Weight and Resistance Training - Help Me Put Together A Leg Workout!

Help!!!

OK, gang, here's the deal -- I'm almost four weeks out from shoulder surgery and still in a sling 24/7. The only exercises that I'm allowed to do are the recumbent bike and legs. So I need all your combined brainpower to help me put together a leg workout that works with recovery from surgery.

Here are the rules:

no BBs or DBs or weights of any kind in my good hand
no machines that involve shoulders (hack squat machine, lying leg press, standing calf raise etc)
no jumping
no machines that need two hands to operate (like unracking certain leg presses)

So I need your best bodyweight leg exercises and any ideas on machines that I can use with only one arm. C'mon and help me out - I'm going :crazy: and am turning into a blob of Jello!

Lunge walking! It's better with weight but if I go all the way to the mailbox ... it burns nice.

I'm not sure if this would count as jumping, but you might want to try it.

1) Squat down in a wide stance (feet shoulder width and a half or wider) with toes pointing forward.
2) Straighten right leg to stand up, whilst bringing left leg up to perform a "front kick". For a front kick, bend knee first, then extend leg with a flexed foot to kick with the heel.
3) Bend left leg at knee, before replacing on floor in wide stance and squat down again.
4) Repeat front kick with right leg, repeat with left ad infinitum 'till you fall on the floor!

We usually do this with our hands protecting our head, so you should be able to do this with your arm in a sling. Hope the instructions are clear. :D

Step-overs on aerobic step(keep adding rings as you get stronger); one legged step-ups without putting weight on the "off" foot (turns into a one legged squat); endless lunge variations with pulses, side lunges, lunge twist, etc.

Are you BOSU ready yet? or is that too unstable?

How about hip-belt squats? They shouldn't stress out your shoulders or arms.

Hmmm...if you can get someone else to help you, Robert's idea could be modified to squat nice and deep with weight. Put 2 flat benches about 2 feet apart, get someone else to attach a plate onto a belt for you, and stand with one foot on each bench and do squats. You'll be able to let the plate dangle between the benches so you can squat low enough, but you are going to need help.

Can you get up and down off the floor? I attached cables to ankle cuffs for a client who had a sprained ankle and had her lie down and pull her knees up one at a time- kind of a reverse squat.

Lying curls, seated curls, NO deadlifts :dizzy:

Walking treadmill lunges on a steep incline :devil:

Mel

Step Ups, Butt Blaster, Lunges, Squats, Plies, Leg Extensions, Lying Leg Curls, Seated Leg Curls, Standing Leg Curls, Hip Abduction, Hip Addcution, High Incline/Low Speed on Treadmill, Squat with Abduction (lift one leg out to side when you stand up), Lying Leg Raises (Inner and Outer, can lay weight on leg for added resistance), Cable Leg Raises (Inner, Outer, and Backward), Leg Press (Unilateral and bilateral), Calf Press (Unilateral and Bilateral).

I think that's all I've got for now.

Put 2 flat benches about 2 feet apart, get someone else to attach a plate onto a belt for you, and stand with one foot on each bench and do squats. You'll be able to let the plate dangle between the benches so you can squat low enough, but you are going to need help.O-M-G that's quite the visual!!! :rofl::rofl:

Gosh guys you took all my ideas :p !!

Thanks for all the :devil: ideas! I'm aiming for legs three times a week and look forward to rotating through everything.

There are a bunch of leg exercises you can do with one of those cable gymnasium-contraptions, too. Attach an ankle-cuff to your leg and a cable (lowered to the floor) and you can do abductions, adductions, forward kicks, donkey-kicks... and all you have to do for weights is change the pin. :tread:

--Janis