Any fitness-regimen advice for the recently hobbled?

Wow, what a quick response. First off thanks everyone for the concern; my ankle's healing nicely, and so long as I keep from aggravating it it should continue to do so.

Hello,
sorry to here about your injury hope you recover soon. As for some exercise i done sit ups on my bed,leg scrunches,( laying flat knees bent ,pull in as far as you can straighhten back out repeat),laying on your side,knees bent raise leg up and hold to 10,repeat ,same on other leg and do some weight lifting with dumbells or soup cans .I had both knees replaced ,so exercise was a must hope this helps you.you could also do bicycle the old fashoned way like gym class while on your bed.

That's good advice, I'd never thought about leg lifts (like the 80's style aerobic video girls, right?) I have some resistance bands I could incorporate into that as well. Cycling while laying down is a good idea too, probably the closest to an aerobic workout I'll be able to get between the times I manage to get myself to a pool.

What about pool running? You can wear a flotation vest and run in deep water where there is no impact. It is boring but it is a hard workout! I did it when I had a back injury, and I actually had a friend with a leg injury do his Boston Marathon training that way....

I've never heard of pool running, that actually sounds like an interesting idea- even after my ankle gets better. I tend to build muscle in my upper body reallllly quickly, so I've generally avoided extended swimming regimens despite loving how easy pool exercise is on your body (I'm broad shouldered enough as it is without all the extra bulk that comes from laps.) Pool running sounds like it might be a nice solution to that.

The pool is a definite must if you cannot put any weight on your ankle fully. If you can do it in intervals then the Elliptical would be good for you. It is more legs and arms then it is ankles and knees. Maybe instead of Cardio, you can start your strength training regiment; sit ups, curls, so on… I am sorry about your ankle though

I'd kind of eliminated the elliptical with all the other exercises that require you move on your feet, but you're right, there's virtually no impact there. (Might be able to borrow my boyfriend's if I can dig it out of the stacks of papers it's buried under.) And yea, good old strength training is definitely going to have to form a large part of my routine for a little while here. (Especially since I don't currently have a membership to any gym with all the assorted machines that might be able to afford me a more aerobic version of traditional strength training.)

Pilates. If you're not used to it Pilates can seem easy or just weird, but the more you do it the more you realize you can engage even more muscles for a really challenging workout. I prefer mat exercises, but I've never sweat more than in a cardio class taught on equipment. It was as intense as a good spin class.

Hmm, they have plain old mat routines with Pilates? I'd assumed that various equipment was always involved. I'd be interested in trying out just a home-video type thing before investing too much into equipment and/or classes. Do you happen to have any recommendations in that regard?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAeZZbpi8Ow
I tried this out and it really does work up a sweat... and it's all done seated, so no impact on your ankle, Just be careful on some of the moves, like bouncing your knees, you may have to do leg lifts instead.
Good luck!

That's an awesome link, thank you