So, what happens when you stop training is that you get weak, right? Not rocket science. And if you have a broken leg there's not much you do about losing muscle mass, strength, power etc in that limb. However, common advice is that you shouldn't train the other limb either because you don't want that side to get unequally strong. This is misguided.
You see, the body is an amazingly smart tool, but it's not so smart that it can split itself neurologically in two and only create/ maintain adaptation on one side - indeed, research has shown that there is a 20% transfer of neurological development from the trained limb to the non trained limb, so even if, for example, you break your leg, you continue training the uninjured side you will retain a lot more strength on BOTH sides.
I can personally attest this information from when I broke my ankle in three places 9 months ago. Having continued to train upper body and core as normal and performed a variety a single leg exercises whilst I was in plaster, my recovery post cast removal was much quicker and I am now back to full fitness almost a year earlier than my consultant predicted. Incidentally, I didn't put on a pound during my convalescence either, and thanks to single leg intervals on the airdyne combined with my lifting and mobility program, managed to maintain a great deal of cardiovascular fitness too.
(Check out my personalised Phoenix Pro cast :)
Getting injured can be frustrating, but the take home message is to work around your injury and not let it undo all your hard work. The more strength, power and cardiovascular conditioning you can retain whilst injured, the faster your recovery and return to full capacity will be.
To Your Success!
Charlotte
www.phoenixprofitness.com
Follow us on twitter at @charlotteord and @phoenixprofit
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