Liifting with 1 arm

[Sixteh]

I sliced open a good section of my left hand all the way to the muscle this morning at work. 6 stitches later, I can no longer use my left hand for about 10 days (in a lifting context at least). What kind of lifts could I do to maintain strength, particularly in my mid/upper back and left arm/shoulder?

I figure I could try back squatting with 1 arm or front squatting with the bodybuilder grip for leg/posterior chain/core. I'm fairly clueless otherwise, though.

Any ideas?

[bma_mat]

I had a dog bite my hand and I was in a similar situation. Just let it rest, it's only 10 days. Won't really effect you.

[GrantB13]

I broke my hand a few weeks ago. I'm now on a cut.

The only exercises I'm doing now are squats with a modified grip on my right hand, back extensions, and leg raises and decline sit ups. I think I'm going to switch to weighted sit ups though. Otherwise, squats are still 5 x 3 and unless I switch to weighted, everything else is high reps. Not sure if I want to fail or not. I haven't looked into the science to say whether failing on a cut is good or not.

If my gym had a chest fly-type machine that didn't force you to grab the bars I'd do those but the kind we would need for that would be the kind where you place your forearms vertically and push with your whole arm and not with your hands.

I still got weeks of this left. Wish it were just stitches. Hopefully it doesn't go wrong and need surgery. The guy who was doing my custom molding/cast said he didn't want to tell me no because it might be too early... eh.

Other than that, I think it just depends on your gym equipment because I would do more if I could but I am ok with cutting. My bf is a little high so I'll take this opportunity for what it is. Your situation might be different though.

[Sixteh]

I went in today and did 5x5 squats with ~60% 1RM without trouble. I kept the weight light to keep my blood pressure lower during the lift and felt great afterward, though my adductors are killing me now (I've spent the last 4-5 months doing olympic lifting and front squatting only). I tried doing some cable rows with a wrap tied around my wrist, but I could feel it creating pressure in my hand, and I don't want my stitches to pop, so I stopped after 2 sets. Weighted sit-ups worked too, though my gym's setup for those is a little weird so I didn't do all that many. I also did a few one-armed dumbell snatches with just my right arm. They felt a little helpful, but I don't want to develop an imbalance in these 2 weeks off--and my problem with snatches is technique, anyway, not explosive strength.

It's a holiday, anyway, so I think I'll just approach it as an extended break and go in once or twice a week to maintain most of my lower body strength.

[exter]

If you've been training for all these months without a break , you could just take these 10 days off. They'll allow your body to recover from all the heavy lifting you've been doing.

[Sixteh]

I can't exactly go right back to olympic lifting once I get the stitches out, though. Might as well keep maintaining strength.