Keeping fit after shoulder injury

[DDY]

Hexus,

I broke my right collar bone falling off my MTB going down a hill last week and the Doc said I should be able to fully move my right arm in 8 weeks. Until then, I have very limited movement of my right arm and upper torso, even vigorous walking is uncomfortable as the weight of my arm tugs on the broken bone. Muscle atrophy on my right arm will be inevitable but what can I do to keep the rest of my body fit now that I can’t go out on my bike?

Cheers,
Dave

[nibbler]

I guess walking is really your best bet. Gentle walks, but fairly long? Or is that too painful? How about an exercise bike if there's one available?

[jim]

Crazy suggestion, I'm sure, but take a rest for a fortnight? It won't take you long to get back up to speed once you feel a bit better.

You can always do a bit of gentle walking in the mean time.

[chuckskull]

Sorry to hear about your fall and hope you recover quickly.

I'm sure it's frustrating, especially for an active person, but for the first few weeks, I'd really recommend taking it easy, any vigorous movement, regardless of body area, is going to jar the injury and cause you more pain and possibly further injury or poor healing if you go to far.

You can always build the muscle back up and lose any weight you put back on once you've healed. Build the exercise back up slowly, broken bone is a broken bone and collar bone is a particularly bad one, especially in terms of pain. You're not going to waste away or pile on the weight(so long as you stay off the junk food) in a matter of weeks. If you were a reasonably fit person before hand, which it sounds like you are, you should have no trouble getting back into shape once you're healed, but rushing it will do more harm than good.

Finally talk to your GP and/or physio and most importantly listen to them.

[DDY]

Thanks for the advice, I'm taking it easy now, I suppose a few weeks isn't too much to worry about. My shoulder feels a lot better; less pain but still limited movement.

I was thinking about doing weights with my left arm, but I thougt the results would look dodgy once I get rid of the sling

[chuckskull]

Glad to hear you're on the mend.

[muppet_hat]

Thanks for the advice, I'm taking it easy now, I suppose a few weeks isn't too much to worry about. My shoulder feels a lot better; less pain but still limited movement.

I was thinking about doing weights with my left arm, but I thougt the results would look dodgy once I get rid of the sling

That would be the worst thing to do. The last thing you want is your body to be even more disproportional
'even more' as in, sometimes after injuries, the inactive side loses muscle mass so may look smaller for the earlier weeks after the cast is off. So yes, you won't want to make the slight disproportion worse haha.