Yep, you are crazy. Heal up and enjoy the break. Just watch what you eat.

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

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Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

Sucks! I went through the same thing after crashing at IM MT.
You can pretty much train your ass off if you want. Just make sure they use a waterproof liner with the cast otherwise it's hard to keep dry and it will stink like crazy after a couple of weeks. For now wait until it's in a cast but afterwards you can continue to ride the trainer and run as much as you like.
The worse part is after they remove the cast... Your hand will be really stiff and you'll need to do some PT to regain some mobility back in your wrist and fingers.

Yes you're crazy.

Sit up on the trainer until the cast is off.

You got a waterproof cast, right? Else your going to stink if you sweat at all.

I was thinking the aerobars would be pretty much no pressure on the hand vs upright.

Good call on the waterproof liner with the cast. I don't mind getting some more indoor work on the trainer, so maybe this will be fine.

My stomach apparently hasn't gotten the memo that we're not exercising 2 hrs / day.

Got the cast off today. I had it in my head that I'd be biking outside the next day. Unfortunately I was way off. Doc has advised no biking for 4-6 more weeks :-| . Sigh, back to the hamster wheel in the garage.

On the plus side, I think I'm getting really efficient workouts on the trainer. This has been my first experience on the trainer (actually, rollers with a fork stand). Just being able to get these really long sustained efforts has been really valuable I think. At first it felt pretty tiresome going an hour with no breaks. Now I'm doing 1.5-2 hours routinely. Compared with outside efforts, I was never really getting that length of steady efforts. My power on the trainer has also increased dramatically, more on par with normal biking outdoors.

So, it's not all bad.

Interesting. Did you see a hand specialist MD or a GP?

I just broke my metacarpal in a mountain biking accident and I was told I could do anything I wanted to as long as I stayed in the brace. What does your brace look like? Mine is completely non intrusive but also non supportive.

I find road biking especially on turbulent roads to bother the bone though, so I have taken to a) using one hand when hitting road turbulence on the road bike (naturally this is when you lease want to use one hand) b) riding the TT bike on the flats and c) riding the trainer. I don't know about you but I find NO issue at all with riding in the aero bars on the TT bike, or riding any bike on the trainer. The downside is that when I do have to get up on the hoods on the TT bike it exerts even more pressure on the hand.

Unfortunately I was told no swimming, but it's been about 3.5 weeks and I'm thinking of going back to the water and doing a couple thousand yard closed first drill, kicking etc.

Also running is no issue except the fact that the sweat makes the cast stink like a dead animal.

Saw an orthopedic doc. He put me in a supportive brace after removing the cast, and it's one with 3 Velcro straps along the arm and extends a bit over the hand and around the thumb.

I haven't gone out on the road yet since he was advising that the vibrations, and squeezing of the brakes could start displacing the bones. I had a 'butterfly' fracture, though, and so maybe it's more prone to displace.

I have been riding on my trainer in the aerobars when I had the cast on, and I'll continue to do that. No problems at all with that. I would often prop myself up with my good hand only the top of the stem, just as a break from the aerobars. I didn't try the hoods much, because it was awkward with the cast on. You're probably right that it would exert the most pressure doing that.

So do you still have a cast on or are you in a brace? Or did you only ever get a brace? 3.5 weeks sounds pretty early still. I was in the cast for 5 weeks, and now I'm supposed to 'take it easy' for 4-6 more weeks. No lifting, biking outside, etc. Too bad you can't swim. I don't swim or run, only biking. I know, I shouldn't be allowed on the forum :-)

I had a weird splint thing from the urgent care but the hand doc put me in this thing:



Mine is a fracture on the fifth metacarpal (furthest from the thumb) and I don't think it's that serious. I am trying to keep my fitness up by biking outdoors still--I really don't have the same power or motivation on the trainer--but at the same time I don't want to delay the healing bc I'm trying to race in less than 6 weeks. Kind of wish I had a more supportive brace for that.

That looks pretty comfortable, at least more than a cast.

Here's what my fracture looked like:

I broke my 5th too and also split the tendon. I found that I could swim as long as I took the brace off and taped my pinkie and ring finger together. Trainer riding fine for me but bumps outside were too painful for me for about 4 weeks.

Surgery? I broke my third metacarpal (middle finger one) into 8 pieces. I was a gymnast and it literately exploded in the middle. There was 8 small pieces floating around. Everyone within 50 yards heard it break. They just set it straight and them casted it. Had a bump there for a while due to calcium but then it went away and my hand is fine now. My doctor was actually a former Olympic gymnast who coached me for a while so I trusted him more than anything.

I currently have a fractured 2nd metacarpal due to wacking it when my ratchet slipped doing a brake job on the truck.


When i was in a cast i still went to gym practice - just did abs, legs, etc. so you are fine to do the trainer but I suggest lightly because it will throb if it is a bad break. Just take it easy. If it hurts, then stop.


(I have broken so many things between gymnastics, bull riding, and skating) - just listen to your body.

It's been 5 weeks now, and I'm out of the cast and into a brace. It feels pretty good, no throbbing even when exercising pretty hard. I'm a bit of a newbie (compared to you at least) with breaking bones :). Your previous break sounds similar to mine, but worse.

I was planning on doing a TT beginning of March. If it feels good, I think I'll go ahead and do it. It will be interesting to see what my fitness is really like outside after doing only trainer work.

I also broke the 5th metacarpal (left hand), had surgery to insert two screws. I was in a brace similar to yours, but was back on the trainer and running almost immediately (doc just told me not to fall on it!), and cycling on the road a couple of weeks later.

Just curious if this was by your own judgment or consistent with medical advice? I'm inclined to try it, even as I was instructed not to swim. But I was also told I could ride bikes outside in my brace and experience tells me that advice was not altogether sound, so I'm open to experiment

My Doctor told me to listen to the pain in my hand and that I could swim with a taped finger as long as I was very careful about hitting the wall or the lane lines. I used fins quite a bit the first few times, and the hand did swell a bit and turn black and blue from the swims. I did not swim at all for the first 2 weeks after the break; I am referring to the few weeks after that. For the first 2 weeks, I was in a splint and told not to take it off. I did bike and run a bit during that time, but found potholes and bumps in the road very painful, so I switched to the trainer.

If it feels good then go for it. If the calcium deposits have started around the break (the process involved in mending bones) then the break will actually be stronger than it was before due to the addition "cement" you could go as far to say.

Again, just listen to your body. If it hurts then stop. When you run, bike, or swim, and something hurts it just means your pushing your physical limit. If a ligament or a structural part of your body hurts - its best to listen or bad things happen.

happy training!