--- title: "Severe Achilles Tendinitis and Exercise | Sutter Health" description: "I have severe Achilles tendinitis and can't even go on long walks for exercise. What workouts would you recommend while I recover? It's been weeks since I've broken a good sweat." url: "/ask-an-expert/answers/severe-achilles-tendinitis-exercise-1051061199" --- 1. Home / 2. Severe Achilles Tendinitis and Exercise # Severe Achilles Tendinitis and Exercise * * * Medically reviewed by - Arfan Din, D.O. ## Question I have severe Achilles tendinitis and can't even go on long walks for exercise. What workouts would you recommend while I recover? It's been weeks since I've broken a good sweat. ## Answer Achilles tendonitis is a tough condition to treat since many aerobic activities can aggravate the condition and one of the treatment strategies is to avoid these activities. Aerobic conditioning is incredibly valuable for cardiovascular health and wellbeing. Other activities that can help you break a sweat (increase your heart-rate for extended periods of time) would be biking (especially spin), swimming and yoga. Even fast walking would likely be ok - but if too painful, try using an insert in the heel (available at most drug stores). This shortens the length of the Achilles tendon and relieves some of the stress. The key to a good aerobic work out is to shoot for a target heart rate of 220 minus your age and then multiply by 0.8 ({220 - age} x 80%). If you have trouble with the math - just work out hard enough so that you are not too out of breath and can speak at least five-word sentences comfortably. Maintain this workout for 45 mins and aim for five days weekly. ## Explore related topics FitnessBones, joints and musclesAnkleFoot health ## Meet our care team Arfan Din, D.O. Family Medicine ## Related questions View all questions - Health Q&A ### Recovery Time for Sprained Ankle I sprained my foot/ankle about three weeks ago. 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Could it be related? If not, what are likely causes? View all questions ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"MedicalOrganization","name":"Sutter Health","@id":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/#medicalorganization","url":"https://www.sutterhealth.org","logo":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/static/images/sutter-health-logo.svg","address":{"@type":"PostalAddress","streetAddress":"2200 River Plaza Drive","addressLocality":"Sacramento","addressRegion":"CA","postalCode":"95833","addressCountry":"US"},"areaServed":{"@type":"AdministrativeArea","name":"California"},"sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/SutterHealth","https://www.instagram.com/sutterhealth/","https://x.com/SutterHealth","https://www.youtube.com/sutterhealth","https://www.linkedin.com/company/sutter-health","https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutter_Health"]} ``` ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/ask-an-expert/answers/severe-achilles-tendinitis-exercise-1051061199#breadcrumblist","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Severe Achilles Tendinitis and Exercise"}]} ``` ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"MedicalWebPage","@id":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/ask-an-expert/answers/severe-achilles-tendinitis-exercise-1051061199#medicalwebpage","url":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/ask-an-expert/answers/severe-achilles-tendinitis-exercise-1051061199","name":"Severe Achilles Tendinitis and Exercise","description":"Achilles tendonitis is a tough condition to treat since many aerobic activities can aggravate the condition and one of the treatment strategies is to avoid these activities.","inLanguage":"en-US","medicalAudience":{"@type":"MedicalAudience","audienceType":"Patient"},"isPartOf":{"@id":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/ask-an-expert/answers"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/ask-an-expert/answers/severe-achilles-tendinitis-exercise-1051061199#breadcrumblist"},"mainEntity":{"@type":"Question","@id":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/ask-an-expert/answers/severe-achilles-tendinitis-exercise-1051061199#question","name":"Severe Achilles Tendinitis and Exercise","text":"I have severe Achilles tendinitis and can't even go on long walks for exercise. What workouts would you recommend while I recover? It's been weeks since I've broken a good sweat.","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","@id":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/ask-an-expert/answers/severe-achilles-tendinitis-exercise-1051061199#answer","text":"Achilles tendonitis is a tough condition to treat since many aerobic activities can aggravate the condition and one of the treatment strategies is to avoid these activities. Aerobic conditioning is incredibly valuable for cardiovascular health and wellbeing. Other activities that can help you break a sweat (increase your heart-rate for extended periods of time) would be biking (especially spin), swimming and yoga. Even fast walking would likely be ok - but if too painful, try using an insert in the heel (available at most drug stores). This shortens the length of the Achilles tendon and relieves some of the stress. The key to a good aerobic work out is to shoot for a target heart rate of 220 minus your age and then multiply by 0.8 ({220 - age} x 80%). If you have trouble with the math - just work out hard enough so that you are not too out of breath and can speak at least five-word sentences comfortably. Maintain this workout for 45 mins and aim for five days weekly.","url":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/ask-an-expert/answers/severe-achilles-tendinitis-exercise-1051061199","author":{"@id":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/ask-an-expert/answers/severe-achilles-tendinitis-exercise-1051061199#expert"}}},"publisher":{"@id":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/#medicalorganization"},"reviewedBy":{"@id":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/ask-an-expert/answers/severe-achilles-tendinitis-exercise-1051061199#expert"}} ``` ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Person","@id":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/ask-an-expert/answers/severe-achilles-tendinitis-exercise-1051061199#expert","name":"Arfan Din","honorificSuffix":"D.O."} ```