Diet/Training for a guy without a leg?

[djbr]

Hey guys. I broke my leg in the end of January. Since then I have my right leg completely immobilized.

I have a small home kit, two DBs (those you can put the weight plates in it), one BB (same), a bench, and a good amount of weight plates (much more than I can lift, that's what I can say).

I wanted to know your input on:

1) Diet

I guess I have to go lo-carb, cause although I am walking with the stuff that looks like | o | (I don't know how to say in english LOL), I am getting FAT like a maniac. I was very active before that, and after I broke my leg I could barely move for the first days, so I pulled off some serious belly.

2) Training (remember, I have a leg to fix )

Today I just joked around with the DB's, to get used to weight again. Nothing serious. But I wanted to do something more consistent, as I will be without my leg for at least another month, and I already lost some serious work I was doing for the past 3 months. Damn I was looking good

Well, let's get it on

I think I could do anything but leg work. Keeping it simple, as my equipment is not fancy and I am not able to do much cool things either.

Any ideas?

 

[howardalex]

squats and deadlifts

seriously though...keep working your upper body but make sure to keep your leg straight, don't use it at all! not even to push for those extra lbs on the bench!

you want a very high protein and low GI carb diet - make sure to eat the carbs mainly in the morning and maybe even afternoon, but lay off before bed

 

[shaunuk]

Hm, I guess you can only stand up on crutches? I was going to suggest partial deadlifts/rack pulls, with the safety pins of the power rack placed far enough up such that you don't need to bend your legs at all. However, that's probably not possible, since I presume you can't stand up?

You can get away with upper body stuff, tho.

Incline bench press
Flat bench press
Rows
Chin-ups/pull-ups/pull-downs
Shoulder presses
Skullcrushers
Curls

I suppose they're pretty much all you can get away with. I'd stay away from dips because when you finish a set/fail, you need to drop down from between the parallel bars, and you only have one leg to work with...so the potential problem should be apparent

Pull-ups/chin-ups would also be dodgy in this respect (i.e. needing to fall and land on your feet suddenly), so perhaps go for pull-downs, during which you are seated.

Since you probably won't be able to do deadlifts, you should do some rows, as they'll hit your spinal erectors somewhat, and without targetting such a large part of your body's mass, you'd be missing out big time. Again, if you can't stand, you might be limited to straight-back seated cable rows, keeping your back straight so that you don't have to bend your legs. http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/BackGeneral/CBStraightBackSeatedRow.html

However, since you've got 1 leg, you might be able to do one-arm dumbbell rows, in which it's standard form to hold yourself up on a bench.. http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/BackGeneral/DBBentOverRow.html You might need to experiment

If you can get propped up a bit, try barbell rows with either a pronated or supinated grip (underhand).

It'd be cool to hear your exact situation, i.e. do you have any ability to stand, would it agitate injuries to do certain exercises, etc..

-shaun

 

[howardalex]

I'm reading Ross Enamait's "Infinite Intensity" and in the book he has lots of dumbbell lifts you can do with one leg. A few are: one leg dumbbell snatch, one leg dumbbell clean and press, and one leg squat. Just be careful!

not a chance! :nono: sorry dude but he'll have fallen over in no time

 

[djbr]

Kerpal: no way!! I am not even to TOUCH the floor with my immobilized leg. It broke in a weird way, really hard to explain considering that english is not my native language. Nevermind.

Doing exercises to one leg only is out of question. My immobilized leg will come out thin and if I pump the other, it will look really weird, lol.

howardalex: started to cut the carbs today. Let's see.

shaunuk: My equipment is very basic. I can not mess around too much, so going to a gym is out of question for now (this and I can't drive, of course). I can not even touch the floor with my immobilized leg, unless I am sitting down. This way I am not putting my weight onto it. It was serious injury, so I have to be careful.

I was thinking about basic dumbbell exercises, like bicep curls, skullcrusher (good idea!), bench press, shoulder presses...

I guess it would be hard to hit the lower back without cable equipment. Am I wrong?

What about frequency? Can I do it all for two, three days? How much sets?

More ideas?

 

[Redux]

What are your goals?

 

[djbr]

Cycling performance and mass gain.

Bike performance is out now for obvious reasons. :crackup:

 

[Redux]

Cycling performance and mass gain.

Bike performance is out now for obvious reasons. :crackup:

Which is more important? Because they are antagonists. The more you weight, the less you perform on cycling.

 

[djbr]

Lean mass. I have a hard time fighting fat.

 

[Redux]

Lean mass. I have a hard time fighting fat.

Ok. Find maintenace and increase calories 250 per day, do compound movements for upper body (those you can), high reps, increase eating and weights over time.