Ankle Sprain and Quad Exercises

[Elle]

I fell down the stairs the week before Thanksgiving (so I’m 4 weeks out) and earned a grade 3 ankle sprain. It was spectacularly and unforgivably graceless.

I’ve been seeing a PT who was recommended by other lifters, and he’s been helping me figure out what barbell movements I can safely maintain, but I’m stuck on how to keep my quads in any kind of shape.
I am back to being able to bear weight on my ankle enough to RDL 95-125lbs depending on the day, mess around with some good mornings, OHP in an ugly off-balance kind of way, and Bench.
But I have impingement and can’t bend my foot enough for any useful squat-like movements (or even to walk down the stairs).
When I’m able to get to the gym I’ve been doing leg extensions, but since I can’t drive yet that’s not a reliable plan. At home I have the normal squat rack setup and some dumbbells and bands.
I’ve done some desperation sets of wall sits, but are those even worth the suffer fest?

Does anyone have any other recommendations for general programming with a bum ankle?

[Mark Rippetoe]

So, you absolutely cannot squat, deadlift, or rack pull? Have you actually tried?

[Elle]

Absolutely cannot even body weight squat to depth, working on body weight squats to a box or while holding onto TRX straps since those are a little less knee bend. Also doing some pathetic ROM split squats as part of rehab. I have a hard stop before my knee gets over my toes, something about the ligament in the front of my ankle being swollen and then smashing it between my bones.

I still can’t walk without a limp and generally speaking my ankle’s ability to bear weight is much more limiting than my strength.

Haven’t tried rack pulls, I can try them. When I RDL more than those low weights, my ankle swells up like a hot angry balloon. My PT asked if I’d rather get better so I can start really lifting again, or keep pissing it off for the sake of feeling like I’m working out. He said I can do anything that doesn’t make my ankle worse for more than 12 hours. I figured there was no point in trying a deadlift since that’s heavier and more knee bend, although I suppose I could try heavier for fewer reps.

Im open to any feedback / different advice. You can tell me to just suffer through it. Just looking to get back to lifting heavy weights as quickly as possible and ideally being able to walk again.

[Mark Rippetoe]

I think you wait about 10 days to lift anything again, and walk twice every day for increasing distance. Start back with rack pulls, increasing the ROM until you reach a deadlift, and then try squatting again.

[Elle]

Thank you.

[Elle]

Hey Rip,
So, my ankle never got better. I tried walking for increasing length, but could never get more than a block or do any weight bearing exercises (including OHP) without my ankle swelling up. “Everyone” (PT, family, lifting friends) said I was just pushing too hard, and that sprains can take 12 weeks to heal. I tried doing some bodybuilding machine crap, but mostly just devolved into less and less strength training as I tried to avoid all the things that made it worse.

At 12 weeks I went to an ortho, who took x-rays and said that actually, I’d had a full break on the bottom of my fibula (basically the ‘ankle bone’ broke off where the tibiofibular tendon attaches) and also a hairline fracture on the back of my tibia where another tendon attaches.

I guess lesson learned, pay for the stupid x rays up front and trust yourself if it doesn’t feel right. Looking back now it makes much more sense why hamstring curls hurt so bad…

Anyway, the bone is partially healed but the lower part still has a gap, ortho thinks it’s mostly because I haven’t stayed off it at all. He wants me to wear a walking boot (a tall one up to my knee) for 6 weeks and use a bone stimulator. He said the main problem is weight bearing makes my fibula want to “split apart” so I can’t carry added weight, even with the boot on.

Any ideas on exercises or am I doomed? How do you feel about working out just the good leg, will that cause weird imbalances that aren’t worth the trouble to fix later?