Hi everyone -
I’ve got a wrist surgery coming up, which will have a 6-8 week recovery time. I won’t be able to put weight on my right wrist during recovery.
I’ve been trying to think of a way to keep training, maybe rigging something up with aero bars that would somehow be set up higher and farther back than normal, so that I could still have the same hip angle while training.
Have any of you dealt with this in a way other than just taking 2 months off the bike? I don’t want to lose my POWER!
Running?
Can you not just sit up on the turbo? The worst I’ve had was constant deep bruising from a chemotherapy until it eased off I just sat up on the turbo and pedalled.
Matt Hayman won the Paris-Roubaix off the back of an injury to his upper body. He set himself up with an ironing board across the front of his bike and also a step ladder. He actually increased his power during the indoor trainer sessions leading into the event.
I broke my thumb last fall and had surgery that prevented me from putting weight on it for about a month. I took my work stand, set it up so the crossbar was just a bit above and behind my handlebars, and taped a (still in the package) carwash sponge to the top of it as a cushion. I had it at just the right height so I could sit in my normal position, with my right hand on the hood as usual, but my left arm comfortably resting on the stand. It allowed me to train completely normally, aside from looking kind of silly. But the big advantage was I had the same weight distribution and position on the bike as usual.
Sadly, I can’t run more than about 1/4 mile - I’ve got a torn meniscus that needs surgery.
I can try just sitting up, it’s just such a different angle, and isn’t very comfortable on my bike so I’m not sure what I’d think of doing that for a 90-minute session
That’s a GREAT idea! I’m going to see if my stand goes that low…
You don’t need to do a 90minutes session to maintain fitness or even build it. Most of my sessions pre TR were sub 60minutes. For maintaining fitness I wouldn’t worry about the angle either. My TT bike is on my turbo and the position was radically different when I was looking at maintaining fitness but I soon got used to it and arguably after a while I was stronger despite training in an upright position.
It’s dangerous because if you trip/fall you’ll likely do some damage, even if it’s casted.
In my experience with wrist surgery/broken wrists, they do not like any sort of jarring/motion action for the first 3 or so weeks post-op. Too much soreness and running feels awful/painful.
I’d set up a table adjacent to your trainer at a height that feels comfortable and keep up with TR as best as possible. Probably need to do lots of z2 the first week.
Also, for sweat accumulation in the cast/brace, a shop vac and an air compressor are amazing.
Could always add an elliptical to the mix (versus the running)
I had shoulder reconstruction surgery in 2017 and essentially dealt with the same issue. For me, i purchased the a small table, very similar to the accessory sold by Yahoo, so that I could rest my arm on the table while pedaling. Obviously I wasn’t able to workout as intensely or generate the same higher watts. However, I was able to maintain a level of strength that much easier to recover from than if I had simply taken the 3 months off the bike the doctor recommended.
If you put a recumbent on your turbo there will be no weight on your wrists. Ride no handed if you want.