I need a high-impact exercise that won't impact my foot

Hey guys!

So, I promise I'm not the kind of person who whines because of a wimpy "injury." I've torn my ACL twice and was retired from soccer due to a concussion that cracked my skull- I consider myself pretty tough. (I'm losing the weight brought on by the sedentary non-soccer lifestyle that followed my forced retirement at age 17.)

But now my heel is hurting like mad. I can barely walk on it in the morning, and then it slowly eases up during the day. The treadmill, however, has become impossible. Five minutes into my routine (30 min @ 6.5 miles per hour) I have to stop because of the pain.

Can anyone think of a cardio workout that won't put pressure on my heel?

Peace!

Have you tried an eliptical machine or bike?  You can get a great cardio on either without the constant pressure on your heal, espcially biking whether stationery or outdoors.

a bike should be pretty easy on your feet. even the elliptical would be better than the treadmill because you don't have the impact of slamming your heel down

What's with the attitude that talking about injuries is wimpy?  People who don't take injuries seriously and don't do what they need to recover wind up taking lots of involuntary time off!  It's toughness to work hard but just stupidity to ignore injuries until you can barely walk.

thanks guys! I totally forgot about biking. I can't do the ellipticals yet because of stability issues in my knee, but I'm doing strength training, which should help that out.

hey melkor-- my mom has plantar fasciitis!! scary stuff. You're right, I do need to go to the doctor. boo.

if you want high impact for upper body you can try doing a rowing machine. Swimming can be very intense if you are really pushing you self...you can get a good endurance workout.

Biking is a great cardio workout; have you taken a spin class?  I find it helpful to be in a room w/a bunch of other people who are working out just as hard as I am!!

Just be careful of your knee--I have a torn meniscus and can't do all of the jumps or standing spinning in the class.  My physical therapist has also told me to keep the resistance light and to back down when there's any pain (obviously!).

Good luck!

D

Definitely plantar fasciitis.  You need more arch support.  I myself had to quit soccer at the ripe old age of 18 from repeated dislocations of both knee caps (9 to be exact) and i have suffered nerve damage to my knees and my lower thighs so I think i may be of some use to you.  Along with melkor's correct observation of possible PF, i too have found swimming to be a life saver.  I cant hardly run at all, and even biking causes frequent cramping in my knees.... you may not have this problem (the doc told me i would have been better of breaking both legs than doing the damage i did)  : (   And this may seem weird but i also really like taking a fairly heavy medicine ball into the shallow end of the pool and performing slow squats and lunges so that im getting the strength training in an environment where im comfortable to focus everything on what im doing rather than worry about balance or dropping the weight or my legs giving out on me.  I hope this helps.

I agree with those above - I also had plantar fasciitis and basically you get small tears in the tendon that goes underneath your foot and attaches to your heel - you should never walk barefoot - always wear something with arch support - LL Bean makes comfort mocs, which my podiatrist recommended since I wouldn't spring for the $400 shoe inserts - my feet are totally fine now - but you should go to the doctor because they can give you a cortizone injection which will take the pain away for a few weeks so you can do more - hope you feel better!