4 Ways to Strengthen Your Legs After an Injury

Before your injury, you went on all sorts of adventures. You ran through the park, hiked rugged trails, and explored unfamiliar cityscapes. However, now that you have a leg injury, you can't do these activities anymore. You have to wait until you heal, and you worry that your muscles will atrophy in the interim—if they do, you'll have to wait even longer to get back to your favorite pastimes.

Luckily, you can do several things to keep your muscles strong. You'll have to consult with your doctor beforehand to make sure you can do these things in safety, but once you have the green light, have a look at the tips listed below.

1. Get Regular Exercise

This may seem counterintuitive for some. After all, you have a broken or otherwise injured leg, and regular exercise could aggravate the injury, right?

You should get rest immediately after treatment for your injury. Most doctors will advise you to take it easy for a few days. However, after that, you should start exercising regularly. Note that you can't really do cardio on crutches—but you can do so if you buy a knee scooter. With a knee scooter, you can rest your injured leg while you walk—or even hike—with the rest of your body.

Regular exercise helps your injured leg because it keeps the rest of your body healthier. As you exercise, your body pumps more oxygen to every cell, boosting your immune system and healing ability. You also sweat out toxins from the food you've eaten and the air you've breathed, which means your body won't try to process and absorb them. You'll heal much more quickly this way.

2. Do Rehabilitation Exercises

Since you can't walk, run, or hike on your injured leg just yet, you'll have to find gentler, safer ways to exercise it and maintain muscle strength. Your doctor or physical therapist will tell you what you can safely do with your particular injury, but if you feel up to it, you can start with these basic stretches and exercises:

• Prolonged knee extension stretch: You can do this by sitting on the couch and placing your heel and ankle on your knee scooter. It straightens out your knee so you don't lose the ability to fully extend it.
• Prolonged knee flexion stretch: Sit down, put a strap around your lower leg, and wrap the strap around the back leg of your chair. Hold the strap in both hands and pull gently until you feel tightness in the thigh or knee. This flexes your knee so you don't lose the ability to bend it. If your injury is too severe for this, simply sit and use your healthy leg to push and bend the other knee.
• Sit to stand and back: This sounds exactly how it works. Start sitting, slowly get up, and slowly sit back down. Only do this if your leg injury won't aggravate if you stand on it.
• Heel slides: Lie down on your back with your knees up and your feet on the ground. Move your heel backwards towards you, and rest when it starts to feel uncomfortable. You can use a strap to help you move it.
• Isometric quad exercises: Put a towel under your knee, lie down on your back, then tighten your knee and flex it towards the ground. You can also reverse this exercise and do it on your stomach.

Again, only do these exercises if your doctor gives you the green light.

3. Eat Healthy, Muscle-Building Foods

Not only should you drink plenty of water and eat plenty of protein, calcium, and vitamin D, but you should avoid harmful substances as well. Refrain from alcohol or tobacco use. Tobacco especially introduces harmful toxins into your body that slow your ability to heal and aggravate already weakened muscles.

4. Get Enough Sleep

Sleep gives your body a chance to repair itself, which means you'll heal more quickly and stay stronger. Get at least eight hours every night for maximum effect.

 

A leg injury doesn't have to keep you from your favorite activities. Consult with your doctor and purchase your knee scooter to get started.