[Samybear]

I hurt my ankle last Wednesday, and went to the doctor today. I found out that I have a sprained ankle. My doctor said I will probably be better within 2-3 weeks since it is not bruised, just slightly swollen. I’m unable to do my cardio (elliptical machine) because of it. Is there anything I can do at home that would not hurt my ankle? I’m still doing my strength training, but only doing exercises for my upper body. I’m trying to cut out extra calories in hopes of not gaining any weight while I can’t use the elliptical. Any suggestions you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

-Samantha

[mandalinn82]

What equipment do you have? If you have a heated indoor pool, you might try swimming, but not everyone has access. My gym also has a "arm bike" - a stationary bike you pedal with your arms, but again, not everyone has access.

I tried to do heart-rate-rising UB workouts, based on some tips I got from here (I forget who gave them...Meg? Mel? Sorry for lack of credit to appropriate person):
1. Lift heavier weights than normal
2. Rest less between sets
3. Add some heart rate increasing exercises in between...tricep dips, pushups, etc. When my knee was out, I did both of these with only my good leg on the floor and my bad leg crossed on top of the good one.

[Lifeguard]

Try adding in some swimming.

As well I recently read (& of course I cannot lay my hands on the article now) that they've now discovered that movement helps recovery of ankles better than constant rest because it helps you gain range of motion faster.

[BlueToBlue]

I hurt my ankle recently and swimming definitely helped. My ankle would feel noticeably better after I swam. Places where you can find swimming pools that might sometimes be open for public use (usually at a very reasonable cost) might be your local community center, community colleges, high schools, and/or YMCAs.

Another thing that helped my ankle was icing it for 20 min in the evening.

[Scenestealer]

If you don't have access to an "arm bike" but you just got fairly light weights (1 or 2 pounds) and kept pumping them in a shoulder press or even in a cycling motion, and kept it up for a while, maybe that would get your heart rate going? I'm thinking out loud here - haven't actually tried this. However, I had an intense "leg day" yesterday so my normal cardio is out as well. I would love to hear others' suggestions!

[Gymgurl]

The best think you can do is STAY OFF it.....ice elevation and motrin. I was out of running for 14 weeks with a high ankle sprain. The more your on it the longer it will take. You might try the bike at the gym.