal’ people can. I struggle to be on the floor on my knees and my balance isn’t great.
When I went for my year review they said give the ligament damage another year but surgically the ops were a success, he said my knee is at about 85% normality if that makes sense. Advised not to actually bike ride but exercise bike fine but once a week would be fine to start with.
My problem is I don’t feel very fit, im not very fit! im overweight and 30 something. I puff going uphills. I want to get fit but I am struggling to find an exercise I can do at home/outside that gets the heart racing so to speak? Helps improve my balance? I cant run obviously, I struggle to get up off the floor without something to hold on to so feel that yoga isn’t for me – im just looking for fitness ideas that I could do. Anything that involves twisting the knee is out really, so Zumba which I used to love I cant do
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  • alicebhsia1
    alicebhsia1 Posts: 82 Member
    what about some chair yoga or taichi/qigong exercises? they aren't really what will get your heart racing but i think they would help your circulation and to get your body healing and are better than nothing. i find qigong and taichi exercises a tremendous help to increasing energy and feelings of well being. real classes are much better than doing videos though. i have a hard time doing videos because the pace is fairly slow and i lose interest in doing them easily, but when you're in a physical class it's much more engaging. i also second swimming if you can find access to a pool.
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    I swim and agree with that advice. I know you said you want something to do at home, but if you can get to a pool you will get better results. Ask your doctor.
  • Stockholm_Andy
    Stockholm_Andy Posts: 802 Member
    edited September 2018
    @klew356 I'd be slightly careful with swimming. I'm rehabbing my knee also (although no were near as bad as you) at the moment and breast stroke really aggravates it. As it was explained by my physio kicking like a frog puts your knee in some strange places.

    My physio said I'd be find with crawl/free style which I have been. I haven't tried it myself but there's a lady at my local pool who "deep water runs" with a flotation belt. It looks a bit silly and I haven't tried it but I spoke to her and she swears by it for kneehab. For me it was just easier to do front crawl.

    Once I was comfortable putting weight on it again I found the cross trainer really useful. Especially the "free motion" ones which, sort of, mimic running. They're boring but you can get your HR up for cardio.

    That's not outside of course but I just had to suck it up this summer and hit the gym.

    I did buy an inflatable Kayak which was a great outside workout on the local lakes but it's not really the right time of year for that now :D

    As Kommo say for weight loss it's mainly about what you eat.

    Good luck and keep us posted.

  • 88olds
    88olds Posts: 4,552 Member
    edited September 2018
    I’ve recently started yoga. Struggling to get off the floor is a reason to do yoga, not a reason to avoid it.

    But it may be an issue of finding the right approach. There are a lot of yoga options online, some free, some subscriptions. There’s even yoga on our cable tv on demand. Look on YouTube for yoga or other exercise to work around an injured leg.

    A thing I learned from exercise is incrementalism. I’ve yet to encounter any exercise where I don’t improve by doing. Yoga may be more subtle than most exercise, but even at the clumsy beginner level I can now do things I couldn’t do when I started.

    Why don’t you do more stationary bike? Everything doesn’t have to be as demanding as a spin class. Try the recumbent bike. It may look like a sissy sitting down machine but it adds some ab work. Attacks muscles from a different angle.

    When approaching exercise, something is usually better than nothing. But beware of the overly demanding ramp up. Stay aware of your injury. Go slow.

    Last- you’re 30 something. I’m 60 something, which may give me this advantage. Nearly everyone I meet in my age group has limitations. Lots of bad shoulders, lots of bad knees. Bad backs.
    Keep looking for new things. Your mission is rehab, not performance.
  • klew356
    klew356 Posts: 4 Member
    Thank you all for your replies, I am definitely getting on track with the eating, its portion control that’s my down fall. I put on weight with the accident with being immobile and I have naturally lost weight to being more mobile but I still have a long way to go so that’s why my eating needs looked at.

    You know, I had never thought of a cross trainer, I think I am going to look to getting one at home but maybe have a shot on one somewhere else first. The swimming is a problem and it isn’t, I’m embarrassed to go for a variety of reasons but also because I struggle to get in and out of the pool using the silver steps, in fact I have never attempted it because I am scared, so I think I need disabled access stairs and handrail till I get more confident in myself. Maybe loose some weight and then try – will have a google of chair yoga tonight it sounds interesting.

