- Okay, viewers, greetings, greetings.
We are here.
- Hello, Hello.
- Yeah, we are here today to
talk about just because of comments from viewers,
when we had a recent video on how to use crutches
with a broken or bad injured ankle or foot.
- Right, leg
- They said how do you do exercises when that happened?
So we're gonna show you on this video.
It's gonna start from if you've been weakened
maybe in a car accident
and bedridden for a few days from that position.
And then we're gonna go step by step
as they get more stronger, more mobile
to the level where you're ready to take the cast off.
So hold on and we'll be right there in nine seconds.
- ♪ Bob and Brad ♪
the two most famous physical therapists on the internet. ♪
- All right, Bob, we're gonna start
like I said, lying in bed.
If you don't get these muscles working,
they're gonna atrophy.
They're gonna get smaller, weaker
and things are gonna fall apart pretty quickly.
So, stay moving.
Now the one thing I wanna mention, Bob
just step back a little bit.
You can do this throughout is actually moving your toes up
and down like this for about 10 or 15 seconds.
- Right.
When this is really sore.
If you're in that little position
that can be really helpful just to help circulation
and those smaller muscles in the foot.
- A lot of ankle pumps.
- Yeah, so that one's gonna do that every couple hours,
just keep those toes moving.
Now while in bed and you got a heavy cast on you're sore
you might have had a car accident.
You wanna get it moving.
The kneel glide actually works really well.
- Real, lightweight.
Yep.
- We can put it in place.
It fits on a bed nice.
- Yep.
- You can put a little heel support down there.
- Yep. Cause remember your leg is weak.
You got a sore leg, you got a heavy cast
and just lifting it up can be challenging.
- Right.
- So, this allows this kind of motion and it's nice
and smooth and it works the hamstrings, the quads.
And it's a nice way to get started.
If you have one, if not
you can just try and slide your foot on the sheet.
If you put a plastic bag under it
that can be helpful or something smooth.
Okay. We're gonna go
to the next one, take a towel, roll it up.
Or a coffee can,
something about four to six inches in the diameter.
- Maybe a paint can.
Paint can, sure,
take the paint out and put that under your knee.
You can actually use a pillow like a throw pillow.
And there's two exercises you can do with this.
Number one, I call 'em shirt or quads.
Use this as a fulcrum point and up like that
all quads going on right there.
You got the weight of the cast.
Now, if it's too heavy and it may be too heavy.
If you've got a bad injury, you could take a belt.
I'm gonna use a stretch strap, put it around your foot
and then you can use that.
It just takes a little bit of assistance.
- Right.
- So you can do 10 to 15 of these.
The next one is what I call.
We're gonna work the quads.
We're gonna push straight down, not lift the foot
but squish the roll or the towel in hold, squish and hold.
- You could fold
up a pillow and do the same thing.
- Yep.
Anything under there.
- That's good to work the quad.
You know, if you got a dog that likes attention, put the dog
under there and they'll, you know, I'm just kidding.
- They'll love you.
- I'll get people mad at me.
- Right.
- Okay and then the next one,
this one is a little more advanced.
I call it the straight leg razor.
You take this leg, go up to here.
Again, 10 reps.
The big advantage of a strap with the loops is
you can put your hand in there, makes it lot easier.
But if you, if you're not able to do this
without assistance, then this will allow that.
Nice thing about this,
you get a little stretch with the hamstring at the top
you work the hip flexors up and down.
You work the quads.
It's a good overall stretch.
- You can even start by raising it
and then lowering it down with your own muscles.
- Yes. Eccentric strength and good point, Bob.
I knew you were here today for a good reason.
- For some reason.
- That's right. now, if you're able to
and you're getting stronger, you can lie
on your side and do the hip adductors.
- Right.
- And this is a little harder.
This will probably need a strap to start with.
This one's really hard to do.
This is not a big deal.
If this is challenging for you, it's okay.
But you can do adductors
like this with a strap or without.
- Inner thigh, yeah.
- And then finally
but not last hands here and just do this 90 90
we call it where you work on knee, quads.
- Stretch hamstrings.
- And by the time you get done to do all those
you're ready to start going to the next phase.
- Right.
- Okay, we're going to the next phase.
You're a little more mobile.
You're still uncomfortable walking.
That's okay.
You can do this on your bed.
Or on a carpeted floor.
Floor works a little bit better if you're able to
get down there or not.
And you'll see why,
because you'll wanna do it on your hands and knees.
If you got a soft bed, you'll just have to see how it works.
Again. You're not putting weight on your injured leg.
It's just there.
And we simpler are going to work.
Mule kicks.
Oh, like this, work 10 of those.
And you can do both legs.
You should be able to. The weight's going through
the femur right.
- Not through the knee.
- Not below the knee.
If your injury is above the knee, then this will not
be an option.
Of course.
Okay, and you do 10 on that side.
then what we call
- Fire hydrants.
Because what do dogs do when they go up to fire hydrant?
- They raise up.
- Yep, adduct that left hip and work that now the weight
of the cast hopefully will be okay
and you're strong enough.
If not, just do the best you can.
