The mechanics of one legged cycling is quite a bit different than two legged. The risk in the short term would be mostly some overuse type of injury from the altered mechanics. So, youd want to be extra careful with the durations initially...

What about rowing? Even one legged might be better for general fitness than one legged cycling and lower risk of injury from goofy mechanics.

I have the same concern. Thought about rowing as well. Just not sure if my bicep/shoulder will agree with it. But I'll give it a try. Thanks for your advice!

I Totally neglected the bicep issue...sorry.

Yeah, that's tough with a bum wing AND leg at the same time. How long until the bicep is gtg?

Seems like water running (I know you said other than) is your best bet for maintaining bilateral fitness in a low risk manner.

When I've been hampered in the past I've done as many different things as possible...with a focus on core, stability, flexibility, and whatever modality of cardio I could manage. Maybe try a little of everything?

If I need bicep/shoulder surgery, it will be a 6-12 week recovery - depending on what the doc ends up doing. This has been going on for a year now and no treatment has given me any relief. Finally sent the latest MRI to an ortho surgeon friend of mine, who detected a split bicep in two places. I should know more next week.
I'll also find out if the foot needs to be operated on as well. I might be in for a double whammy. :(

1. Endurance will go to waste, that’s how it is. But it’ll also come back.

2. Try not to get too much excess weight, but also don’t limit protein intake. Your proportions will deteriorate anyway, but you can limit the process.

3. I’d leave the legs to rest almost completely, maybe aqua jogging. If it was good for Frodo, then why not. It’d be good for overall body stability if you can’t do much for 8 weeks. 8 weeks sounds long, but if you mess it up it might be 8 months.

4. You can still do back, chest, triceps and stomach exercises. Isolate them at the gym.

I tried one-legged rowing a couple of months ago, following a TKR. It doesn't work worth a darn, IME. Any significant effort of either the active leg or the upper body contorted my alignment and wreaked havoc on the hips & lumbar region.

I did one legged cycling for a couple of months when I was non-wt bearing on my right for 8 weeks. It is hard. Took me a few sessions to get used to it. Kept it all zone 1-2 of course. I think it was beneficial.

Deep water running should be your go to. You can adapt a run program to correspond with it

A rower machine can provide an alternative for some higher end stuff.

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Andrew Garwood
http://www.2xu.com
http://www.newtonrunning.com
http://www.ascendsport.com.au

I have been water running for a while and added rowing upon your suggestion. Thank you!!

Wow! You are amazing. I tried it. It's super hard. Not sure if I can conquer that. ;)

The mechanics definitely gets thrown off. I wasn't able to conquer 1-legged cycling. But rowing seems to be okay. And obviously water running. Thanks for your input!

Yes, you definitely have to be careful with hips and back. Same with the "good" foot when hobbling around on it all the time.

All good advice. Thanks!!
Just trying to keep the endurance loss to a minimum.
So far no weight gain and I'm continuing my protein intake.
Yes, I definitely don't want to make it worse than it already is. 👍
I'm also implementing more core work.

I did a decent amount of one-legged drills back in the day, when that type of thing was "all the rage" and I was new to cycling...before Lance. It definitely takes a while to get decent at it, and is of no value anyway outside of a situation like yours.

Glad you found a workable solution.

What's the prognosis on your injury?

I can claim no expertise in this area, however if you go online you will find a number of articles that suggest that exercising the one good limb (arm or leg) will actually cause the muscles in the damaged limb to react to the exercise.
Daft as that may sound.
Cheers

Yes, I've heard that too. Thanks. I'll keep trying. ;)

when I was living in NYC in the 90s, there was a one-legged bike messenger i'd see around from time to time. impressive dude. obviously, he wasn't worried about developing any imbalances he'd have to correct later on.