• Always listen to the doctor and respect the limits. But don’t limit yourself to the basics or the standard recommended by the doctor or the health insurance company. 

• Any help is good and you have to let yourself be advised. But it’s not that complicated and we can do a lot ourselves… 

• 4 levels: day-to-day action, whole body exercise, injury-specific exercises and passive recovery.

Within my recovery plan for the serious fracture of my tibia and fibula, based on 5 levels (physical, nutrition, hydration, microcirculation and psychological), I undertook to explain each section in a little more detail.

Here is the one on PHYSICAL WORK:

This is the most obvious, and the one that most people understand and, theoretically, apply. It is an essential part of recovery, and requires commitment and discipline.

The problem is that, precisely because it requires effort and dedication, as well as fatigue, patience and pain, so many people wait and rest, in the belief that standing still is good for recovery. And then they follow the doctor’s or the mutual insurance company’s recovery plan, a few days a week, for a few specific hours. And all too often this is accompanied by overeating, which, coupled with too little exercise, leads to weight gain and loss of energy, and makes the whole process more difficult or slows it down.

My starting point is that it’s all about physical recovery. From minute one, you have to be active and take advantage of any daily action to exercise and recover. Of course, you have to listen to your body and give yourself time to relax and rest, which is also very important for recovery. But rest does not have to be the basis of this recovery period.

Always listening to the traumatologist and not exceeding certain limits, but also understanding that normally doctors tend to be very cautious and have a standard plan that works for everyone, when each person is different in terms of abilities, physical base, will and motivation.

In my case I work on these parts:

1. Action in everyday life. Do not be lazy and be as physically active as possible in all the actions of our normal life.
2. Train the rest: Continue training the parts of the body not affected by the injury: if my leg is immobilised, nothing prevents me from continuing to exercise my upper body, abdominals, the good leg, etc.
3. Specific exercises for the injured part. And adapted to each moment. First, to regain mobility and confidence. And progressively incorporate both recovery and strength exercises. In my case, I am preparing several exercises to activate my ankle and knee (not affected by the injury, but affected by the operation and immobilisation); and then I will start with swimming, kayaking, static cycling, the gym specifically for muscles, walking, and progressively everything I see that my leg will allow me to do.
4. Recovery and passive activation: sleep between 7 and 9 hours, stretching, physiotherapist, application of ice or very cold-water baths, application of Indiba, etc.

Any help is good, but it is not that complicated, and even if we use a trainer, go to a recovery centre, or to a physiotherapist; we should not limit ourselves to that part, and we can do a lot of work by ourselves. This way we will gain in intensity, frequency and quality of recovery.

Disclaimer: This is only my opinion, and I am not a health or fitness professional. Everyone should be well informed, know their physical condition and their level of knowledge of any sport, and seek expert advice whenever necessary.