Help me not atrophy

[rydra_wong]

So, yeah. I broke my foot.

If you want the details, it's a stable Lisfranc injury. It looks like I'm lucky and won't need surgery, but I can't do any weight-bearing on the injured foot for at least four more weeks from now, and will be shifting to gradual weight-bearing in a brace after that.

My right leg is going to get super-strong during this time; I have half a suspicion that I may learn how to do a pistol just from getting up off the floor to standing (I tend to sit on the floor a lot).

But obviously, I'm worried about getting very imbalanced.

I'd love any suggestions and ideas about things I can do to maintain/improve strength in my left leg without putting my left foot on the floor or weighting it at all.

I've got a few ankle weights, including one that's 3 or 4 kg; I can strap things onto the ankle fine without stressing the foot.

So I've got a few ideas already, but would appreciate any thoughts anyone's got, as well as tips and ideas in general about strength-training when temporarily one-legged.

Comments

[yvi]

Oh, that sucks!

I am not sure if that actualy works, but if you 'only' need to keep the weight of the front part of the foot, could you stand on a little platform for things like deadlifts and squats (using a lighter weight than usual) so that only your heels take the weight? Might be too risky and/or unstable, though, I have never tried this.

[yvi]

And looking at that fracture, that's probably way too much towards the heel part of the foot for this to be feasible :/

[rydra_wong]

Alas, it's no weight-bearing on the injured foot at all; I'm on crutches.

[weirdquark]

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor and don't know anything.

But this sounds like a time where you'll actually want to use machines instead of free weights and do leg curls and leg extensions -- those should put the pressure on your shins instead of your feet.

[rydra_wong]

When I can get to the gym again, yes -- I don't drive, and the gym's way further than I can get on crutches at the moment.

So, home stuff for now. But I only have 12 more days of total non-weight-bearing ....

[daedala]

Are you on Facebook? There's a Stumptuous group, and I've seen some very good advice for recovery there from Krista herself or a few of the other great trainers. If not, I'd be happy to ask for you, with your permission.

[rydra_wong]

I'm not on Facebook, so it would be awesome if you could ask! Thank you!

[daedala]

Hmm, I should have asked -- gym access? Or just at-home stuff?

[rydra_wong]

At home stuff if possible. The gym is a long way away on crutches.

[weirdquark]

If you want to do things at home you could do leg extensions and leg curls with ankle weights or even static holds where you sit in a chair and hold your leg(s) out in front of you; you can also work on things like L-sits which are mostly core but also are static holds for the legs.

[rydra_wong]

Yeah, I'm now doing some leg extensions etc. with ankle weights. Probably don't need the leg curls as that's getting worked enough whenever I'm on the crutches and holding the left leg flexed to keep the foot clear of the ground.

Oooh, good call on the L-sits. That'd be a nice way to work core stuff ... *plots*

[faesdeynia]

I fractured my calcaneus (heel bone) a few years ago, and was much in the same position. No weight bearing, and only an hour of standing time per day for a month - as if the pain would let me stand even that much. It really sucked. I was forbidden from lifting weights for six (SIX???) months.

I took up swimming that summer. It doesn't do much of anything for resistance work, but it was a fabulous way to keep conditioned while I was unable to tolerate upright exercise.

After a month of no exercise, my right leg was all weak and tightened from limping, and I had a lot of pain from my Achilles's into my lower back. The swimming helped tremendously with that. Massage therapy was also quite nice.

It didn't take nearly as much time to get back to where I was once I did start lifting again, however. If you end up in a situation where you can't make it work, you will be able to get back with less work than the first time around.

[rydra_wong]

I have been told I'm not allowed to swim for another month or so. Apparently it involves too much pushing through the forefoot. :(

[abyssinia]

I have no idea if swimming is a possibility for you, but when I was on crutches this summer swimming was my life-saver. It let me get exercise (including the broken leg) and it gave me an hour where I could move freely and easily rather than struggling on crutches.

The suggestion of machines is great and it's great you can do ankle weight exercises. There's some great hip ones where you lay on your side and move your upper leg up and/or out with a ankle weight. You can also do chair leg lifts, etc. Actually, I know nursing homes do a whole series of chair exercises with the elderly - I bet you could find some on youtube and use/modify.

In terms of other training, you can still do knee pushups and shoulder presses can be done while sitting. Handstands and pullups if you're super careful and able to control it. You can also try lying on your back and holding your legs just off the ground - it's a lot of core, but some quad.

Hopefully you'll be like me when this is over - I was shocked when I started rehab at how much I'd lost, but because I was in good shape with good muscle mass before the injury and knew how to work, it came back quicker than I was worried it would.

Good luck!

[rydra_wong]

I have been told I'm not allowed to swim for another month or so. Apparently it involves too much pushing through the forefoot. :(

However, I'm doing one-legged pushups (with the bad foot wrapped over the good one, so I'm not too asymmetrical). And assorted seated weight exercises, and pull-ups.

I'm not feeling like it would be a good idea to try a handstand, though -- too much chance of accidentally landing the bad foot on the ground when I come out of it.

[abyssinia]

Aw, suck. I was worried about the swimming - that's never been good when I had ankle injuries, but I wasn't sure if the foot might be different.

Those pushups and such sound great. I know for me, just trying to get around my daily life on the crutches was pretty substantial exercise too, it was just an exercise in frustration in addition to physically.

Point about the handstand - wasn't sure how good your control was, since I knew you'd been doing them longer than me.

Glad you've found some things that work! Hope the healing is going as well as can be hoped. And I saw our comment below about the oddly painless - isn't that the weirdest/hardest part? Mentally continuing to force yourself to crutch on something that doesn't hurt?

[malka]

You could try lying on your back and doing upside-down "squats" and "walking" with heavy ankle weights on. It seems like that would emulate some of the muscle movements used in standing/walking, but without putting pressure on your foot.

[rydra_wong]

Hrm, I wonder if that could be combined with some of the Pilates-type core stuff, where you have your legs in the air ...

*plots*

[lyorn]

I don't have any suggestions that have not been made already, but consider sympathy and good wishes sent! Get well soon!

[rydra_wong]

Thanks! Doing my best!

[rachelmanija]

OWWW. Sorry, no advice to add.

[rydra_wong]

It's actually been weirdly painless, after the first few days (and as long as it's off the ground).