Heya,

I’m a broken-armed wanna-be crossfitter, and I’m about ready to jump out of my skin waiting for this to heal.  I’ve been doing crossfit-type workouts for about 3 months(I can’t follow the site because of inconsistant access to equipment), reading the articles and what-not, but since I broke my arm in early March I’ve been able to do almost nothing.  Can I get some recommendations for exercises that will at least keep me from falling off the map?  This would have been a great season to put my foot down on my fitness…

BrokenGunner

一期一絵
ichi-go, ichi e
‘One Moment One Oppertunity’

My Wifey broke her arm and hit the gym pretty much 4 days out of the hospital.  Her recovery has been nothing short of astounding.  After shattering her elbow and getting a bleak prognosis from her surgeon (never do a chin-up again, never get close to full Range of Motion, etc), she is now kipping, thrustering, cleaning, and deadlifting to beat all heck… and a bunch of PRs too.

We attribute her progress to her continued training when the arm was still broken.

Here’s a start for you:
Run, Sprint, Broad Jumps, Box Jumps, Lunges
Air Squats, Pistols, Squat Jumps
Sit-Ups, GHD Sit-Ups
Hip Extensions, Back Extensions, Hip/Back Extensions
One Armed Ring Rows
One Armed Rowing (Wifey’s favorite… not!)
One Armed KB Snatches
One Armed KB Swings
One Armed Dumbell Clean and Jerk
One Armed Dumbell Snatch
One Armed Dumbell Press
One Armed Dumbell Thrusters
One Armed Dumbell Deadlift
One Armed Barbell Deadlift (Seriously… check it out on the web)
Weighted Squats (Using a belt like for weighted dips)
One Armed Overhead DB or KB Squats
One Armed Hang (Just hang for time)
One Armed Sumo Deadlift High Pulls (DB or KB)

You may not have all the equipment, but it should be immediately clear that you should not be getting board with all of those to combine in so many ways.

Thanks a ton!  I just got permission from my doc to run, so I put my energy into setting my PR in ‘Hill Sprintx10’ (10:05) on the hill near my house.  Later I guess I’ll Tabata something on the list…

BrokenGunner

Thanks BM and that’s a small list!

I agree with BM completely.  I broke my ankle many years ago in a tournament.  My doctor told me that I would probably have to quit sparring…for ever.  For me though, I had the choice of sitting home doing nothing or continuing my classes.  So after my surgery, and a couple weeks time, I returned to the school and did what I could, even if it was watching.  As soon as I felt able, I started on an exercise bike (I could use less force with the broken ankle and there was very little weight on it).  I was back to kicking the heavy bag within 4.5-5 months, and 100% full-contact sparring within 6 months!  While this isn’t the same as a broken arm, I think the idea is clear.  Staying active and working your body any way you can will make your recovery faster and I feel, make you stronger in the long run.

Good luck!