exercise with twisted ankle?

Question

I tripped and fell a couple of months ago, and as a result the ligaments on my outer ankle got twisted up. Looking at the ankle, there is still a little bit of bruising right on the ligament where the shin joins the foot, and underneath that area as well. It doesn't hurt to walk on it, but I cannot bend the affected foot all the way back. I can almost fully rotate it, but not completely. It is really bothering me that I cannot do a lot of exercising because I am on the line between overweight and healthy, and I used to be 20 pounds slimmer. I want to get started. What is advisable for me at this point... will my ankle ever really heal? What kind of exercise can I do? At this point I am just doing yoga and abs but I want to do more cardio.

Answer 1

I went through the same thing when I broke my foot about 6 years ago. The thing that worked for me is just go walking with some crutches. It's great for your arms, and you'll be sweating in no time.

You may also be able to do a stationary bike at the gym. The important thing is to listen to your own body. If it hurts, don't push it, and give it some more time to heal.

Good Luck

Answer 2

Good cardio for someone with leg injuries is to walk through a swimming pool. If you don't have an indoor pool near you but can find a gym, this is probably your best bet, so you can use a cardio machine. Usually I don't like cardio machines because they are boring, but when you are recovering from injury, they have a big advantage--your motion will stay consistient and the surface of the treadmill/eliptical/bike isn't uneven. I'd recommend the elliptical if you can handle it with your ankle, and the bike if you can't.

If you are trying to do this at home, be careful. You could go walking in your neighborhood if there are good sidewalks--bad sidewalks, dirt paths, or grass may cause you to turn your ankle and give you a setback. If you have stairs in your house, you could walk up and down them (don't worry about speed--just keep moving). If you try any kind of areobics or jump rope, keep your feet almost together--jumping jacks (because you land with your legs spread apart and need your ankles) would probably hurt you.

Answer 3

well there should be no problem lifting upper body.

personally I'm a huge fan of swimming (I was a big swimmer in HS) it's the ultimate low and in fact no impact workout. Get a membership to a pool and look up some workouts on the internet (or I can write you one if you want). Swimming is great intense cardio with some resistance training mixed in, and you can certainly do it with a limp ankle, even if you can't kick there's always pulling workouts.

p.s. squats and lunges won't strengthen your ankles, in fact if your doing them correctly it will probably just stress the ankle because of the way you should position your feet in both exercises to push yourself back up. But you do what you want, I'm just saying

Answer 4

First off, If I were you I wouldn't exercise quite yet. Better safe then sorry. It might not be fully healed and you don't want to re injure it. Plus there's other ways to loose weight. Go on a diet, but a healthy diet, eat normal amounts but eat healthier foods. Keep doing your yoga and abs, that will be enough exercise if you're eating right. I hope this helps you. Good Luck! =)

Answer 5

start with something slow that will get your ankle healing faster. because if you dont start using those mucsles and strengthening those ligaments then they will become weak and harder to use later. I would try walking (at your own pace). Squats without weights. and lungs always works great!

Good luck!

Answer 6

Just avoid anything that adds stress to that joint. Swimming is a good exercise for the entire muscular system. But increase your fruits and veggies as they will help you heal faster.

Answer 7

sit in a chair and do weight lifts with your arms, you can bounce, streatch, pretend to run sitting down..you can do alot without putting pressure on your ankle.. You can still do leg lifts with your other leg, sit ups and so on.