Looking for Help with workout with injury

[Tugger31]

I've been battling plantar fasciitis for almost a year and in that year I've gained 10 lbs and have lost almost all of my strength and cardio capacity part due to pain and part due to depression over the pain. I'd love to hear some suggestions b/c I'm mentally drained from trying to come up with rotation plans/workout ideas only to be side lined again. Upper body isn't a problem, but lower body and a cardio, not sure what to do. I've tried walking workouts and they cause pain. Alot of yoga causes pain, ie the back foot in a Warrior pose if that's my PF foot the pressure hurts. Ive tried wall squats with a stability ball behind my back, again foot pain just from the pressure. I don't own a rebounder. I need to something to keep my sanity! I have been to the Orthopedic doc twice in the past year as well as physical therapy. I feel like I want to loosely follow a rotation b/c I need some sort of "plan" just winging it isn't working for me.

Thanks for any words of advice!

[zraipel]

I don't have any ideas for cardio, but for lower body strength, could you do floor work? Either side-lying or kneeling/plank position exercises should allow you to avoid putting pressure on the bottom of your foot. For added resistance you could use ankle weights. Tracy Anderson's mat work would fit the bill. Winsor Pilates and Ballet Beautiful has a lot of floor work as well, but some of it is done in bridge position, so I imagine that would aggravate your injury, but you could skip those exercises. There are probably lower body exercises you could do with resistance bands as well.

Cardio is definitely tricky. Do you have access to a pool?

You could also try boxing (not kickboxing) but you'd just have to be careful with foot placement.

Edited: Didn't mean to try boxing in a pool, lol! I meant those as two separate options.

[bzar]

i agree with the suggestion for floorwork, particularly "Getting Better" by Margaret Richard who created the workout when she was recovering from foot surgery.

if you have access to a pool - swimming or aquatics?

chair workouts? there's several options. click on the tags in this thread for ideas.

[bubbles76]

So sorry you are going through this. I was also going to suggest boxing and floorwork. Good luck!

[yogapam]

I’m sorry you’re going through this!

I turned to swimming when I had PF and also when I was recovering from a broken ankle. It’s great cardio & I used fins and hand paddles to add resistance.

[Tugger31]

Unfortunately I have no access to a pool.

[patrice]

You Tube has lots of chair aerobics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbfVrvCdV3M

Patrice

[TracyQ]

Do you enjoy Pilates? It doesn’t burn a ton of calories but I find it to be very healing to the body and it really strengthens your muscles without any impact.

My favorite instructors are Bernadette Giorgi (DVDs), Move with Nicole (YouTube) and a lot of her workouts are filmed on a beach so the scenery will lift your spirits and Pilates by Lisa (Streaming).

The Pilates side lying leg work, when done correctly and consistently will keep your legs strong while your foot heals. Not to mention how strong your core will get.

By the way, I suffered with PF for a long time about a decade ago. I tried everything to get rid of the pain. What worked for me was doing most of my workouts barefoot (I know counterintuitive). I really don’t know why it worked but it did.

It does get better so hang in there. I know how discouraging it is.

[donnamp]

Have you tried Caroline Jordan on You Tube - i believe her whole channel started b/c she was dealing with a foot injury.

Donna

[JackieB]

Margaret Richard's Getting Better, Ellen's Fusion Floor, Essentrics floor workouts, and various YouTube workouts for injuries were my staples.

I'm sorry you're dealing with this. Have you switched healthcare practitioners? Seems like you're not really getting anywhere with your current care.