How long does it take to rebuild arm/wrist strength?

[kbuhler]

Hello all,

DD's sports med doc and PT gave her the okay to do tumble, do bars and beam yesterday. Today was her first time back on bars even though she's been conditioning every gym day since December 10th when she broke her wrist. Obvioulsy hasn't done bars since that date though. Today first time back, she couldn't do a kip. It broke my heart because she took 1st at state last year on bars as a L5. She's now a L6. She loves bars. Is that normal to not be able to do bars after her broken wrist injury? How long did it take for your DDs to come back? Our first meet is March 27th. Do we have time? What arm strength things did your DD do? She could do tap swings but not as well as before, front handsprings, and was working on relearning her beam dismounts if that helps you see where her strength is. Its just her bars.....Please send ideas.

Thanks so much!

 

[sportyspice]

My DS broke his wrist 10 wks before Nationals - he was in a cast for six weeks and had 4 weeks to build up strength - he was fine and came 5th at Nationals - but not without a lot of hard work. Resistance band strength exercises in all directions, frequent epsom salt soaks in very hot water and lots of massage to keep the tissue/tendons happy. Ice after hard training.

From what I recall, full flexibility in the forward direction of the wrist (as is required in kip) took longer to strengthen - but you have LOADS of time - I would expect full strength back in 4 to 6 weeks with a bit of work.

 

[kbuhler]

Thank you for responding

Your posting was very hopeful and helpful. How long did he use resistance bands when practicing them? What other strength things would you suggest? You have a very talented son. Are there certain drills you did at gym that helped? What about exercises she could do at home. I know I was totally naive but I somehow thought with a couple of trys she could do bars again. Is it just because she is weak in her wrist? Did your son do anything to build up his arm muscle? How did you son do on high bar at nationals? Rings?

 

[gym law mom]

Don't panic. As you noted she basically hasn't done any real gymnastics in almost 2 months. Its not just getting the strength and range of motion back, but also her timing/muscle memory on skills she hasn't done. Each practice will be a little better. I would advise to talk with her PT about any home exercises that may help such as working with bands. You don't want to undo what she's doing in therapy by adding alot of things mentioned by others. Her therapist and doctor know her injury and where she is at recovery wise.

She should be fine by the 1st meet.

 

[dancesterx3]

Hello all,

DD's sports med doc and PT gave her the okay to do tumble, do bars and beam yesterday. Today was her first time back on bars even though she's been conditioning every gym day since December 10th when she broke her wrist. Obvioulsy hasn't done bars since that date though. Today first time back, she couldn't do a kip. It broke my heart because she took 1st at state last year on bars as a L5. She's now a L6. She loves bars. Is that normal to not be able to do bars after her broken wrist injury? How long did it take for your DDs to come back? Our first meet is March 27th. Do we have time? What arm strength things did your DD do? She could do tap swings but not as well as before, front handsprings, and was working on relearning her beam dismounts if that helps you see where her strength is. Its just her bars.....Please send ideas.

Thanks so much!

For the wrist, have her take some 1 to 2 lb weights and extend her arms out in front of her and have her spell out her name or the alphabet. If you don't have weights you can use cans of soup.

For shoulders, I'm not sure how I can explain this so that she does it right, but have her sit on the floor in criss cross applesauce way, make sure her back is straight and have her extend her arms out to the sides, with her fingers and hands pointing down (as if she was flashing someone an engagement ring) make sure her shoulders are back, now have her bounce her arms for 2 counts of 8. Then she'll flip her hands up for 2 counts of eight, then she'll bring her hands in towards her head and bring them back out for 2 counts of 8. Then she'll put her forearms up (like she was showing off her muscles) and have her bounce her hands side to side really fast for 2 counts, then flip her hands out in a "raise the roof" sort of motion and do the same thing. Then you repeat the whole thing. If it's confusing, I apologize, If you want, I can make a video of myself doing it, and you can see what I mean.

You can also do backwards push ups which is where you have her sit like she's going to do the crab walk, but have her cross one leg over the other and then dip her butt towards the floor and push back up (you can choose how many you think is good for her, remember that she'll cross the other leg and do it over again). A good tip here, The closer you get the thumbs to touch the harder the push up, Thats what you should work towards.

Those are some exercises I do, I don't do gymnastics, but those last two warm ups, I used in gym, and the first one, I read in american cheerleader magazine.

 

[sportyspice]

There are many different resistance bands and your PT (who is hopefully used to treating gymnasts) should know which one to start with - we were told to continue exercise until tired/in pain or discomfort.

MAG conditioning exercises generally concentrate on arms/upper body a lot more than WAG and I let coach do most of the rehab - a PT with gymnastic experience is invaluable. The first "sports physician" we saw told DS he would not have a full recovery for at least 4 months!

If anything, my DS was stronger on high bar, parallel bars and rings than before the accident as he had focussed on upper body and wrist strength more. He certainly shocked a lot of naysayers though! And 2 years on he has not had any problems with the wrist at all.