I’m reaching out for some guidance after a recent setback. Unfortunately, I broke my shoulder during a training ride after being hit, and recovery is going to keep me off the bike for anything resembling high-intensity work — even riding indoors in the drops is out of the question for now.
Given the circumstances, I’m trying to figure out how best to reconfigure my training in Xert. My goal is to at least maintain my aerobic fitness while I recover. I’d love to hear any suggestions from those who’ve dealt with similar injuries or have insights into how Xert can be optimized for low-intensity or alternative training methods during recovery.
Thanks in advance for any help or support you can provide!
I’ve had two broken elbows in recent years, things I’ve learnt from that are that you will inevitably lose a bit of fitness, your body needs a load of energy to repair a serious injury. Get extra sleep if you can, eat extra if you can and eat well. I took a calcium and a vitamin D supplement which I think helped.
In terms of aerobic fitness, use the time off the bike for a bit of cross training, for example walking is great, quite surprising how much a fast paced walk will help maintain fitness and it’ll have the mental benefit of getting you outdoors into the fresh air which will make the recovery/time off the bike more bearable.
I got back onto the trainer and found I could manage shorter sessions if I kept my sling nearby and used it when I got sore, you could try splitting the sessions up into chunks, so maybe three twenty minute sessions, then two thirty minute sessions etc. This will build up slowly and it also helps to relief a bit of boredom.
Finally, do as much rehab as possible, I’ve found physios can be quite cautious in the volume of exercise they prescribe, one who I’m friendly with says this is due to dealing with so many sedentary people and for someone who is used to training then you can push yourself a bit more, but use common sense.
As for Xert, I’d just put it in off season for your improvement rate and just play it by ear.
Hey, thanks for this kind of outline. It gave me some real food for thought on how to go about rehabbing. Didn’t even consider breaking sessions into smaller more manageable segments. I’ll definitely take it into consideration. Thanks again.