You don’t have to be an athlete to know how much lower body injuries (ie: knees, ankles, feet, etc.) are a pain in the tush. Perhaps you’re not even into fitness, but somehow you’ve sustained an injury. And you think, uh oh–how can I stay in shape if I can’t use my lower half? Now I’m not suggesting you’re paralyzed or anything, but if you have a torn meniscus, you better not be doing any running or leg work. Chris and I have had our fair share of lower body injuries, torn meniscus, bruised gliding plates, sprained ankles, the list goes on. However, fitness-buffs and athletes that we are caused us to search around and get creative in order to stay in shape and not melt into a puddle of jelly.
You may not think you can get a cardio workout just with your arms, but you can. Some of my friends may remember during my injury, me puffing red in the face with jelly arms after one of these specific workouts excluding the lower body. So let me share some tips.
1. Arm cycle. Look around in your gym. You see that older-looking machine that nobody ever seems to use? The one with nowhere to put your feet, but pedal-looking things for your hands. Go and sit on it. It’s an arm cycle. And it’s a hell of a workout and a great upper-body strengthener and toner. Start at 30 minutes. Set it to whatever level desired. Then each day you use it, turn it up 2 minutes until eventually you reach 60 minutes. It’s tough and sometimes hard to keep going, but it is a machine that will keep you in shape.
3. Seated boxing workouts. Now when I injured my knee, I was out for a long time–very frustrating. And while doing the arm cycle was keeping my cardio in shape and also my muscles in shape, I wanted variety. Chris offered this seated boxing workout and it kicked my butt, but made me very strong. This is for ones wanting variety or those without an arm cycle. Try this one out:
- Sit down on a chair, back straight, shoulders back. Have two dumbbells in your hands, could range from 3 to 10 pounds. I would definitely start with 3 pounds or 5 pounds. You may think, oh I can lift way more than that, but just wait for what you will be doing.
- Start shadow boxing for 1 minute using the dumbells
- After 1 minute is up, pick up the dumbbells (or you can get heavier) to do curls for 1 minute.
- Done with the curls? Back to 1 minute shadow boxing with dumbbells
- After that minute, put down your dumbbells and get yourself on the floor for 1 minute of push-ups.
- Rest for 1 minute
- Do the same last 4 exercises again–that’s one set
- Do 3 sets of this.
It may look like nothing. But go ahead and try it, it is an excellent workout. Be sure to have water nearby when you do so. Stay hydrated during your rest periods. It is a high intensity workout that takes no longer than 25 minutes, typically.
Otherwise, you can do your typical upper body strength workouts (chest, triceps, back, biceps, shoulders, core depending) seated. This way, there is no pressure on your lower body and you can get your muscles in shape.
Good luck and let us know if you have any questions! And don’t forget to focus on healing too!
