Medically Reviewed by Dr. Rachel N. Verville
March 20, 2016
Plano patients who regularly exercise know how hard it is to miss a couple days at the gym. Pausing your normal routine after a sprained ankle not only affects your physical health, but the lack of endorphins, can make your mood worse. Unfortunately, if you resume your normal activities before your podiatrist recommends, the resulting impact can leave you at greater risk of permanent damage to your ankle or foot.
How Long Should I Wait Until Exercising?
Foot and ankle sprains typically need an extensive period of rest before they can bear much weight. Severe injuries such as fractures can take weeks or even months to heal completely, ruling out high-impact exercise such as jumping, running, and dancing.
Instead, you can stay in shape with low-impact workouts that can help strengthen other muscles for increased stability and balance when you do resume your normal routine.
Low Impact Workouts
A low-impact workout is any activity that does not require you to put a lot of stress on your joints. Many of these activities can give you the same endorphin release as high impact exercises, such as running or dancing. Some options to stay fit while recovering include:
- A total body workout, swimming takes strain off of your sprained ankle and helps you develop upper body strength as well as overall body conditioning.
- While mountain biking is initially out of the question, biking on a flat path or road can help you slowly rebuild muscles while your foot or ankle heals.
- Though some yoga requires standing or stretching which may be painful, you can find poses that strengthen your core and mental focus.
All of these low-impact exercises are challenging in their own right and will keep you in good shape as your body heals.
For tips on how to resume your exercise routine after injury, call our Plano office at 214-385-8822 and schedule an appointment with Dr. Verville.
