Exercise during injury-downtime

[fsnicolas]

Peace all!

I recently pulled my achilles tendon and I've been advised by the doctor to rest from running and playing badminton (ugh! http://www.badminton.tv/forums/images/smilies/eek.gif ) for at least the next two weeks. My question is what exercises and other activities can a badminton player do when injured, particularly when the injury concerns the legs? What I don't like about downtime is the deterioration of gameplay, endurance and consistency. What can I do to reduce this?

Thanks in advance!

[UncleFester]

Exercise your upper body and waist. You use it equally as much as the legs.

[wedgewenis]

If I were you i'd work on Abs

not just abs but your abs, obliques and your core area.. even lower back by doing situps leg lifts etc. Strong core area will support every movement you do in Badminton .. your posture will be better during footwork and you'll tire less easily

Stretching is another idea..a flexible athlete is a faster/better athlete. There will also be less chance of injury perhaps like the one you have.

Could also work on strengthen your upper body or even just your forearms.. by doing wrist curls or rotations...

U could still work on your swing even by getting on your knees (on a towel) - Could even get on your knees and hit a table tennisball against wall to practice defense or drive type shot.


If you want to keep your mind sharp play fast-twitch type video games or something thats competitive... or if you can stand at all you could play table tennis.

Also if you can stand you could work on your serve for doubles/singles.

What I do when injured is Watch Badminton - mabye the best thing you could do when injured .... analyse Badminton or coaching videos... this make you very anxious to play when you are fit again and you might even learn some new things to try/work on - when you go back. Just because you can't train your body doesnt' mean you can't train your mind for badminton :D

[fsnicolas]

Thanks wedgewenis!

I think that should keep me occupied for the next two weeks. I've subscribed to badminton.tv for more coaching and video content. It's pretty cool. Although my wife might start to complain about me watching too much badminton... :D

Aside from wrist curls and backhand simulations, what else can I do with dumbbells? And what weights exercises do badminton players do for the shoulders, arms and upper body strengthening?