Broken Collar Bone

Tragedy of tragedies, i came off my bike (ahem scooter) again three weeks ago. I was jerked off with a spin so i landed very awkwardly on my shoulder breaking my collarbone. Good news, the orthopedic says i can take my sling off in three weeks time (6 weeks overall) saying i will have full strength and movement.

I recently found this site, reading up and watching videos and trying out the frog stand, tuck planche (hard) and the tuck front lever. But my concern is - these exercises are pretty stressful. I've been very careful up until now about how i've done them, making sure not to overdo it or hurt some ligaments or something. Especially because i'm a 6' 3" 19 year old (big) and my joints and all are possibly not quite strong enough to attempt the exercises.

Obviously now i have even bigger concerns since i've gone and messed up my shoulder, and i'm gonna give it a bit more rest than the minimum of 6 weeks the orthopaedic recommended.

Is there any reason that i shouldn't continue trying these exercises? Is it necessary for me to do more preparation to strengthen my shoulders up before I start again? Or my wrists or other?

I started making some parallettes before the accident, just to take any strain off my wrists doing planches. I hadn't allowed them to ache, but they are worth the precaution (i'm strangely heavy). From what i understand, it will be safer for me to not use rings for now, just to insure more stability in the exercises.

I've been using a doorway frame for the tuck front lever, but it kinda cuts the circulation off in my fingers, so i'm also looking at making a nice bar (like a pullup bar). What diameter should i use for the bar?

My recommendation is to focus on re-building your bent arm strength (pull-ups, dips, HSPUs etc) prior to engaging in any strenuous static strength training.

Best wishes for a quick recovery!

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Coach is right on. And, as always, follow your doctor's advice siince he has examined you and seen your films. FWIW, You are still healing until about 6-8 weeks so you want to restore as close to full range of motion as possible during the healing stage. I had a similar injury and found, in addition to the exercises recomended by Coach, that resistance bands were helpful as well. At 19, your strength levels will return once your shoulder is healed, but you can lose some motion if you are not diligent in moving your shoulder under light resistance through its full range during this healing stage. The static exercises at 3 weeks are too much force on a weakened structure and don't work the shoulder through any significant range of motion. At the same time, you really can lose a significant range of motion, particularly if the collar bone fx was accompianed by a shoulder separation; and there is almost always some rotator cuff tearing from falling on an outstretched hand which will not be picked up unless they do an MRI. You will "discover" it in your 40s when the incomplete tear gradually becomes complete. Even ROM strethcing without resistance at this stage is helpful. After 6-8 weeks definitely start to increase the strength with dynamic resistance because stronger shoulder muscles will keep the whole shoulder girdle in place, static holds have a place then, but I would think that you would want to see some ability to do dips, chins, and other bodwweight exercises through a full range before you jump into holds. Again, good luck. This is a minor and common injury, but it does require a lifelong program to keep the structure strong. At 42, 20 years after the injury, I can still feel pain and stiffness when sleeping etc, if I am not diligent about working that bad shoulder. I also lost ROM which I never got back in part because I decided that I knew more about rehab than my therapist.

Thank you very much.

I'm really kinda frustrated - also struggling to sleep because i'm not doing any exercise...

I'm going to phone the orthopaedic surgeon who examined it to find out about exercising the shoulder for range of motion.

Just to be clear, kopride, you are recommending me using those eelastic resistance bands once the recovery period (the initial 6 weeks 3 of which are left) is over? or before? Should I speak to a biokineticist?

Once again thank you. I can't wait to get back in action!

In the mean time i guess i'll give my exams some good attention!