Re-strengthen broken leg

So in the finals of our hockey playoffs earlier this year I broke my leg. I was just wondering if anyone has ever broken their leg and what you did to re-strengthen your leg.

I've done walking and very light jogging, but it still feels weak, even though it's had nearly a year to fully recover.

What you need to do before running is get some strength back in to your leg, I can guarantee there is atrophy, which is why it feels so weak. You could do exercises like single-leg press, or if it's too weak for that start with double-leg press until you feel comfortable moving to single-leg. Calf raises also will help, you can do these on the leg press machine or standing. I would recommend lunges if you have the range of motion and body-weight squats if you feel comfortable doing that. Really any thing that will get your muscle fibers firing will be good for it. Start small, so body weight or a very small amount if you're doing something like leg press.

Eccentric exercises will be best for getting your full strength back. This means contracting your muscles on the "back side" of the exercise. Like doing a leg press, you'll want to contact to do the "up" part of the leg press, but also contract your muscles while on the "down" part of the exercise. Essentially instead of relaxing to put your weight down, you'll slowly do it.

Pretty much you can pick any leg workout, modify it to fit your needs (less weight, a different more comfortable position), and always do eccentric exercises. I don't know much on your injury, other than broken leg, but I hope those help. However, I would 100% recommend the exercises I gave above for any leg injury. If you need any more help/advice feel free to PM me. This is what I'm going to school for so I'd be happy to help.

If it's useful info, the it wasn't a full break, I was slashed across an exposed part of my leg, roughly 7 inches below the knee, from the shin going towards the calf muscle on the outside of the leg, the crack/impact point was roughly 1-2 inches

If it's useful info, the it wasn't a full break, I was slashed across an exposed part of my leg, roughly 7 inches below the knee, from the shin going towards the calf muscle on the outside of the leg, the crack/impact point was roughly 1-2 inches

In this case I would recommend doing mostly calf and lower leg strengthening exercises.

Is the weak feeling more towards your ankle/foot or calf/shin region? This can help determine more specific exercises to do.

Definitely calf and shin

Definitely calf and shin

Don't neglect your whole leg when choosing exercises, but focus on calf exercises. If it's too weak start with double leg calf raises then move onto single leg when you feel more comfortable. Also a calf raise while holding a tennis ball between your heels is a good one too. Always doing the eccentric contractions with the workout. When you do go to single leg, focus mainly on your injured leg, as I'm assuming it has less muscle mass and has significantly less strength than your non-injured leg.

At school we do another exercise that we call 4x4. You take an exercise band and put it around the ball of your foot, then flex your toes toward you while pulling the band away from you (this is easiest with a friend or if you attach the band to something), pull the band toward you and point your toes away from you, then pull it to either side and pull your foot in the opposite direction (do this on both sides). This works your ankle quite a bit, but it also gets your lower leg muscles. I usually have my athletes do these band exercises for 3 sets of 15.

Another good thing to do it just stand on one leg (your injured side) for 30 seconds. Then do it again with your eyes closed. Also stand on one leg and flex your uninjured leg to 90 degrees. Then move your uninjured leg to kick back behind you. I would say to this 3x15 as well.

Eventually you'll feel strong enough to be able to run, you just have to go through the tediousness of getting the strength back into your leg.

I have mystery leg problems I sustained while in the military and can pretty much never run again. I wish you nothing but the best in recovery because it's absolutely shitty having legs and not being able to use them to their full extent.

Did you see a physiotherapist ? @Jonathan Drouin

Which part of the leg was broken ? What kind of fracture ? Did it touch the cartilage or a nerve ? What's your age ?

Did a doctor allow you to focus now on re-strenghtening your leg ? If it's the case, I fully support @Nitram's advices as this is what I do generally myself for my patients with a broken leg (generally, of course I put some modifications on each case since we're all "unique").

@Caution, what happened yo your legs exactly ?