Excercises to do when you can't use a leg

Hi All-

   I'm getting ankle surgery on December 3rd and will be in a cast for 3 months. Any advice on exercises I can still do for my legs? I miss running :(

Push ups, sit ups, pull ups, prone crawls...are you going to have to be really worried about jostling the leg or getting your heart rate too elevated?  You may just have to deal with a period of time without exercise depending on what your doctor says.

You should try pilates.  A lot of it is mat work on the floor.  I bet you could modify most exercises to work for you. 

As far as cardio goes though...most cardio is full body.  I just can't think of anything that would work...you know what?  If you have a playground nearby you could try the swings.  So long as you can move your knee it's perfect.  If you were to swing for about 30 minutes you would still get a decent core cardio workout.  I know it's a kooky idea but hey.  Maybe it's worth a try?

Best of luck with the surgery!

Karen

Original Post by scgrl143:

Any advice on exercises I can still do for my legs?

1-leg squats, 1-leg romanian deadlifts.

Hah! I love the swinging idea - I never thought about that! I have a couple of healing stress fractures in my left leg, so I'll have to try that!

OP, a week or so ago, someone posted a similar topic. The best suggestion in that thread was something called "chair aerobics," which is aimed at people with restricted motions (I think probably primarily for the elderly?). Anyway, it's something to look into. I would guess it's a mild cardio workout at best.

If you're in a hard cast, there probably isn't anything you can do to prevent significant muscle atrophy in that leg, which sucks, but maybe you'll be in a removable cast? If so, ask your doctor if it might be okay (after the incision heals, clearly) if you remove the cast and get in the pool. Pool running is as boring as all get-out, but it at least works the right muscles, and is impact-free. You need a deep pool and some sort of wearable flotation device.

What's going on with your ankle? Is the surgery for muscle, tendon or bone?

I'm sorry to hear about the injury in any case, and I hope your recovery goes quickly and without incident.

Original Post by floggingsully:

Original Post by scgrl143:

Any advice on exercises I can still do for my legs?

1-leg squats, 1-leg romanian deadlifts.

 

So do you think it's a good idea to have your legs be so unevenly worked? I'm genuinely curious. On the one hand, I can appreciate not having to rebuild muscles in both legs once the cast comes off. On the other hand, I can imagine that having one leg be really fit, and the other leg be atypically weak (as it would be after a hard cast) could lead to strange strains once you start walking/running again. I'd be worried that too big a difference could lead to a new injury, but that's just intuitive.

Thanks for all the advice guys. Yeah, my ligaments are destroyed, my tendon is messed up, i have bone frangments and old fractures that didn't heal propery. Doc said when I stand, my bone is out of the socket. Getting it cleaned out and having the ligaments re-built and tightened and what not. yuck.

Original Post by scgrl143:

Thanks for all the advice guys. Yeah, my ligaments are destroyed, my tendon is messed up, i have bone frangments and old fractures that didn't heal propery. Doc said when I stand, my bone is out of the socket. Getting it cleaned out and having the ligaments re-built and tightened and what not. yuck.

Oof. So, so sorry. That sounds very painful. Given all that, I'd clear anything you do with your doctor first.

Original Post by kriklaf:

So do you think it's a good idea to have your legs be so unevenly worked? I'm genuinely curious.

It's fine, there is actually evidence to suggest that working one leg will significantly decrease muscle loss (or possibly lead to muscle gain) in the other, non-working, leg.  I think Eric Cressey wrote an article on it a while ago.  I'll see if I can dig it up. 

I used this video when I was recovering from a serious illness:

Sit & Be Fit

But it's for seniors, so you might not like it.

Here's a link to the "chair aerobics" thread - click.  I used the DVD when I was having knee issues and just wanted to be able to get some activity in so I wouldn't go nuts.  The DVDs in the series are aimed at anybody who is recuperating from illness or injury or is otherwise unable to do any typical high impact aerobic stuff, and yes, it's basically lightweight aerobics but it was better than nothing.  I think the Sit & Be Fit videos are somewhat similar.

I kept doing a good upper body weight training routine, and also started working on one-legged weights work as soon as I could.  For you I would think that's going to depend on what your doctor recommends and how capable you are after the surgery.