It’s not easy to stay active when you have a foot or ankle injury. Most exercises you can do at home or at the gym usually involve the feet and ankles, so you may feel discouraged from physical activity. For some of you, you might be happy to have an “excuse” to not participate in exercise!

Sorry to burst your bubble, but there are alternative exercises you can try. We encourage you to keep active because it can increase circulation and promote faster recovery, as long as you allow your foot or ankle injury to rest and heal.

If your injury is not severe and you can still move your foot or ankle in low-impact exercises, try the following:

• Swimming is easy on the joints, and it’s a great cardiovascular exercise that does not involve bearing weight on your feet.
• If you can use your feet in a rowing machine, that’s also a good way to get the blood pumping and exercise your upper body and core.
• If you’re able to make circular motions with your feet, a recumbent bike is another great way to get a cardiovascular workout.
• Push-Ups can be done, either with more weight put on the uninjured foot, or with the injured foot resting on the uninjured foot. You can also do modified push-ups on your knees.

If you cannot put any weight on the feet or ankles, try some of the following:

• Arm curls, tricep extensions, overhead presses, and other workouts with free weights can be done while sitting on a bench, without any weight on the injured foot.
• Leg and arm workout machines, such as leg extensions, leg curls, lat pull downs, and other seated workouts that do not involve the feet and ankles can be done to work out many different body parts.
• Use a step stool to step up to reach pull-up bars to do hangs and pull-ups.
• Ab and core workouts don’t always need your feet or ankles involved. Rest your feet up on a workout bench and do some crunches or mason twists.

Before starting a new workout regimen, be sure to check with our podiatrist, Dr. Jonathan M. Kletz for a proper assessment. Make an appointment today at any of our Abrams (Dallas), Athens, and Gun Barrell City, TX offices so that we can help you stay active and get back on your feet!