FRICK ON A STICK.

Today I went to my high intensity step class (an hour and half - usually i love it) but today I had an accident. I slipped off my step and my right ankle got sprained. I was in pain and stopped stepping, we soon did ab work and floor exercises for lower body toning, which I participated in, but about 10 minutes later I looked at my ankle and it was swollen like the size of a golf ball!!

Now I have crutches and have to stay off it for who knows how long. This is making me panicky because:

1. I've never injured myself this bad for anything before;
2. I'm afraid now that I can't exercise, I'll gain weight again and get depressed;
3. I' mpanicking because it's so uncertain as to when I 'll be back up and running.

Im upset about this. Any advice to offer?

Give the ankle some time to recover. The swelling puts pressure on surrounding nerve endings thus the pain. Make sure you rest the ankle, ice it, wear a compresion device like an ace wrap and elevate it. If you do weights, you can probably do some upper body work. In a few days you might be able to try some water exercises. The most important thing is for you to let your body heal right now. Don't fret. Most of what I've read says that days off from exercise are good for you. Get back to it when you can.