On July 3rd I broke my tibia and fibula while mountain biking. Surgery was July 4. I was able to start spinning again on indoor bike on July 26 for 15 minutes and increased duration over the next 3+ weeks to 1 hr 1hr 20 min I wasn’t allowed to put much power into that leg until I became full weight bearing. The recovering leg was basically along for the ride. It helped with mobility and swelling. Today I got the go ahead to start pushing again gradually. The broken leg has obviously gotten quite weak. Today I just concentrated on keeping power as close to even as possible with l/r legs. I was hoping to get some advice on how to build this leg back to even strength. I still have to wait for single leg weight lifting. Also I have to scrap my training plan and create a new one with the focus on just getting back into shape. Any advice on plan building for that? Thank you
In the past, have you regularly done strength training? If not, do you intend to do it for a while moving forward? General strength training will help a lot, but I would also focus on training with separate isolation for each leg - i.e. single leg curls, single leg extensions, single leg calf raises, pistol squats if possible, etc.
Over time and with proper training (probably 6-12 months) your injured leg should return to its normal strength and similar to your other leg.
In 2021 I had a complete tear of my conjoined tendon with 2 cm retraction in my left hamstring. I saw one of the best specialists and didn’t have surgery and did a lot of PT. 2 years later, I had hip surgery on the same side to repair a torn labrum and impingement. Within about 6-8 months my left leg was back equally as strong as my right. I have confirmed through both dual sided power meter pedals and dual sided power meter at the crank that my left leg is as strong or sometimes very slightly stronger in all bike rides, even at 100 miles+. It’s more often at 51/49 power with the left side being stronger, than the other way around. I should add that I’ve been lifting weights regularly for over 20 years and continued through and after my surgeries/injuries.