Originally Posted by
Flatballer
First, as the others have said, thanks for your sacrifice for our country.
I'm no doctor, but can't atrophy be overcome with training? Perhaps lots of one legged drills, and some time in the gym this winter, focusing on getting your thighs more even. Since you have both thighs, I would think that if the circulatory system can be "woken up" in the amputated leg, you should be very competitive. The calf is a very secondary muscle in cycling, useful, but not necessary.
By the way, I get spit out of the back of packs, and I have both legs.
The atrophy is mostly due to the prosthetic being so tight is cuts off a lot of the circulation, and since most of us put it on when we wake up and dont take it off till we go to bed, the rest of the leg adapts. It is hit or miss. Some folks can overcome atrophy, some can't and honestly, with major amputations not being exactly an everyday thing, docs just don't really understand it, not to mention there is not that much reason to research it that hard.
Its not like the atrophy is bad, for a normal just walking around person, but it is only really apparent in athletes and weight lifters and such.