Had appointment today to get my stitches out. Doctor said to stay in immobilizer for three more weeks with no PT except for heel slides, leg raises, and quad sets. I was surprised since the prehab PT people said I’d be back in a week, but the doctor said the bone and ligament needs to heal so that the connection will be strong. This seems like the opposite of what you guys are doing, especially dboy’s aggressive rehab program.
I went to one crutch today and can walk without them in my immobilizer. Walked the 1.5 mi round trip again to get to class. Pain is lessened, but I am on ibuprofen.
Went back to the gym to do upper body:
Incline Bench Press
Chinups supersetted with incline curls
Dips supersetted with triceps overhead cable pulls
One-arm motorcycle cable pulls supersetted with db shrugs
Have to say I’ve been reading a lot about ACL recovery ever since I hurt it and I thought I would relate a bit of my tale.
I recently had my ACL replaced, 2/8/08. I had an allograft. I started PT the following day, but could do much with the nerve block. The first couple days were hell, but after the first week it has gotten better. During pre-hab I got a list of exercises and I did them several times a day before surgery.
The 2nd day after surgery I did heel slides, quad sets, leg raises, and worked on getting full extension, basically put my foot up and then let gravity pull it straight. Now its been about 2 weeks and I’ve been walking for over a week now. I have almost gotten back full ROM, I’m shy about 8 degrees on the flexion.
It hasn’t been an easy recovery but I’ve been dilagent with my rehab as I tend to do the exercises 2-3 times a day. My Physical Therapist started me on doing some body weight squats on Wed. and doing some balance work. I also got the ok to get back on my bike.
Just curious, how did everyone tear their ACL? I tore mine playing soccer.
I actually tore mine 8 years ago playing football but I never got it repaired… Playing basketball, I cut to the basket and was thrown a pass, my man was trailing and tried to reach in for the pass but just ran into me… Which turned out to become a bucket handle meniscus tear that got caught in my joint… So I got it all repaired…
Basketball for me, blocked a guys shot and landed on his foot. We were up big, late in a mean-nothing game… I shouldn’t have bothered.
Igne - I also wasn’t immobilized after my surgery. I asked my doctor if I should be and he said it slows down recovery because your muscles are less active and your stabilizer muscles become weak. Maybe you should search out a second opinion? 4 weeks in an immobilizer seems very conservative. I can’t believe you’re sitting in a class for 3 hours already!!! I would have died.
My update - my hamstring is still a mess! I pulled it 4 times on Tuesday in the airport (slippery floors). The knee is great - I did squats, snatches, deadlifts, and power cleans this week. With squats I am starting to put meaningful weight on the bar, I did 155 for 10, and I am feeling no pain. Deadlifts I have to watch range of motion with my hammie but I was able to do 135 for 6 with about 3/4 range of motion.
re: sleep, I don’t sleep very well still, toss and turn, my knee gets in a weird position and I have some pain, etc. So I tried ZMA on Tuesday this week. All I can say is WOW! I haven’t slept that deep and dreamed that much in ages. You guys should try it, the impact is crazy! I slept beautifully for the first time since my surgery.
CRX - the ACL diet is for real, you proved it!!! I think it’d be physically impossible for you to lose 13lbs of muscle man, I mean imagine gaining 13lbs of muscle in a month… its impossible so the contrary must also be impossible (maybe I’m wrong). But still, some of that must be fat!
BTW - this is week 5 for me. I’ve been off all pain killers for a week and a half now. Mentally I started feeling like ‘myself’ at some point in week 4 - i.e. my cortisol levels dropped to a point where I could act like a regular human being.
Igne, in the uorgegon one they note explicit conservative vs aggressive. In the conservative programs they have the immobilizer being used till week 4, some of them even have immobilization until week 8. In the aggressive program they have:
“If able to do 10 repetitions of straight leg raises, may ambulate weight bearing to tolerance without the extension lock or in a functional brace.”
…or no immobilizer ever.
If you read the conservative vs accelerated comparison they reference a study done in 1990 that showed considerable advantages using an aggressive approach, namely a return to full activity 4-6 months earlier as well as a reduced risk of developing an abnormal gait.
So basically my non-medical, non-professional, guy on the internet opinion… ditch the immobilizer and tell your doc you want to follow an aggressive rehab strategy
It would be nice to get a full nights sleep. I can manage a couple hours here and there, but I’m always jerked awake by some pain surge.
It was nice to get back to the gym and do a lite workout. I did my leg exercises and then I managed to hit the upper body for another 20 minutes, that was all my knee could handle. Once it started to get sore, I called it a night. No reason to push too hard, too soon.
dboy-How does the ZMA improve sleep? If it does I’ll get it ASAP! What exactly are you taking it for (what’s your goals right now)?
I got great news from my insurance company… I’ve been approved for short term disability til March 14th… That’s probably way more than I need but, I’ll take it…
Couldn’t make it to PT today because of the weather but, I been doing the things they want me to do plus much more, faithfully…
The zma makes you sleep deeper, and dream a lot more as a cool side effect of sleeping deeper. The deeper sleep meant I didn’t wake up due to my leg. I’ve been on it since Tuesday and its been pretty reliable. I took it for sleep, its supposed to be a good sleep aid. My understanding is that most people do not get enough zinc & magnesium in their diet and some science shows that zinc & magnesium are attributable to deeper sleep.
