Recover form Injury/Surgery

[ChanelNo.9]

So I tore my ACL back in October and it has been a slow road to recovery. I can definitely get around fine, but when it comes to the more strenuous activities I struggle. I would appreciate some helpful hints from anyone who has also recovered from this injury - any specific exercises, supplements, etc to a quicker recovery?

 

[MandoDaab]

Hey Chanel! 

Sorry to hear about your injury, I personally haven't had this type of injury but in the environment I work in, I'm around this type of injury all the time. 

 

The main goals of recovery from this type of injury are range of motion, strengthening, then maintaining the strength and adding agility into the mix.

 

a couple of helpful things you could do is to keep doing what you're doing, light walks and such, you should be able to fully extend your leg, if not that's one of the main things to work on. Start at a 90 degree angle, then fully extend, slowly. Also stair climbers and bike rides are also excellent recovery tools! Just go at your own pace, the road to recovery is a marathon, not a sprint.

 

Hope this helps! I think we're in the same area, so if you ever need an encouragement or training buddy, don't hesitate to message me and we can coordinate something from there! Get well soon!

 

 

[ChanelNo.9]

That is good to know, thanks. Yeah I have most of my range of motion, it is just the strengthening part I need to work on. And thanks for reminding me it is a "marathon and not a sprint" that is a good reminder

[MandoDaab]

Okay yeah, then half the battle is already won! The way I'd go if I were you would be stair stepper machine and body weight lunges and squats, but gradually, then body weight movements with light and moderate weights, then back to weighted lifting. Baby step it and meticulously check yourself for form, just to make sure your getting the most out of the motion as well as be honest with yourself. Don't jump to weights until you're completely comfortable at the body weight level, it'll result in either injuring yourself again or using incorrect form to compensate the weight addition. Good luck!

[wildross]

@MasterOfCows has had knee surgery I believe.

[gidget]

@ChanelNo.9 thanks for this thread; I'll likely need foot surgery (Hallax Rigidus) in a few months and am wondering how I'm going to manage training around that and staying motivated! On the plus side, once it's healed I'll have a better range of motion. Does anyone have suggestions for workouts that are not dependent on standing, or feet in general? I currently do a bit of circus aerials which will help, but it's difficult to manage those classes multiple times in a week.

[MasterOfCows]

Sorry I just got back from vacation.

 

I've had ACL and meniscus surgery on both knees.  I'm 13 months from surgery on the 2nd knee and it still gives me some weird issues from time to time, but I have successfully returned to all pre-tear activities, including semi-competitive basketball and hiking.  I'll be two years out from the first knee at the middle of this month, and I hardly ever notice it.  When was your surgery?  You don't really get back to full on normal until 2 years after.  Even in elite athletes there are studies that show strength in the surgery leg is lower compared to non-surgery until that 2 year mark, although most surgeons recommend return to contact sports at about 1 year.  To be honest, a lot of the recovery progress seems slow and like you're not getting anywhere, until suddenly you are.

I do a lot of single leg work, to prevent overcompensation from the stronger leg, focusing primarily on bulgarian split squats, lunges, hamstring work (banded curls, ball curls, assisted glute-ham raises), hips and glutes (bridges, hip thrusts, banded lateral walks, etc - these seem to get a bit neglected in a lot of recovery protocols, so give them some extra attention), stretching/mobility, etc.  Avoid leg extensions.  Depending on how far out you are from surgery, you want to be careful of overdoing it, because you'll really set yourself back.

 

@Nymeria and @karinajean have both had ACL surgery as well - and they are doing all the awesome things.  Nym is practically a parkour ninja, and KJ does martial arts and runs fast a lot.