Phoe Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 6 months ago I tore an ankle ligament. Anterior talofibular ligament, for reference. I'm struggling with alternatives to squatting, that give even close to the same results. I love squatting, it's my favorite exercise, but my ankle can't handle it. I can do a few squats with no weight, or maybe a kettlebell, but not weighted like I used to, and definitely not many reps. I'm losing muscle tone. I can handle the leg press a bit better than squatting, but it's still not great. Now that I can't squat, I find myself having to isolate muscle groups, which takes way more time. Glutes, I do scorpions and leg lifts on my hands and knees. Bridges are a bit painful on my ankle, but not horrible. Hamstrings and quads I find easy to isolate. Calves, however, are dying. I can't figure out a calf exercise that doesn't involve flexing the ankle, which causes painful clicking and popping. Glutes and calves need help, and I'd like to minimize the number of exercises and amount of time spent. It sucks going from doing squats, to having to do a variety of other exercises and still not get the results. Link to post Share on other sites
Imported Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 Maybe try glute bridge/hip thrusters for you glutes. Have you tried using different foot/angle on the smith machine for squats? search youtube for glute bridge/hip thruster, quite a few different ways to do it, with and without weight. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Author Phoe Posted November 17, 2014 Author Share Posted November 17, 2014 Maybe try glute bridge/hip thrusters for you glutes. Have you tried using different foot/angle on the smith machine for squats? search youtube for glute bridge/hip thruster, quite a few different ways to do it, with and without weight. I mentioned bridges earlier. They're a little painful still, but not insane at least. I can get it a few reps before my ankle gets weary. I haven't tried different angles with squats as I'm afraid of hurting myself. I'm wondering if deadlifts might be slightly easier on me. I never do deadlifts because my lower back is stupid strong and gets over involved. I should definitely focus on perfecting that technique to see if my ankle likes that any better. Link to post Share on other sites
EasyHeart Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 LET YOUR ANKLE HEAL! ywia 5 Link to post Share on other sites
Author Phoe Posted November 17, 2014 Author Share Posted November 17, 2014 LET YOUR ANKLE HEAL! ywia This injury happened 6 months ago, it's long past that. My doctor and physical therapist want me active. I eased off the gym training for 2 months after it happened, and my doctor accused me of being inactive and told me my muscles are getting weak. My therapist keeps trying to find more challenging activities for me. Sitting around is not the answer. Link to post Share on other sites
MrNate 2.0 Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 How can anyone forget the magic of weighted walking lunges? I say get two dumbbells, pick a good distance and do the walking lunges all the way to that point and back. Let them glutes go to town Link to post Share on other sites
Imported Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 This injury happened 6 months ago, it's long past that. My doctor and physical therapist want me active. I eased off the gym training for 2 months after it happened, and my doctor accused me of being inactive and told me my muscles are getting weak. My therapist keeps trying to find more challenging activities for me. Sitting around is not the answer. I'm like that for shin splints. Doc tells me take a break. So I do and when I start running again, much later, in worse condition....the pain is worse. Eventually I stopped listeing to my doctor and I run through the pain and eventually....no pain. I was running up @ where I could no longer point my foot correctly and was foot slapping, I stopped there. After a couple weeks, no problems. I don't know about your ankle though. Not really the same thing and I am not really a believer of taking it easy, but I am no doc. Bodybuilding.com - The Truth About Tendon Pain I know whatever tendon problem I had on my left arm, went away by workingout those muscles. Not by taking a break. You might consider lap swimming with a kick board and fins to workout your ankle in a different way. 3 Link to post Share on other sites
Author Phoe Posted November 18, 2014 Author Share Posted November 18, 2014 Imported, I did swimming for about a month and it did feel a bit less painful, but as soon as I stopped swimming it went back to how it was before. I'd prefer not to swim constantly, as my skin and hair don't like chlorine at all, but I may have to suck it up and start getting in the pool again. Link to post Share on other sites
Tiger Lily Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 I was going to say swimming, too (kicking, especially with fins). Just shower before you get in...wetting your hair before a swim will really reduce the amount of chlorine it will suck up. Your suit will last longer too, imo. Link to post Share on other sites
anika99 Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 How about the leg curl machines? There is one for the hamstrings and reverse one for the glutes. I don't use these machines much because I have a bad knee and these machines seem to put some strain on the knees but I don't think they would hurt your ankles. Link to post Share on other sites
thefooloftheyear Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 I say this as only a personal experience.....I dont want to give improper medical advice... I tore my rotator cuff pretty badly almost 2 years ago...It was hideously painful..Couldnt even move my arm from my side and couldnt even support an unloaded bar on the bench, despite being able to regularly bench over 400 lbs...Couldnt do a single pushup or dip..I opted to not have it fixed... It healed, to the extent that I am just as strong as before..It took almost 18 months to get there...Just little baby steps..but it came around.. Some of these injuries take a long time to heal...Some never truly fully "heal", but the body is such that it adapts and compensates by building additional muscle tissue in areas to offset the condition..This was told to me by the ortho...So you never know...Maybe you just need a little more time? I might also look into some support brace...I did something to a wrist tendon some time ago and the wrist supports helped until it fully healed...That deal lasted almost a year as well... Good luck and hang in there....Injuries are "part of the game", as they say...Hope you can recover.. TFY Link to post Share on other sites
Emilia Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 Check out Romanian Deadlifts OP. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
dichotomy Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 (edited) ankle issues are tough, I have been dealing with modest ones for a while now - along with lower back issues. Have you considered hip thrusts? Weighted if needed. Can hit glutes and hammies. Bulgarian split squats maybe? Also do you have a good pair of weightlifting shoes for ankle support ? I got these to help with ankle stability during my trap bar deadlifts (which I used to spare my back) Edited November 18, 2014 by dichotomy Link to post Share on other sites
Imported Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 (edited) Imported, I did swimming for about a month and it did feel a bit less painful, but as soon as I stopped swimming it went back to how it was before. I'd prefer not to swim constantly, as my skin and hair don't like chlorine at all, but I may have to suck it up and start getting in the pool again. Nobodies skin really like chlorine. Especially hair.Regular soap and shampoo really doesn't work to get rid of it and you'll smell like the pool. I add vitamin c powder to my bodywash and use that for my last scrubbing and shampooing. But I start out with this Amazon.com : Suave for Kids Kids 2 in 1 Swim & Sport Flippin' Citrus Squirt 12 fl oz (355 ml) : Shampoo Plus Conditioners : Beauty If you buy an adult version, it's like quadrouple that cost for some reason. Kid version works fine. You can find it in Walmart for like $2 a bottle.The difference between using swimmers shampoo/bodywash and regular is night and day for how the hair and your skin feels. Chloring doesn't really scrub clean, it needs to be neutralized by stuff that actually targets it. There's aslo this one http://www.amazon.com/LOreal-Extra-Gentle-Sport-Shampoo/dp/B00I5RIKLQ/ref=pd_sbs_bt_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=0JCB0F6VCEH724W91K5Y You can usually get it at Bed Bath and Beyond for $3 a bottle. Don't buy stuff like that from Amazon. I think they jacked up the price because they'd lose money shipping things like that. Amazon does have a bit more choices for swimmers shampoo, but those are all too expensive for my taste and it's not like they work any better. Yes, I tried all of them. Edited November 18, 2014 by Imported Link to post Share on other sites
FitChick Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 I have this DVD and it's not easy. Margaret Richard had foot surgery and worked out a nearly full body program for her recovery. Watch the clip to get ideas. Link to post Share on other sites
welyam Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 i am not on this type of exercise, but try the stairway to heaven. it might help as an alternative for squats. Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts