I’ve had trouble finding good threads on staying fit while injured. I had a pretty bad cycling accident yesterday that left me with a broken left hand, broken jaw, broken cheek bone and fractured skull. The cast on my arm precludes swimming and cycling and pain from the jaw makes it pretty tough to run. I have a treadmill and was thinking of doing a quickly paced uphill walk and trying out the elliptical at the gym. Any other advice on how to stay fit while I am waiting to recover? I have a half marathon Feb 1, that I would like to still do, but will have to see how my jaw feels. I really don’t want to start the season in any worse shape than needed to recover.
Any advice is appreciated, or links to threads I missed.
I would recommend cycling on a trainer and then elliptical.
The jarring from running is pretty hard.
I know I was on the trainer 5 days after a crash resulting in a broken collarbone,
but couldn’t elliptical for almost 2 weeks and it was a good 3.5 before I could
ease back into running.
Since this just happened yesterday, don’t hesitate to take a few days before trying to exercise again.
If you have a health club membership, or can buy one for the next month or two then you’ll have access to recumbant bicycles that won’t require use of your arm. There will be a variety of non-impact cardio machines to use. Once the jaw settles down a little 1-2 weeks you might begin to be able to run.
You might want to suggest to your Doctor at some point during your recover that you switch to a removable soft cast that would allow you to get in the water and swim to some degree. It may be great for recovery versus staying in the hard cast for a full 8 weeks.
And finally, you need to be assured that it won’t be long after resuming training that your fitness will return.
Wow, really sorry to hear about the accident, I have been through a few bad ones in my cycling career, but not that bad.
I really think you should follow the advice of your medical team with this accident and not a public forum. Specifically your mention of a fractured jaw and skull should be taken very seriously.
Also running with this list of fractures will not be fun, and in 2 weeks??? I think once the shock and adrenaline wear off you may realize that rest and rehab may be the best thing for your body.
I would skip the 1/2, and focus on getting very healthy for when the broken bones mend! By the location of injuries, you may be walking on a treadmill, and recumbent cycling once your doc gives you the OK.
When you change casts - you can ask for gore-tex padding = waterproof cast so you can swim.
Treadmills/stationary bikes should be do-able - esp. a bike as it shouldn’t jar you. You only need 1 hand to bike…or even none as you sit up on a stationary - plus if you are truly in a cast (not a splint) - you should be able to rest that hand/cast on the bars (depends on what in your hans is broken and how they places the cast/splint across all/some of your fingers.
As always - here is MY ST ADVICE:
Your body needs time and energy to heal. Some light walking or spinning after you rest for at least 1 week is fine but don’t try to train. Getting hot and sweaty will make all the swelling/inflammation worse. If you broke your skull - you likely have some sort of head injury so rest.
Is your jaw wired shut? Seems like it would be hard to breathe hard like that…
If you have a broken cheek then most likely one of your sinuses connect to the soft tissue of your face. If you blow your nose hard - then you’ll blow sinus goop into your skin/soft tissue. Also if water or anything gets into your sinuses - it can get into your face…
Think long-term - so skip the half marathon - rest for a while and start light training once you are much better. You won’t lose much in a month.
Depends how/where you broke your arm, but in high school I broke my nevicular? some stupid little bone at the base of the thumb. I had a cast covering my thumb, my palm, and up to my elbow.
I still biked, just chewed through bar tape every couple hundred miles… now if your cast goes above the elbow- i dunno what to tell you.
You’re retarded for thinking you can train with a broken skull.
Rest son, recover to fight another day.
When I broke my collarbone all I wanted to do was sleep and lounge around, you’re going to be in the same boat for a while. It takes a lot of resources from your body to heal from injuries that severe, don’t spread them thin by trying to train.
hell I though I was sick I have a bad back and the doctor told me to take at least 2 weeks off from running and biking so my back could heal. Man I think you should take some time to rest and heal. Sounds like you are in good shape the form will come back quick. Hope you feel better
You’re retarded for thinking you can train with a broken skull.
Rest son, recover to fight another day.
When I broke my collarbone all I wanted to do was sleep and lounge around, you’re going to be in the same boat for a while. It takes a lot of resources from your body to heal from injuries that severe, don’t spread them thin by trying to train.
When I saw the headline I was about to get on here and in my usual way, list all the great things that you can do when injuried to stay fit. However, I did not know that you were beat up that bad. I am sorry to hear about this.
You sir/madame, have one goal - heal whatever is broken and then when that is done, then it’s time to think about fitness. It will come back. You will be back. The human body is an amazing thing.
I can’t be the only one wondering… What kind of bike accident did you get into?! You have some tremendous injuries.
After my accident, I found there was very little I could do to stay fit (jaw wired shut, broken in 2 places, broken chin, shattered top plate behind upper lip, small fracture in my cheek bone). I tried to do some work on the elliptical, but as soon as my heart rate would go up, everything would throb. I’m still having some issues with throbbing in my mouth from exposed nerves in my teeth. Take it easy bud… heal first, then get your fitness back.