Broken legs and ankles heal better if you walk on them within weeks

Anecdotal but...

Broke my femur neck on a mountain bike. Surgery, plates and screws. Surgeon said no weight on the broken bone for 8 weeks and no walking on it for 12. And then we'll see he said.

In 4 weeks I was on a trainer (fork fixed to the trainer). Started easy with 30min sessions and then increased time and force applied to the pedals.

After 2 weeks of "riding", started putting weight on the bone with short walks around the house.

8 weeks after the surgery rocked up to a road race, still on crutches because walking was still a bit uncomfy but being on the bike was fine. Raced to a 3rd place (Masters A) with hard breakaways and all.

12 weeks after the surgery go to see the surgeon to check if I can start walking (already walking by this stage as normal). He X-rays me and says your bone is fully healed. Strange but good he said.

I told him the story. Still don't know if he believed me.

I had shoulder surgery last May. My surgeon told me no combat sports (BJJ, judo) for six months minimum. I was 40 at the time.

I went back on the mats a week later. Started with only doing warmups and movement drills, worked up to gentle flow rolling (with my arm tied into my belt) at a month, then drilling techniques with well-chosen partners and conservatively rolling with those same partners at two months.

This was, of course, on top of rigorously following my PT schedule. And being very conservative with the situations I’d put myself in.

By three months I had regained full flexibility in the arm, and by six months I was back to full-contact training five days a week.

I definitely think there’s a fine line to walk here. I explicitly didn’t do judo for six months because that involves direct and unavoidable impact. And I also made sure to choose training partners who would be very cognizant of my arm and limited range of motion and who wouldn’t just grab a submission and crank it. I also would preemptively tap any time that arm got isolated or in a position where it could be attacked. But there was definitely risk that a training partner would make a mistake or I would land on it badly and tear something.

Still, I would do it all over the same way. I definitely think pushing things helped it heal dramatically more quickly and completely than otherwise. But you do have to be careful with the level of risk you’re exposing yourself to.

That's honestly wild to me. I had arthroscopic labrum tear surgery on both my shoulders (1 in 2024, 1 in 2023), and I can't imagine going back to really any range of movement within a week. Even on my solid PT schedule. Glad it worked out for you but I would hesitate to expose yourself to any sort of risk at that stage.

For me it took about 4 months to feel pretty comfortable with the shoulder(s) and about 6-12 months for skateboarding, weight lifting, etc

What was your surgery if you don't mind me asking?