I broke my foot. Alright, so I just fractured my ankle, but being in an aircast for nearly a month has really opened my eyes to the difficulties people must have when they really break a bone. It’s harder to get around. It takes longer to do pretty much anything. And you constantly have moments where you are incredibly jealous of the perfect able-bodied people around you. The biggest struggle I’ve had, however, is the inability to run. I have been training for a half marathon for the past 2 months and this injury has not only set me back in training, but also my routine of exercising. So if you’re like me, broken and in need of something to get the blood pumping, here are a few exercise suggestions.
Weight lifting
Don’t go crazy with this. You shouldn’t be doing deadlifts. This would put way too much stress on your bad foot. There is no reason you can’t lift dumbbells while sitting, the lateral bar and even bench pressing. If you haven’t really lifted weights before, it is always good to either ask a trainer at your school’s gym or even use the internet as a resource for what kind of lifting you should be doing. You don’t want to severely injure another part of your body!
Swimming
This is pretty much the only way you can get cardio in with a broken foot. Do not use your feet to kick. Unless you are further into your recovery and your doctor has permitted more mobility for your foot, you should let your core and arms do all of the work. This makes it a far more demanding workout, but you will feel great afterwards (though definitely not during).
Ab workouts
Other than planks, you can pretty much do all the classic ab workouts like leg lifts, crunches, bicycles, etc. The important thing to remember when doing these exercises is to make sure you are using your core, and not your back. If you hurt your back, it will be almost impossible to get around with a strained lower back and a broken foot. So please be careful!
Crutches
If you were like me, I was on crutches for a while. Since I live in Boston, I was crutching about a mile a day around the city. If you are serious about keeping in shape, opt for crutches instead of the scooters. Beyond the cardio, my arms and shoulders got a workout every day.
It sucks to have a broken foot. Believe me, I know. But that doesn’t mean you have to lay in bed and act defeated. Sure, there are days that I doubt that I will be able to run the half marathon because I won’t be in shape or I will have a hard time with my foot, but at the end of the day I know that if I do everything I can for my health, even with a broken foot, I will bounce back better than I was before I fell down my apartment stairs. A winning attitude is the most important component. As Nike would say, JUST DO IT!