I've broken my collarbone 4 times, but wasn't a swimmer at that point so I can't comment on the first.
However.. I have used walking in the past when I've been injured and couldn't do any of the three sports. For me.. I don't know if it served any real purpose as far as keeping me in shape. It might have helped a bit for running just because of the impact and keeping some strength in the legs. But that's just a guess. The main reason I did it was that I suddenly had 2-3 hours free every day and didn't know what to do with myself! So it mainly served to keep me from going crazy.

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Team Every Man Jack

That is a big part of why i am doing it as well, to fill that time gap that used to be spent training. Just a wish that it has some real benefit. I think it does have a small benefit but it is hard to quantify.

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Mike Plumb, TriPower MultiSports
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Broke my collarboner pretty bad in 2012. 13 total breaks, had to be pieced together with bone putty, an 8-inch plate and 12 pins. Started going for long walks two days after surgery and walked about 10 hours a week for 3 weeks, after which point I was able to get back on the trainer. Was able to do an Ironman 5 months after surgery, but I was only back in the pool for a few weeks before the race. Not the best swim of my life, but no problem getting through it. Definitely recommend walking and finding some long flights of stairs to climb. Heal fast Mike!

I have broken both collar bones and had the right side plated. I just got the plate taken out 2 weeks ago after leaving it in for 10 years, which explains why I have been posting a lot to this forum recently :-).

Stair climbing is probably the one "walking" activity that you can do that has some aerobic benefit but isn't very jarring. Ride the elevator down for safety.

Riding a stationary bike sitting straight up does work very well. Find something you can attach ski pole or wooden dowel to that you can use as a high "handlebar".

In terms of swimming, that is probably the best rehab out there. I did almost all my rehab that way and it really addresses your lost range of motion and strength quite well. Once they clear you, you can get in the pool and float your arm around on a paddle board to help range of motion.

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...e_P6198966/#p6198966

Broke mine a few years ago into many pieces. Plate and 15 screws. I didn't swim for months (recovery+PT). I started back on the trainer after only about a week post-surgery (sitting upright, arm in a sling). I used the elliptical machine at the nearby gym (I could walk there as driving was an issue for awhile). I didn't run for about six weeks. I did Boulder 70.3 (slow swim, good bike, ok run) about five months after the accident.

The plate was still bothering me after nine months, so I had another surgery to remove it. That recovery was a lot faster.

2 years ago, I crashed bad in a sprint tri and separated my shoulder and cracked a rib. I couldn't run or swim for awhile, but by the 2nd day I was back on my trainer riding while sitting up. I couldn't put any pressure on my right hand so even being on the hoods was impossible. A week later I ran around my block...hurting. By the 2nd week I ran 2 miles. Basically I kept my bad arm pinned to my chest so it didn't hurt. Don't know if walking would have helped. By the 4th week I started swimming again. Granted it sounds like you are hurt a lot more than I was, but that's what I did just to do something. Unfortunately I got hit by a truck 5 weeks after that crash and had to start all over again ;).

Did a decent number on mine 5 or so yr ago. No longer have an AC joint, my clavicle is about 1.5in shorter, there are 10 screws, about half just held bone fragments together, the other half connected the fragments to the plate and the clavicle is taped to the coracoid process.

Didn't do anything for about 2mo other than walking. Lot's of dog walking. Once cleared I started running near daily. Between that and dog walking I was getting 65-70 mpw. Rode a few times per week.

Started swimming once I got back to Tucson, which was 9mo post crash. I've got about 95% ROM of normal, oddly my backstroke on the fx'd side isn't as powerful nor can i put my hand in the water where I used to be able to. Lost a bit of my initial pull after the catch, it's not as deep and it's wider initially. But my freestyle & fly are fine.
Oh my xbox skills improved a fair bit as I think I played about 2h/day for 6 weeks. Loved making the kids cry as I taunted them.

I took the well I'm not racing this season so I'm going to focus on running first and walking a lot. it's just easier to get fit in 1 sport then the next then the next imo. Once I got back to Tucson I started riding more, then once the new year rolled around I started swimming more consistently. iirc swimming was your weakest leg right? ymmv on that approach then.

fwiw I wasn't too worried about my swim since I've take as much as 8yr out of the water. Within 45k of getting back in after that break swam sub 59 for an IM and then later that summer a few sub 26's in halfs.

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Brian Stover USAT LII
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Sorry to hear about your tumble. I broke my collarbone in 3 places back in August 2015, plate, pins surgery etc, nasty! I started back (very lightly) on the turbo about ~7 days after surgery and was able to run ~3 weeks after, although it was still pretty uncomfortable at that point. I didn't get back in the pool until ~3 months after. And although I did loose a lot of fitness throughout the whole process, I found it came back pretty quickly once my body was able to tolerate the training again. I do suggest speaking to a good physio and seeing what stretches and exercises you can do to restore range of movement and encourage recovery, that certainly seemed to help with me. Once I came to terms with the fact I was going to swim slower for a while I used the opportunity to work on my technique and rebuild my stroke, I think that really helped me to improve in the long term. I also used the injury as an excuse to buy a new turbo trainer and that quickly became my new best friend throughout the whole endeavour. I actually found the turbo was more bearable than walking miles too. Heal fast!

