upper body and arm exercises

[EllenJane]

I have slightly hurt my ankle so I can't do my usual jogging, running, walking. Does anyone have any upper body or arm based exercises they could recommend to keep me exercising while I'm staying off my ankle? Also, I'm not sure if Fitbit would accurately log those kind of exercises. Do you think I should log them manually?

[djgough]

Hi EllenJane, Depending on the fitbit that you are using if it is a wrist one it will log arm movements as though they are steps - how accurate would probably be up to you determine.  If you have a local Gym that does Aqua Fit / Zumba then this is great for some basic resistance arm training especially if you use floats or noodles (you can check you tube for example videos) - I have done some Aqua Zumba classes this week and a 45 min sessions registered 5,000 steps which is an under-estimate especially considering this is more intense than just walking but I think it is rough enough on a time basis as I usually walk at around 1,000 steps in 8 mins, you could manually log your estimated difference.  Or you can use your or a friends pool.  This will take weight off ankle also and you might be able to do some light exercise for your foot.  Of course there is always the standard arm exercises like push ups, chin lifts and weights but these are not what you are looking for is my assumption.

[Dominique]

I personally like TRX (suspension training) for my upper body. I can do it at home, it hardly takes any space and it offers more flexibility than standard pushups etc.