ankle injury

[robertg]

just wondering if anyone on the forum can help me. a few years ago i snapped the "Springer" ligament in my left foot and i had an operation to fix it. since that time i have had varying degrees of back injury. these injuries have reduced my back strength and consequently i had to stop rowing. recently i visited a physiopherapist with the aim of sculling again. he strengthened my back which is great and then he checked my technique on a concept ergo. he noticed that my left leg was splaying out to the left when i applied pressure with my feet. he also noticed my left heel raised before my right and consequently my left knee and hip also raised before the right which is probably causing my back problems.
does anyone have any excercises or advice to get me back in the boat.
p.s. i am 57 years old, have rowed internationally (a few years ago) ie rowing standard ok

thanks in advance

[Carl Watts]

Flexability appears to be a problem along with all of the obvious other aches and pains you get with age caused by a string of injuries along the way. I would recommend other exercises like walking and swimming as well as stretching so you can get to the point of keeping your heals on the footstretcher while rowing.

This will obviously help the load on your ankle and reduce your body trying to compensate for the problem.

[Rockin Roland]

If you say your left leg splays to the side then obviously your body is compensating for the injury. Unfortunately the C2 erg only allows you to adjust the height of your feet but not the width. As it is the feet are much further apart on a C2 erg than what they are in a boat. If I were you I'd try and get hold of an Oartec Slider erg and try rowing with your feet closer together (Oartec Slider has no bar in the middle to seperate your feet hence you can have your feet & legs locked together and touching or as far apart as you like). The greater adjustability may help you find a more comfortable position for your rehab.

Another option for rehab is to get hold of a Rowperfect erg which allows you to do one legged rowing. This would allow you to row and strengthen the weaker/injured leg and together with its limited tilt seat will allow for far more flexibility than the rigid and restrictive C2 erg. It's way too awkward to row one legged on a C2 and the range of movement and rehab posibilities are no where near that of a Rowperfect anyway. My apology if I have offended any C2 diehards for suggestion alternative ergs.

When it comes to rehab sometimes you need to look at alternative equipment to get the desired result.

[robertg]

thanks rockin roland and carl for your comments. i actually am using a rowperfect as part of my rehab. just slowly getting back into it. I was on the rowperfect the other and taking close note of my leg splay as i rowed. it was splaying and it actually felt ok, when I tried to make the leg more vertical i had a bit on pain in my hip so i stopped. next day (today) i did a lot of stretching of the ankle and the time on the ergo was much better with the leg more vertical. obviously i need to get the strength and felexibilty into the ankle before i ergo or row

[kayakr]

See "pimp my erg" thread for ideas on reducing the angle of the footstretcher so that you can keep your foot down or mostly down. I made some wedges with plywood, 4" PVC end cap slided in half for heel cups, store bought wedges (3 highX 2 wide under each heel) and gorilla glue, in about 20 minutes, to reduce the angle to about 39 degrees. These velcro over the footstretcher and then I row strapless. Maybe use reduced stroke to stay within good form for the flexibility you have.