Training with an suspected Ankle Stress Fracture

Pain & Rehab Forum [Moderated]
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First up just want to thank you for all the amazing work you guys are doing. I’m a newbie lifter in my mid 40’s and have found your content hugely helpful.

I ran the beginner prescription from March to July 2022 and have just started running The Bridge.

I’ve been having some mild pain in my ankle for a few weeks. I was hoping it would go away itself so I’d just continued training as normal, but it now seems to be getting a little worse.

I’m concerned I might have an ankle stress fracture and that although the pain is pretty mild I might be better off keeping the weight off it for a while. For info, I’d actually broken this ankle pretty badly playing rugby back in my early 20’s so I’m used to it being a bit niggly, but this seems different.

Is there any substitute movements for squatting and DL’ing that I can do that would minimize ankle stress? I presume I should be able to bench as normal, but should I be switching my press to a seated press? and barbell rows to incline rows?

Any advice really appreciated.

BTW I know I should go and get the ankle checked, just probably wont get a chance until next week.

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Quick update: Got to the hospital and had xrays. No stress fracture, just strained tendons with swelling around the ankle. The Doc said the ankle bones are in good condition with no signs of arthritis or other issues - which is good to know considering nobody had looked at it since I broke it c. 20 yrs ago.

I had stopped Deadlifting and squatting for a week and the ankle did seem to be getting better. Last night I thought I was OK to start squatting and deadlifting again at about 85% of my normal weight. But the ankle has flared up a bit again since.

If anyone has any advice that would be appreciated. Would continuing to train with strained tendons prevent them from healing / cause more serious complications? Or can I just train on through it and it should heal up anyway? Is the strain more likely to be caused by the squat than the deadlift (or vice versa) i.e. should I consider dropping one of the movements but should be ok to continue doing the other?

Thanks in advance.