Cardio exercise that doesn't involve the calf muscle

Kashkai

I'm getting treatment for a torn calf muscle and I've been told not to run while the treatment is on going. So what else can I do to maintain some level of fitness while my leg heals? I go to the gym five mornings a week (it was on the treadmill where my leg injury occurred) where I usually do 30 minutes cardio, 30 minutes weights and 10 minutes core. So in the absence of running, what else can I do to keep my fitness level up without aggravating the calf muscle, i.e. cross trainer, rowing machine, go to the pool for a swim??.

I was at a pretty good level of fitness before the leg injury and I don't want to back slide while my leg heals.

puntosporting

Swimming I guess?

Burkatron

puntosporting wrote: »

Swimming I guess?

The calf will be involved in swimming unless you strap your legs & use a pull buoy! The only other thing would be a hand bike!

You'd be better off focusing on weights & train all your uninjured body parts while you rehab!

Thephantomsmask

Could do the breast stroke or doggy paddle without kicking. It probably won't work up much of a sweat but at least it'll keep you moving.

micar

swimming with pull buoy.
Get some paddle boards to give the shouldrs a workout.

Burkatron

micar wrote: »

swimming with pull buoy.
Get some paddle boards to give the shouldrs a workout.

Not putting you down but If technique is bad or the op's shoulders are weak that won't end well! Most people aren't developed enough to swim with paddles, swimming alone will work the shoulders enough!

Mellor

Burkatron wrote: »

The calf will be involved in swimming unless you strap your legs & use a pull buoy! The only other thing would be a hand bike!

You'd be better off focusing on weights & train all your uninjured body parts while you rehab!

This.

Burkatron wrote: »

Not putting you down but If technique is bad or the op's shoulders are weak that won't end well! Most people aren't developed enough to swim with paddles, swimming alone will work the shoulders enough!

And this.

/thread

discus

1) Hand rower, doesn't use any

2) Rope-pulls or grappler machine: Sit on bench/chair, and have the rope laid out straight in front of you. pull the rope as if you were in a tug-of-war, until its all coiled up behind you. You can change it up too.
-Kettlebell tied on to the end
-Loop the rope around a pole or something heavy, and tie the ends together. You know have a basic version of a grappler. See below for a perfect graphic representation ::p:



3) Seated battle ropes: this link should give you sime ideas http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbkbcPJTTes

Kashkai

Thanks for the replies. The reason I asked was that my physio said swimming and cross trainer were ok (provided I didn't over do it) but she went on holiday and her stand in said cross trainer and swimming were not ok

My shoulder muscles are pretty strong so the swimming might be ok but perhaps I'll stick to the "hand bike" in the gym where you pedal with your hands and just up my time spent on core work out and weights. No point in further aggravating the leg.

matrim

Could you possibly do something on the rowing machine? Just do the upperbody part of the row without the leg movement. I'm not sure how effective it would be but might be worth a try

Or maybe so low weight, high volume upper body weight circuits

puntosporting

How badly did you tear your calf what grade?
Unless you've torn it completely id say swimming would be fine!

Kashkai

puntosporting wrote: »

How badly did you tear your calf what grade?
Unless you've torn it completely id say swimming would be fine!

It's a complicated tear, ie its multiple tears that never healed properly because I tried to train through them without letting the muscle repair and recover. My physio said there is a large lump of scar tissue that she'll have to try to break down and get at the muscle. After last Friday's physio session, my leg hurt like hell and is badly bruised. I hope this is doing me some good!

zeitner

I have serious achilles problems so like you I cant do any cardio so my training consists purely of weights and I do 5-6 mornings a week. If you crank up the weights and add in supersets with them I guarantee you it will keep the heart pumping. Lot of people say that you cant get a good cardio workout with weights but even with a bad calf you can work a lot of squats and lunges for a great leg workout. Definitely worth looking into.

Kashkai

I have been upping the weights and yes, it does get the heart pumping!:D

However I like running and I miss that part of my workout, to the point where even after an hour long weight/core session, I feel like I haven't "achieved" anything. I've lost 7.5kgs since the start of the year while I've also put on a good bit of muscle mass so the fat loss is quite high (as muscle weighs more than fat, the muscle mass gain is masking quite a high fat loss). I just don't want to end up putting on weight round my waist again now that I've finally gotten my abs into shape. Stupid perhaps but I'm more into cardio than weights and without a good run, I don't feel like I've worked out enough. Of course, that mentality is the reason why my calf muscle is in the state it's in

zeitner

I destroyed both achilles from jogging and miss it big time too but since I have taken a right grasp of my nutrition I am seeing serious fat cutting and shape with the weights only. Nothing like a good jog but all cardio does is eat away at muscle also.

Burkatron

Prosperous Dave wrote: »

I have been upping the weights and yes, it does get the heart pumping!:D

However I like running and I miss that part of my workout, to the point where even after an hour long weight/core session, I feel like I haven't "achieved" anything. I've lost 7.5kgs since the start of the year while I've also put on a good bit of muscle mass so the fat loss is quite high (as muscle weighs more than fat, the muscle mass gain is masking quite a high fat loss). I just don't want to end up putting on weight round my waist again now that I've finally gotten my abs into shape. Stupid perhaps but I'm more into cardio than weights and without a good run, I don't feel like I've worked out enough. Of course, that mentality is the reason why my calf muscle is in the state it's in

Diet is key here, forget about running!
What's your physio doing to break down the scar tissue?

Kashkai

zeitner wrote: »

I destroyed both achilles from jogging and miss it big time too but since I have taken a right grasp of my nutrition I am seeing serious fat cutting and shape with the weights only. Nothing like a good jog but all cardio does is eat away at muscle also.

Yeah I've really cleaned up my own diet and I feel pretty damn good these days since the junk was cut out. Loads of fresh fruit, plenty of water, eggs, fish and veg, with some low fat natural yoghurt and I feel I have lots of energy. As for the running breaking down muscle, I found that out when I started using the quad and hamstring machines in the gym where I found that despite years of running' my leg muscles were quite weak as I couldn't manage more than 40 kgs in the lift. I thought I'd be able to lift my own body weight at least. You live and learn.

Kashkai

Burkatron wrote: »

Diet is key here, forget about running!
What's your physio doing to break down the scar tissue?

My physio is using laser, acupuncture and massage to break down the scar tissue. She starts off with the laser, then moves into massage working deeper and deeper into the muscle (with consequential increase from discomfort to pain!) and finishes with acupuncture. Her stand in was quite severe last Friday night and I had to bite my lip to stop myself crying like a little girl. I hope she knows what she's doing but my calf was very sore and bruised yesterday. She told me not even to swim which I find confusing as I thought the water would have a beneficial effect if anything on my leg???

Burkatron

Prosperous Dave wrote: »

My physio is using laser, acupuncture and massage to break down the scar tissue. She starts off with the laser, then moves into massage working deeper and deeper into the muscle (with consequential increase from discomfort to pain!) and finishes with acupuncture. Her stand in was quite severe last Friday night and I had to bite my lip to stop myself crying like a little girl. I hope she knows what she's doing but my calf was very sore and bruised yesterday. She told me not even to swim which I find confusing as I thought the water would have a beneficial effect if anything on my leg???

Cool, sounds pretty thorough, if she threw in some T-bar/graston/scraping work instead of massage it'd be probably more effective (That's just my opinion!)

The water might be of benefit but swimming wont be, it puts pressure on the annkles,calves & soleus as you kick! Walking/weight bearing in the water would be of benefit for mobility work!