The non weight bearing blues! What to do when you are not allowed to run due to a foot injury.

So you just came back from the doctor and they told you that you have a stress fracture, peroneal tendon or Achilles' tendon tear.  Now what? You have been working so hard at staying in shape and then this happens! Most people go through this and feel very helpless.  We are going to try to get you through the next 6-12 weeks with an approach to stay fit when you can't use your feet!

Now what your treating physician says always stands as the best advice, as they are the person that is intricately involved with your specific problem.  This article is meant to give you options to discuss with your doctor about what you can do to stay in shape during your recovery period.

In the world of burning fat, cardio is king.  I can not tell you over the last 13 years in seeing patients, how many times patients get almost angry at me because they hurt their foot or ankle, and require immobilization.  Immobilization can be a walking cast, a fiberglass non-weight bearing cast or even a wheel chair.  Not being able to use your foot or ankle is a real bummer for patients, especially patients that either love to exercise or those who know with out exercise they will be gaining weight!


Cardio always becomes the first concern with patients with a foot or ankle problem, "what kind of cardio can I do, now that I can't use my foot?" One option is to focus on your upper body to help get that cardio kicking.  An example of this would be an arm ergometer, instead of pumping the legs on a bike, you are now relying on your arms to help get that blood pumping. Keeping the heart rate up is the goal with cardio and this is a great way to do so!



Circuit training with upper body weights is another great way to get that heart rate up.  Choose lighter weights at higher repetitions for maximum benefit.  Make an upper body circuit for every other day of the week.  We suggest the following:
Monday: triceps press over the head and triceps kick backs, low weight 15-20 reps X 3
Wednesday:  biceps curls and then alternating biceps curls,  low weight 15-20 reps X 3
Friday:  chest press and then chest flys, low weight 15-20 reps X 3


If what is wrong with your foot or ankle does not involve any stitches or sutures, then you should ask your doctor if it is O.K. to go into the pool. If you can't run on the ground, maybe your doctor will let you run in the pool.  A great device for running in the pool is called a buoyancy belt. This will allow you to run in the pool without any ground reactive force coming into play.

Below are some of these items mentioned above that you can find at Amazon online.  We wish you the best and hope for a speedy recovery! If you would like to learn more about your foot or ankle condition check out our webpage at: http://centeranklefootcare.com/id86.html