    The spinning I am definitely improving , I couldn’t do any of the standing up stuff when I first started but now I can do a little, certainly not as much as everyone else but im getting there, slowly!
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    edited September 2018
    klew356 wrote: »
    I am definitely getting on track with the eating, its portion control that’s my down fall.
    I want to comment on this. As calories, aka portion control, is what controls your weight, I'm wondering what you mean by getting on track with the eating, if you somehow think of it "as opposed to" portion control. Many times, we think that we need to eat certain foods, and avoid other certain foods, in order to manage weight. Reality is so different that you can almost think about it as the opposite: In order to not eat too much, the food we eat, must be enjoyable. If we eat food we don't particularly enjoy, especially if we are afraid to eat food we do enjoy, we will feel deprived, and resentful, and entitled, and subconsciously do what we can to sabotage our efforts, even if we have decided on the rules ourselves. Breaking this pattern, and finding balance between needs and wants, is difficult, but so important, for health and wellbeing, including weight and fitness.
  • klew356
    klew356 Posts: 4 Member
    Well most nights I have meat and 2 veg, last night I roasted a chicken and had some of that with turnip, marrowfat peas, a baked potato and gravy. It was a medium potato, and I would say a medium sized breast worth of chicken. I don’t think that’s a bad meal, I didn’t salt it, or add butter to my potato. Im looking at my plate these days, most days and thinking do I need as much as that?
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    edited September 2018
    klew356 wrote: »
    Well most nights I have meat and 2 veg, last night I roasted a chicken and had some of that with turnip, marrowfat peas, a baked potato and gravy. It was a medium potato, and I would say a medium sized breast worth of chicken. I don’t think that’s a bad meal, I didn’t salt it, or add butter to my potato. Im looking at my plate these days, most days and thinking do I need as much as that?
    MFP tells you how much to eat - you decide what to eat and whether to stick to your calorie target or not. You can eat butter and salt if you want to - but you should weigh your food (I would say a medium sized is no good) - you have to look at your whole day, and how it matches your calorie target, and then how you're able and willing to eat day after day.
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    klew356 wrote: »
    Well most nights I have meat and 2 veg, last night I roasted a chicken and had some of that with turnip, marrowfat peas, a baked potato and gravy. It was a medium potato, and I would say a medium sized breast worth of chicken. I don’t think that’s a bad meal, I didn’t salt it, or add butter to my potato. Im looking at my plate these days, most days and thinking do I need as much as that?

    Eyeballing your food is very inaccurate. Buy a digital food scale and start weighing and measuring everything you eat and drink, especially butter and gravy, or other condiments. It isn't that you can't have them, but you may have to limit them to stay within your daily calorie goal. Try not to think of food as "good or bad".
  • thisPGHlife
    thisPGHlife Posts: 440 Member
    As far as being embarrassed to go swimming, I understand how hard this can be. For some perspective: if you think people are judging you, whether it's for your weight or fitness level or difficulty getting in to the pool, that's their struggles with their internal demands and I hope you know that it's not a reflection on you. They are strangers who don't know your story. You have worked really hard on the healing process and it sounds like you've had success so far. Plus, why should we care about the opinion of someone who is looking down on you for trying to improve yourself?

    I know I'm a stranger in the internet but I have also been struggling with fitness. In August I started going to a gym with a friend of mine. I was so nervous at the beginning. I'm the second largest person there and the other gentleman and I are are much larger than everyone else. We keep going because everyone at the gym is so nice and encouraging! All the class teachers are supportive. I've even had the gym owner as a teacher and he happily answered all of my questions. My hope is that your can find a place that is as supportive for your. Also, bringing a friend can help. I knew that at least one person would be rooting for me while we were there and that helped me focus on enjoying the exercise. Good luck and congratulations on the progress.
  • klew356
    klew356 Posts: 4 Member
    snowflake954 wrote: »
    klew356 wrote: »
    Eyeballing your food is very inaccurate. Buy a digital food scale and start weighing and measuring everything you eat and drink, especially butter and gravy, or other condiments. It isn't that you can't have them, but you may have to limit them to stay within your daily calorie goal. Try not to think of food as "good or bad".

    i will look to get some scales this weekend and really try to work on this food carry on.
    skram01 wrote: »
    I know I'm a stranger in the internet but I have also been struggling with fitness. In August I started going to a gym with a friend of mine. I was so nervous at the beginning. I'm the second largest person there and the other gentleman and I are are much larger than everyone else. We keep going because everyone at the gym is so nice and encouraging! All the class teachers are supportive. I've even had the gym owner as a teacher and he happily answered all of my questions. My hope is that your can find a place that is as supportive for your. Also, bringing a friend can help. I knew that at least one person would be rooting for me while we were there and that helped me focus on enjoying the exercise. Good luck and congratulations on the progress.

    thanks for your advice, the spinning class is good but the instructor always suggests i try one of the other classes like metafit - theres no way i could do that with this knee - and dont think i ever will
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