Arm/Leg Pedaling

[Pickums1283]

This is kind of a silly question, but I decided to give my legs a break for once and used my stationary bike by pedaling with my arms instead. Aside from exercising a different group of muscles, does it still give me the benefits of an aerobic exercise?

[Niffer991]

That's good just take it slow as you are and stop if the pain returns.

[Pickums1283]

Hi Niffer:

No, no swelling or anything. There hasn't been any swelling, bruising, redness, no pain on palpating, no bumps or anything feeling out of the ordinary. The only evidence of it was the one day of pain on walking and then the pain when I flex the foot a certain way. The pain is even less now, but depending on how the angle I flex the foot, the pain is very mild and either under the outer left ankle bone or running vertically parallel to the Achilles tendon. Its hard to pinpoint.

Since Friday, I finally braved getting back on my stationary bike (actually pedaling with my legs) and I am taking it slower than usual and so far it hasn't seemed to cause any pain.

[Niffer991]

It is truly hard for me to say as I do not know the diagnosis of your injury and how your healing is progressing. Is it swollen?

[Pickums1283]

Well, thank you! A lot of it has to do with not having health insurance so I don't want to mess around and end up doing anything really serious. Not quite sure what may have been strained, if it was the Achilles or another tendon or a ligament. It seems to be mostly gone- no more pain walking, still some when I flex my foot a certain way and mild pain coming down steps. The area just feels a little tight. I'm just wondering when I can start walking (for exercise) again.

[Niffer991]

absolutely I am impressed you are giving your body time to recover and heal. You may have already done this but apply heat and elevate. A natural anti-anflammatory oil is "Arnica Oil" and you can also use castor oild with a flannel peace of cloth, put plastic on top and then apply heat for 45-60 min to promote healing.

[Pickums1283]

Hi Niffer:

Nah, my bike is far too old to have a heart rate monitor on it. I'll try to take it myself next time I use it.

Oddly enough, I asked this before it happened, but I injured something in my ankle and have been using my bike the way I asked about. I would much rather be on it exercising with my legs (or out doing what I normally do) but I am kind of afraid to do it right away and injure whatever was hurt even further.

[Niffer991]

I understand what you are saying and there are actual bicycle type machines only for the arms. The only downfall is the muscle group you are working. Think how much muscle is on our legs, any walking exercise is better than standing, any standing exercise is better than sitting, and sitting exercise is better than lying down. The more muscle groups you are working then the more calories you are burning. The arms are quite small muscles so I imagine the workout would be less than half as calorie burning as apposed to normally. Instead of watching the RPM's I would be interested in your actual heart rate. If you know how to check your pulse you can do it that way, your bike may measure your HR, or you can buy a heart rate monitor from a sports store.

In short, it is cardio exercise, but not as effective cardiovascular as cycling.

Jen

[Pickums1283]

Also, what exactly is considered moderate on a stationary bike? My bike is pretty ancient and has a speedometer that runs MPH/RPM. I usually stay around 15-20 MPH, which is about 250-350RPMs.