[mimi86]

Hey guys, just looking for some pre-emptive advice here.

I've been doing 30 day shred level 2 three to four times per week for exercise. Last night is around my ~10th time doing it, and I noticed that once I got into the cardio sessions my ankles were really hurting when attempting to do the higher-impact techniques like jump rope and skaters. I ended up just jogging, which probably cost me in the heart-rate department, but I added an extra 30-second round to each cardio section and didn't take any breaks to make up for it. It still hurt my ankles a little bit, but not as much as letting my full weight come down on one or both feet really quickly.

I have flat feet, but I wear orthotic arches in my sneakers. I feel I have really good form for my squats--never letting my knee extend past my feet. I can get my thighs parallel to the floor, but it IS kinda hard because half of the squatting exercises in Level 2 require you to lean forward for a dumbell row, which (now that I think of it) might be putting stress on my ankles as well even though I keep my heels planted carrying most of the weight.

Is there anything that you can do to give your ankles additional support? Can you get things like ankle wraps at CVS/Rite Aid, or do those restrict movement too much to be able to work out in them? (I'm totally a newbie when it comes to that stuff).

I feel like I already don't work out enough as it is. I've totally plateaued, and I've been trying to up-calories and up-exercise from doing aerobic workouts 2-3 times per week to 3-4 times per week :[. So I don't want to have to cut back on my workout frequency if I can help it, but I also don't want to injure myself so that I DEFINITELY can't work out.

If I had a pool, I would swim, but other than that I don't know what other exercises give an adequate amount of cardio without stressing the ankles. I've NEVER had problems with my ankles before...usually it's the arches of my feet that cramp up!

Any advice? I'm sitting here at work and my ankles are still a little sore (but not swollen!) I'm off my feet with my butt in a chair for most of my work day, but apparently that's not enough to recover every night! For further reference it's more of the front and outer ankle (like if the front of your ankle where your foot points out is 12:00, I have pain from 9:00 to 1:00)

[ddc]

I would not work out if you have an injury. Take some time off and rest.
You could wear a brace while you're resting. It might help.
I'm one that cannot do high impact stuff, so I just modify to lower impact. I don't think it matters that much in the grand scheme of things. So what if you burn a few less calories. The most important thing is to be injury free.