What is the best way to build and maintain cardio fittness when injured?

Question

I've been training quite hard recently for a big event thati s taking place in just over two weeks time.

The problem is I've picked up a muscle strain in my thigh (quad).

It's not a huge injury but its stopping me from doing my usual sprint training and I don't want to go running because I want to give my leg some time to heal.

Does any have any advice on the best way to sort my leg out before my event? And what is the best way to maintain my cardio fitness with an injured thigh? My initial thought was swimming.

Answer 1

Training in a pool is fine for your cardio fitness as you can have a cardio work out without putting undue stress on your quads.You could try swimming with a float between your legs and just using your arms.To reap all the benefits of a cardio workout, you should sustain your workout for 20 minutes or more
For your quad strain you may do all of these exercises right away.
Quadriceps stretch: Stand an arm's length away from the wall, facing straight ahead. Brace yourself by keeping the hand on the uninjured side against the wall. With your other hand, grasp the ankle of the injured leg and pull your heel toward your buttocks. Don't arch or twist your back and keep your knees together. Hold this stretch for 15 to 30 seconds. Repeat 3 times.
Quadriceps isometrics: Sitting on the floor with your injured leg straight and your other leg bent, press the back of your knee into the floor by tightening the muscles on the top of your thigh. Hold this position 10 seconds. Relax. Do 3 sets of 10.
Straight leg raise: Lie on your back with your legs straight out in front of you. Tighten up the top of your thigh muscle on the injured leg and lift that leg about 8 inches off the floor, keeping the thigh muscle tight throughout. Slowly lower your leg back down to the floor. Do 3 sets of 10.
Heel slide: Sit on a firm surface with your legs straight in front of you. Slowly slide the heel of your injured leg toward your buttock by pulling your knee to your chest as you slide. Return to the starting position. Do 3 sets of 10.
Prone knee bends: Lie on your stomach with your legs straight out behind you. Bend your knee so that your heel comes toward your buttocks. Hold 5 seconds. Relax and return your foot to the floor. Do 3 sets of 10. As this becomes easier you can add weights to your ankle.

When you have no pain with walking or climbing stairs you can begin the next 2 exercises.
Wall slide: Stand with your back, shoulders, and head against a wall and look straight ahead. Keep your shoulders relaxed and your feet 1 foot away from the wall and a shoulder's width apart. Keeping your head against the wall, slide down the wall, lowering your buttocks toward the floor until your thighs are almost parallel to the floor. Hold this position for 10 seconds. Make sure to tighten the thigh muscles as you slowly slide back up to the starting position. Do 3 sets of 10. Increasing the amount of time you are in the lowered position helps strengthen your quadriceps muscles.
Step-up: Stand with the foot of your injured leg on a support (like a block of wood) 3 to 5 inches high. Keep your other foot flat on the floor. Shift your weight onto the injured leg and straighten the knee as the uninjured leg comes off the floor. Lower your uninjured leg to the floor slowly. Do 3 sets of 10.
Good luck with your event.

Answer 2

Depending on the severity, it's quite possible that your injury will take more than two weeks to heal.

IF YOU COMPETE BEFORE IT'S HEALED YOU RISK EXACERBATING IT OR MAKING IT PERMANENT.

The best method of helping it heal is to keep it moving with NO LOAD AT ALL. Try air-cycling (shoulder stand & move legs in cycling action). It isn't macho, but ANYTHING vigorous may damage the injured muscle further.

Totally resting the muscle will leave it weaker, and vulnerable.

Cardio capability des not require the use of the thigh muscles (they are usually involved because they can demand a lot of bloodflow). You can do cardio weight-sets while your leg heals. These involve long, light sets of Bench-presses, Pulldowns, Reverse flyes, Rows, Ab machines, etc. and whatever Hamstring & Calf work you can get away with (eg Seated calf raise will avoid engaging Vasti or RF), and short recovery times between sets, so that the heart rate remains high.

A heart rate monitor can be useful for this. The outer & inner thigh
(adductor/abductor) machines are also useful, if they don't aggravate your injury. Lots of guys ignore these machines, because they would feel 'girly' using them, but your injury may benefit from the support of other thigh muscles.

See a physio in order to find out how bad your strain is, and to get some remedial exercises to help it heal. If the exercises seem too easy to get you up to speed, then DO NOT DO ANYTHING TOUGHER.

If the recovery programme you are given is longer than the two weeks you have before the event, then DO NOT COMPETE.

Working 'through the pain barrier' might make you feel like a really hard guy, but it's likely to harm your performance on the day, and possibly your future capability.

Answer 3

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Answer 8

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Answer 9

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Answer 10

i agree with swimming. i remember in high school and college cross country, my coaches would often the injured runners swim and do "pool workouts"."
cycling may also be a viable option, but that depends on how much pressure you feel comfortable placing on your quads.

good luck bro, i hope you recover enough to participate in the event.