How to Exercise with a Broken Foot?
Being broken is not a hindrance, but we must improvise and work around it.
Breaking your foot affects you more than just the actual injury. With your mobility impaired, your sense of independence is, too. So, at Fitoverit, we’ve taken some time to provide alternative exercises for those with broken feet.
People living with Fibromyalgia and those recovering from injuries such as Fibula Fractures or even Stress fractures can still benefit from low-impact exercise routines to improve their overall quality of life without causing any further damage to the injured area.
The first thing we’ll cover today is some general tips and tricks regarding breaking a bone:
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Tip 1: Contrary to popular belief, breaking your bone is better. This is because the initial treatment of a fracture can be non-invasive, unlike an injury still in the process of maturing where the surgery will be required.
Tip 2: The best time to perform these exercises is during the first three weeks after the incident. Exercise too soon, and you risk further damage to your already injured foot.
So, with that being said, let’s discuss some easy but practical exercises that you can do right now without any equipment!
1. Calves Raises
First, we’ll need to elevate our feet to work on those calf muscles without putting pressure on our broken feet. Place something sturdy, like a chair, under your feet and raise them. The higher, the better, but it’s okay to be seated if you cannot reach that height.
Start working out slowly and steadily, doing ten reps each foot 3-4 times a day. If it feels good, increase the number of sets or repetitions.
2. Standing & Sitting Calf Raises
Standing calf raises are another excellent way to exercise your lower body while limiting the stress on your broken foot. After elevating yourself onto something sturdy like an office chair, grab hold of something stable in front of you for balance—just in case standing alone makes you dizzy! Slowly rise on your toes and go back down at a steady pace. Repeat this process for 10-15 reps.
If standing seems like too much of a workout, then you can always opt to do seated calf raises instead by doing the same thing but sitting down on the chair with both feet flat on the ground. We’re still targeting those lower leg muscles here, so we must be careful about putting more pressure on our broken foot during these exercises.
Once again, perform around 10-15 reps each foot 3-4 times a day if starting, and slowly increase this as you feel comfortable enough to do so!
3. Resistance Bands/Tubes
What you’ll need: resistance bands or tubes, ankle weights
While different types of resistance tubes and bands will be acceptable for this routine, we recommend using the lighter ones so that you have more room to increase their intensity gradually. Once again, starting slowly by wearing the ankle weights for only a short period would be best. You can slowly increase the duration or weight as your body becomes accustomed to it.
For those with Fibromyalgia, these exercises are great because they’re easy on our joints while still helping us tone up in the process! This is equally effective for someone recovering from their injury but doesn’t want to go overboard just yet since there’s no resistance in the band/tube! How handy, right?
4. Yoga & Relaxation
What you’ll need: A quiet room, a yoga mat, or even a towel, for that matter
When dealing with chronic conditions such as Fibromyalgia or a broken bone, Yoga is always an excellent way to keep blood flowing without damaging the body too much. Start slow and steady by inhaling deeply through your nose while going into Child’s pose on all fours on your yoga mat. Hold this position for about ten deep breaths before moving on to the next exercise!
If sitting down on the floor seems like too much of a challenge, grab a nice, comfy pillow from your bed and fold it in half so you have something cushiony to sit on during these exercises instead! Ensure you stay hydrated before performing any exercise since your body needs plenty of fluids to keep everything running smoothly.
Once you’re done with Yoga Yoga, you should sit for about 5-10 minutes on boogaloo, meditate, listen to soothing music, close your eyes, and take deep breaths! You can also do all these exercises together, which is ideal if your time is limited, like most people’s.
Now that we’ve provided you with some quick but effective ways to tone up without putting too much pressure on your broken foot give them a try! These great routines shape our legs and calves and increase our flexibility, so it’s worth trying them!