Welcome to the titanium club. Did mine 11 years ago, plate and six screws. I started out with walking just to get out of the house and do something since I was going nuts sitting inside not able to do any tri-related exercise. Did the stationary bike about 1-2 weeks later, back in the pool six weeks post surgery for simple drills (Doug Stern's sewing machine drill in the ST archives was the best) and started running again about 10 weeks post-surgery. I also had broken ribs and a collapsed lung so my timeline may be a little longer, but I was able to do IMLP 9 months after my crash.

Best of luck with your recovery.

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"You can never win or lose if you don't run the race." - Richard Butler

I broke my left collarbone and two ribs crashing at 28+ MPH at USAT Nationals this year (mid-August) flew home that day and had surgery August 30th and got a shiny new stainless steal plate and screws. I was in so much pain for a week from the surgery that I did nothing. The first week or so I was on the couch sleeping on my good side leaning up on the armrest. after the first week I was able to graduate to my adjustable bed with the head side slightly raised I was able to sleep (with my sling on) on my good side, not great, every movement still woke me up but I got decent spurts of sleep. I walked a lot and did lunges and stairs.

I had trouble with balance and getting on/off the bike trainer...I'm short so I can't just step over and on to the trainer. So I didn't start riding until about 5-6 weeks once I could get out of the sling. I was able to get right back to it with a little bit of power loss, but it's coming back. I started running around week 9-10. The muscles I my arm and the collarbone area was very uncomfortable and I was terrified so ran/walked and minimized movement. After a couple days the discomfort subsided and I just noticed my left arm was a bit weaker.

I started swimming around we 12. IT WAS HARD and hurt. The muscles in my arm still don't want to stretch out and I'm very weak on that side, but each time I go it is a little easier. The holidays really got in the way of me being able to get in the pool enough to see more swimming will help. Worst part is it feels really bruised. ROM is almost all the way back (at week 17), and my underarm the muscles are still very stiff (though that could also be related to a lumpectomy I had in May compounding the issue), but it really hurts to put any pressure on it!! I hope that eventually goes away. This injury was brutal and the anger and depression of not being able to go full out and deal with the injury properly and let it heal, was the hardest part by far! The pain of that break and subsequent surgery made me much more tentative b/c I did not want to damage the healing process and have to go through it again! Good luck healing!!

This was just the least bad part of crashing into the side of a minivan. Initially they couldn't operate because that would endanger the stability of my broken neck, so they let it heal naturally. A year later I had basically no range of motion and a huge bump on my shoulder. And then they had to open it up, scrape the cartilage from between the two ends, and fix it up properly.

Good times.

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Citizen of the world, former drunkard. Resident Traumatic Brain Injury advocate.

wow, so sorry to hear!

I broke my collar bone when I got hit by a car in a Vineman race.

What did I learn.

First, it is going to take a lot longer than I wanted it to. I kept trying to do stuff, and my doc just kept shacking his head at me.
So the hardest part was to see I needed to stop, and just enjoy the brake.

First thing I was able to do was sit on my bike trainer, sitting up. No way could I bend over.

It then took a long time before I could run or get back in the pool. I remember a year later in a race running my shoulder still hurt.

So all I can offer is take the time to do other things in life. I became pretty good doing DDR with my wife during my recovery period and actually have some
pretty positive memories of spending the time with her.

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

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Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

I broke mine probably 2 weeks after yours so dont think this wil be helpful.

4 weeks of doing nothing but walking. Not for exercise but to keep mental sanity. Rented a hospital bed, with that i slept much better.

29 days later, after the Dr gave me the green light, jumped on the trainer. It was a mixture of pedaling upright and riding the hoods with discomfort. After 6 days power has gone from 190 watts to 235 watts (75kg rider). This is showing me that with a solid base, fitness comes in VERY VERY fast.

Bottom line - keep your mental sanity. Race season is still VERY far away. You (and I) will be ready when the time is right.

PS: waiting for when i have sufficient mobility to get on the Vasa! Still some time away, i fear

The collar bone is the hero of all bones. Even if the pieces are in the same room they will heal with minimal intervention. You can go back later and make it better. I have yet to see one get infected. I takes the hit so other bones don't have to. Someone should write a song about the collarbone.

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Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

I broke mine when I was a kid, falling off the monkey bars

I have little recollection of it, other than wearing that sling; no surgery back then

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Sorry to hear this.

Here is my experience. I got hit by an F150 on June 20th. I had a hook plate put in with 5 screws 6 days later. My first work out was on the trainer on July 9th and I was only able to ride 11 mins. I rode 20 mins the next day. I was on my road bike and had it setup in a position that I could sit up straight on. I was able to ride for an hour 16 days after surgery.August 4th was my first run back. My doctor didn't let me ride outside til August. 29th and I didn't start swimming again til Sept. 21st. All of this occurred in 2015.

This past year was probably my most successful tri season. I qualified and raced in the 70.3 worlds and PR'd at the IM distance going under 10 hrs again. The injury is hardly a death sentence to triathlon and may feel like it's taking forever to get back to working out but it's really not that much time off.

This summer I went in for a broken clavicle. I came out without one of my testicles.

At my two week post op, the surgeon couldn’t explain it, but speculated that it may have been a continuation of the MK Ultra experiments the CIA did in the 1950s.

Anyway, good luck with recovery! I’m three months post - ORIF / orchiectomy / mind control experiment and swimming 15k - 20k per week. 100% strength and ROM.

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I’ve wondered about this. 3 breaks over the years the last bad enough to warrant a permanent plate (not a hook). If I were to go down that plate ain’t going anywhere, wondering what is going to take up that energy