Hey all.

Ok, to cut a long story short, I have broken my fibula (non-displaced fracture, near my ankle). I'm currently in a weight bearing cast which reaches to the bottom of my knee. I'm coming up to 3 weeks after the break, and a week ago I was cleared to do some light weight-bearing (walking). To keep in shape, i've been doing some high-rep-low-weight upper body stuff, and 30-40mins per day on the crutches (tough workout, I can tell you!), and keeping my nutrition nice and "clean". Haven't gained any weight thus far... in fact i'm looking leaner than ever!

However, all this time off the bike is starting to eat away at me. I came straight off a 22hr week (training camp) do doing nothing. I haven't been off the bike for this long in a good 2-3 years. I'm finding myself increasingly depressed, weight training and "crutching" about just don't provide the same exercise high i'm used to.

What would your opinion be on setting my turbo bike up with a flat pedal (no cleat) on the damaged leg, normal on the other side and doing some easy spinning (Zone 2, under 200w) for 30mins a day? I have a plaster shoe, so I would be able to pedal ok. I can walk with the said leg ok, with little to no pain, but have kept it to short distances (around the house).

Any help/opinions appreciated. Before you say check with the doc, they seem to be very vague and unsure what is best. Also, any nutrition advice for repair would be great. I've been sticking to my usual high carb/low fat diet from veg, fruit, grains and protein from eggs and fish, along with extra calcium + vit D to help repair.

Many thanks

Ok... no responses so I guess no-one has experienced this before. I did a 30min easy session yesterday and it felt just fine. A bit awkward, but no pain. I had to position the arch of my foot on the pedal to stop my ankle wanting to bend through the pedal stroke (cast won't allow this). I figure the extra blood flow from light activity can only help heal the bone. Just about to do the same again today. I'm back to the docs on monday for another x-ray so it will be good to see if there is any progress. Cast feeling quite loose so I assume the little bit of swelling that was still present has gone down.

I haven't experienced this, but my advice is carefully experiment, as you did, and if it hurts at all, STOP. Recovery sucks, but it sucks even worse to set yourself back. Hope you have a fast recovery.

Thanks for the reply, Oban_Kobi. I was taking the same view myself - to stop if there was any pain at all. After another 30min session yesterday, I woke up feeling just great. It's amazing what a little aerobic exercise does for the mind. Interestingly, the foot/leg just "feels" a lot better after those couple of sessions. I can't help feel that it is doing it some good. I spoke to the doc today, and I told him what i've been doing. He cleared it as being ok, but advised just to go easy. As the break isn't major, and it's non displaced, he feels it shouldn't hurt recovery.

Will keep an update on progress!