Suggestions for cardio without lower legs

4bettermenow

So, my husband would like to start getting some cardio in. We have the caloric intake down, but feels he wants something for health. He cannot do walking, running, elliptical, etc because he cannot use his lower legs for that long. He has constant pain in his lower legs from Compartment syndrome (even after two fasciotomies) So, I am looking for suggestions from others who have limited means for exercise. Thanks.

urloved33

If you call around to the gyms to find a bike that is worked with our arms instead of our legs...that would work.

lishie_rebooted

Best options are arm bikes, potentially recumbent bikes, swimming, or just breaking it up into segments as long as his body can take - if that's 3 10min segments throughout the day then so be it

jasonraygagnon

yes, perhaps pool exercises. There are also racing bikes that run using arm power.

PeachyPlum

There are also lots of low weight, high rep arm exercises he could do with dumbbells. Think BodyPump, but only doing the top half.

4bettermenow

Thank you for the suggestions. I will look into the arm bike.

Robertus

Freestyle swimming can be done with very minimal kicking. There is even a very common training activity, where you swim with a small float held between your thighs and you do not kick at all. Oftentimes, when you do this, you will also wear hand paddles which emphasize the effect of the arm stroke and use of proper use of hands. Gyms with pools typically have these easy-to-use pieces of equipment available for anyone to use.

999tigger

Krankl machine is what we called the arm bike, theres also a rope machine which doesnt require leg power.

TeaBea

Seated - or chair workouts. Here's one by Jessica Smith

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xC9khisFPA

There are a couple DVD brands (mostly for seniors): Sit to be Fit & Chair Dancing
Not likely a guy thing, but the video clips may give you some ideas.

http://www.collagevideo.com/collections/workouts-for-seniors

HeySwoleSister

In some areas, there are wheelchair basketball leagues that welcome players who don't use the chair full-time. That might be fun for him.

esjones12

I feel for him. I am recovering from OTS which is not nearly as bad as Compartment Syndrome (but can present similarly) and have been banished to low impact cardio for the majority of my workouts. I've been doing a lot of cycling and swimming. Other suggestions provided are good too. I used a hand bike a lot when I hurt my ankle a while back. It's a good workout!

Talk to the doctor for other suggestions and limitations on what he does....

Angelfire365

Find a gym that does Rope Blast type workouts. It's a huge, long rope (at least 2" in diameter) that is wrapped around a post. You hold one end n each hand and whip it around in different ways. It is an intense cardio workout, and you only use your legs for standing. Although I'm pretty sure you could do it from a chair if needed.

4bettermenow

Again thank you! So many great suggestions. He does want to try the swimming...he has great upper body strength and thinks he could just pull himself through the water with minimal pressure on his legs. He can't stand for long periods of time without the pain intensifying, so the swimming or arm bike may just be what he is looking for.

kozinskey

Chair yoga is a thing! That might be a good thing to look into. I wonder if a gentle or restorative yoga class would help too. It wouldn't be high intensity cardio, but it involves minimal standing and maybe the stretching would help with his underlying issues?

jgnatca

My first thought:


@Angelfire365 Love that rope blast idea.

Angelfire365

jgnatca wrote: »

My first thought:


@Angelfire365 Love that rope blast idea.

I give my trainer a dirty look when I walk in and see the rope out. It's harder than it looks! Lol