Jan
11
Need some good leg workout with or without weights to strengthen the legs, Due to the injury I feel that I have put a lot of pressure on my left leg and since I’m at FWB doing exercises I’m near full activity my surgeon worked on Kobe A month before his injury, I guess he knew as well it was an achilles ice treatment. I want to get back on the court my friends say why? I see it as a mountain to climb and reach the top to get back to the game I love. Anybody have workout exercises for legs thanks. Anybody else have friends doubt you can get back to your old self? I’m motivated to get back, I’m motivated not to be like Sherman Klump due to eating well just can’t do heavy cardio like spinning class yet. Any words to inspire thanks
Comments
4 Comments so far
I am not much of a gym person so without getting complicated, simply walking stairs or steep hills will bulk up the calves and legs. Around your stage I was building a house so for me there was lots of ladder work. Also gives you an aerobic workout if you walk fast enough. If you want gym stuff then RyanB’s site may provide some help. It would be handy if you installed the timeline so we can see exactly where you are at instantly. That can make a big difference when referring exercises.
Firstly, I would say that there is not necessarily much correlation between bulk and function. Norm knows more about that.
Secondly, I would highly recommend to go very slow on the weights. Don’t do anything heavier than to the point that you can do at least 20 reps. Preferably much more. The first year is not the time for any heavy lifting.
Then, to my exercises:
1. Gym: I don’t do typical strength exercises at the gym. Rather, I use cardio equipment like a rowing machine and a spinning bike, and then disconnect my good leg from time to time in order to do intervals with my bad leg only. Intervals vary from 20 seconds to one minute. I also run barefoot (in socks, actually) on a treadmill. Currently, 5% incline, 45 sec at 10 km/hour followed by 15 seconds of 15 km/hour, still at 5% incline. I manage to do that for some 3 minutes before my stamina is up. But 3 min is bound to be more than enough for your calf! Put in three minutes of running, 20 min of rowing machine including 5×1 min with your injured leg only, and 20 min of spinning bike including 5×1min with your injured leg only, and you have a good workout for your entire leg, plus a decent cardio workout too!
2. Calf strength: I do heel raises at every opportunity. Even if I only have time to do five while standing in a line at the grocery store, I do take those five heel raises. I also keep a skipping rope in my office, and take a few minutes every now and then. At least every second our. Another thing you can try is to walk on your tiptoes. Walking slowly like that is also a good balance workout.
3. Balance: rebuilding balance is important, especially if you are planning to get back into any sports. Here are suggestions:
- Stand on one leg while brushing your teeth.
- Stand on one leg, trying to keep it as straight as possible throughout the exercise. Do the following: Bend down and grab your toes with both hands, then raise up slowly and stretch your arms above your head. 30 reps.
- Do one-legged squats. Go as deep as possible for every squat. Take at least 15 reps.
- When your calf is strong enough, do one-legged calf raises wihtout balance support. Take at least 15, and do them slowly!
To test your balance, stand on one leg with closed eyes for as long as you can. If you perform much poorer on your injured leg compared to your good leg, it is a strong sign that you should work at least as much on your balance as on your calf strength. working heavily on your calf strength with poor balance risks injury, which you don’t want.
4: Don’t forget to do toe-raises as well!
I hope this is helpful. Happy Healing!
Norm knows more about that? Nobody told Norm!! Anybody looking at strong athletes — like elite volleyball players I sometimes watch — can tell you that they have all different size and shape calves, yet they all have great explosive jumping power and verticals. So no correlation there.
Many of us have also been stuck with calf size deficits even if/when we overcome our strength deficit — and some the other way around, too, I think.
Several people here have reported as fact (maybe from body-building) that the calf muscle is known to be unusually hard to enlarge. And almost all of us can attest to how quick and easy it is to SHRINK!
OTOH, one of my sisters decided early (undergrad, majoring in Phys. Ed.) that she didn’t want to have our family’s skinny Gastroc muscles, so she worked out, mostly with deep heel raises on the stairs. And ever since, she’s always had the best developed (& cutest) calves in our family. So SOMEthing can be done for sure…
@bigwilly. I also look forward to returning to my previous state. Before my atr I felt I was in the best shape of my life and already doing calf raises etc continuously. I’m 29. It’s hard to give leg exercises when I don’t know what you can and can’t do after this surgery yet. Things I would do pre atr were calf raises toes pointed in, calf raises toes pointed out, and calf raises toes pointed forward. Leg presses but with only calves only also helped build that muscle a bunch. I felt my legs had gained to much strength and is one reason when I took off to run my calf created too much force for my achillies to handle.