Worth doing individual leg drills whilst injured?
Discussion
Got a problem with my medial head of gastrocnemius (part of calf muscle group) which is a bit uncomfortable whilst cycling. I wouldn't necessarily say it's painful...but it just isn't right, and if I extend my knee with my ankle flexed (so toes point upwards) there is a clicking sensation, yet when my ankle is pointing down there is no clicking (thus is has to be the calf)....anyway, whilst I'm off the bike I'll be doing some stretches, acupuncture and massage etc, is it worth doing some individual leg cycling on the turbo trainer?
It's the right leg that's playing up, but when using the power meter it's interesting to see there's quite a discrepancy between L/R balance, with it typically being around 46/54, and so I wondered whether the next 1-2 weeks whilst I'm off the bike may be an ideal time to target the strength of the left leg. Or is this pointless?
I'll be doing some squats, planks, side-planks etc to maintain some form of leg strength without aggravating the leg....any other exercises some might recommend? I can't do calf raises for fear of aggravating the calf, of course. Annoyingly, I don't think I'll be able to do any cardio until this is better.
Cheers.
It's the right leg that's playing up, but when using the power meter it's interesting to see there's quite a discrepancy between L/R balance, with it typically being around 46/54, and so I wondered whether the next 1-2 weeks whilst I'm off the bike may be an ideal time to target the strength of the left leg. Or is this pointless?
I'll be doing some squats, planks, side-planks etc to maintain some form of leg strength without aggravating the leg....any other exercises some might recommend? I can't do calf raises for fear of aggravating the calf, of course. Annoyingly, I don't think I'll be able to do any cardio until this is better.
Cheers.
I had knee surgery a few years ago, (actually, it must be 11 years ago, wow,) and I was competitively rowing at the time. The surgery was just a meniscus debridement (I think) and I was only out of action for a couple of months, but during that time I did a lot of swimming to maintain CV fitness.
I swam each evening for about an hour, pushing of with the good leg and doing front crawl. Whilst it was a different type of fitness, I think it really helped. I got noticeably faster over the 6 or so weeks I was doing it, swimming for stamina not short bursts of speed.
I would normally 25 / 20 / 15 mins, with a quick drink in between, trying to not let my heartrate drop too much.
I swam each evening for about an hour, pushing of with the good leg and doing front crawl. Whilst it was a different type of fitness, I think it really helped. I got noticeably faster over the 6 or so weeks I was doing it, swimming for stamina not short bursts of speed.
I would normally 25 / 20 / 15 mins, with a quick drink in between, trying to not let my heartrate drop too much.
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