- Right.
- 10 of those.
Okay. And don't forget your upper body we're here.
We might as well do some pushups on the knees.
- And you get a little core.
- Yep.
And then also you can go sideways
on your knees and get some core.
This is optional.
If you feel comfortable, it's a good idea.
This is a little harder
on the soft bed than it is on the floor, right?
- It certainly is.
- And to work both sides.
All right, we're gonna go to the next phase.
- Good job, Brad.
- Thank you, Bob.
I'm getting stronger.
Okay. The next step, you're up and about a little bit.
You're in the seated position,
you might as well do some exercises.
Simply we call 'em long art quads
in the therapy world or kicks.
Straight as you can and down.
Make sure you don't do this.
Don't sharp 'em up.
- Right.
That's a common mistake here.
- Tighten up the quad.
- Yep. Up and hold it.
Feel those quads actually touch
them feel them that they're contracting nice.
- A little feedback.
- Yep. Do 10 of those.
Okay. If you want,
you can do this just to range the hip out.
It's not a real strengthener
but it is important to get that hip motion
in that direction.
Okay, and then the next one,
and if you can just
simply pull your foot at back and forth like this
if you have the knee glide, that works actually quite well
if you were using it in bed.
So Bob's gonna reach over and get it
and I'll show you some of the big advantages of it.
You put it up on the stilt and that changes it.
Not so much in the up position this way,
works the quads more,
but you'll really notice it.
And this is really helpful on the hams.
- Right.
- You know, even with a healthy leg,
I'll do these for about 20 reps
and I feel the ham starts to burn a little bit.
Okay. Otherwise you can just, you know, if you're on carpet
put a plastic bag down, or if you're on a smooth floor
put a towel down and work those like that.
Now, if you want to go to the next step
and you happen to have what works best is a loop.
One of the large loop bands,
you tie it off to something behind.
You got the wall anchor here, but you can put it
around a table leg, anything that's solid.
It's a little awkward.
So this is more
for those aggressive people who really want to get in shape
say they're getting ready for activity
or sport.
And you go like this, it will do that.
So you put a little loop on it like that
and then it won't do that there.
And then you get the quads to burn a little bit.
- Very good, Ben.
Yeah. And then you can turn around, you know, like I said
this will for the advanced people
and then work the hamstrings.
Well, you can't see it there.
We'll just flip it to this leg
so you can see what's going on.
And then you use the resistance.
Again, that's awkward.
Not necessary to do that.
Only for those people who want to advance a little more.
- Advanced people.
- Yep. No we're gonna go to the standing exercises.
Okay, and then standing
you're probably gonna want something to hold onto.
Whether it be a Walker, a chair, a countertop, a table
something solid that works.
And the injured leg, non-weight bearing of course.
We're gonna go out to the side.
This is probably the most important one of these exercises
but they're all important.
Make sure the toe doesn't point
out that is what'll naturally want to happen
for most people.
So make sure your toe points straight ahead of you.
- Keep it out.
- Yep. Now the other one up tall with your posture.
Don't lean forward at all.
Keep your knee straight and go behind you like this.
Hip extension we're connect glute Maximus.
Again, the tendency is to do this.
Don't do that.
Okay. And finally, we're gonna do hip flexion
or just single leg marching, if you will like that.
Okay. Now for those younger people
or people are active and wanna get back
to an activity and they feel comfortable with crutches.
You've been using crutches safely.
I'll show you options for that group.
Okay? Thumbs up.
All right, Bob, finally, but not lastly,
as you're gonna need your loop band again
you can use a regular band, but this works well
cause it wraps right around.
If you have a large cast, it works much better.
You need to put to the wall anchor or
a leg of a chair
piece of furniture, put it around one leg, you know
and you feel very comfortable with your crutches
at this point.
- Could be a door anchor, too.
- Yeah. It could be a door anchor.
Matter of fact, I'll show it, look at this.
You can use crutches to lift and
and that's what the door anchors look like
that come with your stretch band.
Okay. So again, straight behind you
same mechanics is while you're standing holding
onto your walker or cupboard
- Safety comes first.
- Yep.
- Not to fall over
- And boy, and if you need it tighter
you simply stick a step back or you can get a darker band.
This is yellow, the easiest one in my set.
Turn 90 degrees work it this way.
Get those adductors 10 to 15, turn 90 degrees again.
Especially if you're yeah.
If you're a field goal, kicker
this is really gonna be something you'll wanna work with.
You could have broke your foot
actually kicking the footfall.
- That's right.
- Or playing soccer.
- There you go.
- I don't think that ever happens, does it?
And then out to the side
and you can have the band behind or in front
whatever you feel comfortable with and toe pointed forward.
Not like this.
- Hip abductors
- Yep.
Boy you'll get those hip burning.
- Right.
- Oh yeah.
Works the other leg as well too, which is a good benefit.
All right, man.
Bob,
- You did a great job, Brad.
- I think these people are going feel strong
like bull in no matter of no time.
- I agree.
- When they get weight bearings tolerated
they'll be running, jumping, skipping, happy and whistling.
- I concur.