Bonus points for low impact and cheap/free. I have a foot injury and can’t run/bike/hike for a bit.
Editing this to say:
- Thank you all for the suggestions, I love the Lemmy community, and,
- I know a lot of workouts can be done at home, and these are all great ideas. However, I bike/hike because I have trouble motivating myself to just work out as an activity. I trick myself using fun, but I don’t know how to make indoor excercise exciting.
Thanks for asking this OP. I’ve been meaning to workout and in a similar position with some foot problems. Lots of great suggestions so far.
Chloe Ting workouts. Her website and app is 100% free.
I really like the Yoga with Adrienne YouTube channel. She has a large variety of yoga and strengthening exercises from super low impact to intense workouts.
You might have a look at Darebee workouts/programs. Can search by ‘upper’, ‘abs’, etc to cut out a lot of stuff your foot might have trouble with.
Get some resistance bands, they’re fairly cheap and you can do about a thousand different exercises with them.
Gonna be tough with no feet. If you have a place to hang some rings they’re cheap and you can do a bunch of stuff with them. If you can do an unloaded squat, in volume, that opens a lot too.
Yes. This is the shit I need. Fun dangly toys on my ceiling.
The straps have so many uses!
I should note that the anchors need serious structure, even more so if any swinging is planned.
pushups and planks
Not sure how well you’d do this with a bad foot but I’ve felt better doing bodyweight fitness. Works your core and calisthenics.
What I like about the routine is you can start at level 1 and once you’re comfortable you can increase the difficulty. Nearly all of it is equipment free. Maybe resistance bands or a pull up bar.
Push ups:
- standing wall push ups
- incline push ups (kitchen counter works well)
- traditional push ups
- more
Try the build up. Even just the stretching and basics would be a good work out if you’re out of shape.
This is great because I suck at push-ups. I hadn’t considered there was a whole variety of them to try.
How to Build Up to a Full Push-Up if You Can’t Yet Do One:
So now that we’ve outlined the ideal push-up on the floor, that’s great for those who have the strength to do it. But what if you can’t do it? Maybe you thought you could do them, but now that you’re trying with proper form they’re too hard! Or maybe you came to this guide knowing for certain you can’t do one. The solution is Incline Push-ups.
There’s even a level below that not mentioned. Standing wall push ups. Stand against a wall lean into it. Do push ups. Eventually you get comfortable and can do incline push ups.
Browse the site. It started on reddit r/bodyweightfitness but many contributors left during the exodus.
Try Pornhub… bonus points for being a Canadian site if you’re boycotting US stuff /s
Jokes aside, try the basic stuff that don’t require a machine, like planks. Just make sure it doesn’t put any stress on that foot
Turns out I can only get off using my feet.
Piggybacking onto this one, but with a specific ask: same as OP but:
- limited mobility
- spinal issues, no to low impact on spine
- aimed at reducing belly fat, and
- increasing muscles supporting spine eg core
- upper body strength as a stretch objective.
Genuine ask. Appreciate any advice.
Belly fat is unfortunately just calorie reduction. You can’t target fat on specific parts of the body, just overall.
Improving core strength with no impact on the spine is tough, as most core exercises will likely engage the back and spine. I would try to implement standard, good form push ups if you can. Planking is also an option, but again form is king. Do them properly, for less time instead of “cheating” with loose form if you want to make improvements.
As far as increasing strength in the muscles supporting the spine: these exercises and these exercises
As long as they don’t cause you pain. I’ve had a broken vertebra in my low back for over a decade and these exercises help me manage the pain.
My orthopedic doctor recommended to me exercising with elastic bands (cheap at any drugstore). It’s low impact and you can easily control how difficult it is.
Not the exercises I was given but this video gets the idea across https://youtu.be/fgKHFLe654U
Calisthenics.
If you have a little money to spare, get some good exercise bands.
Bench and dumbbells with weights. You can do bro splits adapted to dumbbells and skip legs (no one actually cares about legs 🙃) Personally I don’t think that workout can be fun by itself, there bound to be exercises that you will hate but you can have fun while exercising.
Strengthen your legs for yourself, not anyone else
With leg injuries it’s better to be cautious, especially if someone isn’t even able to hike or ride a bici.
Absolutely, just saying they are still important to work on for people who can, even if you are more likely to be complimented on arms, abs, etc.
It was a light joke about gym culture and leg day obsession.
Check out FitnessBlender.com. All home exercises and all free. However, for myself I found that I needed more structure so I bought a few plans like for $10 even though their videos are free. The scheduling kept me more accountable
Pilates! You can grab the book return to life for pretty cheap and it gives a breakdown of the classical mat work. It can be done on a yoga mat or some plush carpet pretty easily.
Weights don’t have to be barbells. You can just pick up heavy things. Go to the park and try to lift the stone garbage can containers or rearrange your furniture.