I guess I picked up the tip from Gustavo’s log. He’s using zma and was talking about how it makes him sleep so well.
I had PT this morning and they were pretty happy with my progress… My range of motion improved to 8 degrees from 10 degrees and 110 from 99… Still got a ways to go but I’m gonna try to push myself harder than they even want me to… They put me on the bike today and I did that for about 8 minutes before I started to feel some pain…
Still trying to get this swelling out… Other than that, things are pretty good… No real pain in my knee…
ZMA has not helped me much. I only take it on gym days though. Hit the gym Friday and Monday doing more upper body stuff. Friday was seated BB military press working up to reps for 175 along with t-bar rows and reverse pushups along with arm work. Yesterday did some heavy bench press, working up to 265 for 2 and 275 for 1. Also did weighted chinups working up to 185lbs bodyweight + 75lbs. Yeah, I’m aware that that’s not even. Also did some seated db cleans and some isolation work like overhead triceps extensions and drag curls.
I have also lost a significant amount of weight since Jan 5 when I tore my acl. At that time I was at an all-time high weight of 196lbs. Now I’m down to 185 give or take a few pounds. My left leg has shrunk what looks like at least 25%. My hamstrings now dominate my poor quad muscle. I don’t have a tape measure on hand so I can’t post the circumference at this point in time.
I have been walking pretty well with the immobilizer, and can walk around fairly well without but only do that when in my dorm. My extension is getting better so that I can sleep for like 3 hours now before waking up and don’t wake up in such pain. I still have yet to get a solid 6-8 hours, but at least I’m not waking up unable to go back to sleep. My flexion is also getting better but it is hardly what I would consider great. I can get about 100-105 degrees, from what I can tell without that orthopaedic measuring device.
Went to the gym today. DB seated military presses, close grip bench press with bands, and some other isolation exercises. When I got back from the gym, I noticed my knee wounds were bleeding. I drained some bloody pus from the last stitch on my large incision. The area has been red and tender for awhile and apparently has had a minor infection. I drained as much as I could with pressure and then cleaned it out with hydrogen peroxide. I am having a doctor take a look at it tomorrow but I have the feeling that its nothing major.
Wow, I just found this log! Thanks for posting. It is great! I’m impressed with your first phases. I was hoping you could clear up something for me on the HFT phase:
Were you just working out every other day (the day numbers are wacky - there are 2 day 3s…)
How long did the phase last?
How many more cals were you eating than during your phase II of the Waterbury 10/10?
So life is a little crazy now. I’ve started my relocation to New York and just got an apartment and I don’t have internet yet.
Wow - Igne that is seriously crappy about the infection, hope it has worked out. What did the doc do to treat it?
Ok the good news on my rehab - I am back to lifting real weights on legs again! The hamstring has finally healed, I’m losing count but I think I’m week 7. My last leg workout I just went for it and put 185 on to start. It was amazing, the past few leg workouts 135 had felt very heavy, but 185 felt light!!! Why??? I think my left leg was being lazy and putting more weight on allowed for better muscle recruitment… or maybe its a mental shift??? Anyhoo, I went from 135 for 6 to 185 for 10. I’m looking forward to repping at 225 again. Deadlift was an even bigger jump, 95->185lbs.
I signed up for equinox in NYC (its beside my office)… worst gym ever! The power rack is the home of the middle age, chubby, bicep curler.
Sarah, I was at about 2400 calories in 10/10 phase II. I was over 4000 with the 2 a days.
In general I worked out 4x a week, I usually don’t have set days as I travel frequently.
I don’t know if I’d do HFT again for size/strength, I think I’m getting better results using a mix of CrewPierce’s and Shayas workouts. But HFT felt fantastic for athleticism, I felt nimble & agile… too bad I couldn’t do any sports 8-(
The doctor put me on clindamycin to kill off any infection. So that’s what I’m doing. It looks like just a superficial skin infection but they don’t want to take chances. I don’t have a fever or anything, and it just looks a little tender/red right now.
I still have problems sleeping a whole night. I will wake up and my leg will be restless. It is a major pain in the ass.
Finally sleeping through the night. Which is nice as I was feeling run down. I’ve been getting back to the gym now for the past week. I’ll go in and do my hour of leg work and then work the upper body for a bit before finishing off with either a moderate paced bike ride or a nausea inducing session on the UBE aka hand bike. I don’t meet again with my doctor for another 3 weeks, but I’m anxious to get the go ahead to start lifing my legs again as doing 20 body weight squats and resting for 5 seconds on the bottom doesn’t seem to be taxing enough. Oh well it will be time to hit it hard again soon enough.
My knee is feeling much better. I get the brace off in a couple days and will start hitting up PT. I have been doing good mornings @ 135lbs for hamstrings and have been working with an ankle weight with 10 lbs to do the leg raises and some ham curls. My flexion is much better at perhaps 120-125 degrees and my extension is doing well too. I am feeling good generally, sleeping a bit better and ready to start PT, since its about 3.5 weeks since surgery.
