exercise after ankle surgery

[mermaidkitchen]

I had ankle surgery recently and am in a boot. I can't do my normal exercise routine or even go on walks. What can I do? I'm feeling like a lump. I'll be in this boot for 6 more weeks.

[Anonymous]

You can do upper body strength while seated. You can do modified yoga poses. You can do a modified mat pilates class. Unfortunately cardio will be a challenge, but these other activities will help keep your muscles toned.

[Anonymous]

Hi! I shattered one of my bones around the ankle and was booted for 12 weeks last summer. You can do a TON. What's your current weight-bearing restriction, if any?

[mermaidkitchen]

Anonymous wrote:Hi! I shattered one of my bones around the ankle and was booted for 12 weeks last summer. You can do a TON. What's your current weight-bearing restriction, if any?

I'm in a boot but I can put weight on it. This was ligament reconstruction so I'm not supposed to do anything that would stretch the new ligament and I have to keep the boot on.

[Anonymous]

Whatever you do give your ankle time to heal before putting weight and strain on it.

[Anonymous]

All injuries suck but you're lucky to be full-weightbearing the entire time! I had 8/12 of the weeks working up to that.

You can do every upper body exercise seated or standing. Depending on your comfort walking with a heavy weight you may need someone to bring it to you. If you don't have dumbbells or a barbell and plates, heavy bands are easy to find and not expensive and def order some. Of course there are a ton of bodyweight upper body exercises on the internet and those apply to both healthy and booted people the same.

You can do every ab exercise on your back on the floor. If you can't pistol squat down on your good leg, you can sit in a chair and use it to help you lower yourself to the floor and get back off it.

A lot of people only think upper body but 6 weeks is a long time off for your lower. If you're full weight bearing the only thing you can't work is your calf, every other muscle is possible with some creativity and dumbells or bands. All of these were possible in a boot at full weight bearing:

--banded side-lying or seated hip abduction exercises (or fire hydrants from your knees) for gluteus medius
--deadlifts (make sure you have a lift on your other shoe to even you out) for glutes and hamstrings
--single and double leg press lying on your back with bands for whole leg strength
--banded donkey kickbacks for glutes
--elevated single leg hip thrusts for glutes and hamstrings
--seated banded leg extensions for bad quad
--pistol squats (or easier progressions) for good quad
--If you decide to go to a gym when they reopen, the leg press machine was possible in a boot.

If you make the exercises hard and heavy enough you will get out of breath and sweaty enough. Start light and quickly ramp up to where it's heavy and challenging if you don't feel pain. You'll feel way better than if you sit and wait for 6 weeks and recovery will be easier. I got in great shape in my boot and kept it up since with heavier weights. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Follow your doctor's instructions with respect to weight bearing and boot use. If anything increases your pain, stop, but if it doesn't hurt and it fits within your doctor's orders, and you're not doing anything dumb like going for personal record lower body lifts with a heavy barbell, you'll be fine. The boot will prevent your ankle from moving and you can prevent bad atrophy which can cause other joint pain.