I’m so happy to see you doing AWESOME with your rehab! What a long time waiting in the station, but you are riding the rehab train in style. That’s great that you can ride already, and I hope running is in your near future.
Glad things are going well and that you’re staying positive. Keeping my fingers crossed for a quick recovery.
I love how you just casually mention you had your ACL reconstructed (with your hamstring no less) and I’ve been bitching and moaning about my ACL for months!! HAHAH! I feel like such an a-hole…
But you, my dear, are already totally AWESOME! Congrats on the surgery and your already great progress on the road to recovery. This’ll be cake for you!
Can I ask? How long were you waiting from the time of your injury to the surgery? Were you doing karate without an ACL?!
Anywho, looks like you’re already pretty advanced in terms of your recovery. Doing bag work? Insane! So yeah, you’ll definitely be doing drills and things by 6 months!
Keep up the great work!! You’re a total inspiration to me and a great role model!! Great to have you back 
Whew… falling behind again.
Kimba - Its funny… I’ve never been much of a runner, but now that I am forbidden to run (for now) it is all I want to do.
Cal - Thanks!
Maschy - Hah! You’re allowed to bitch and moan! I just tend to bitch and moan to my bf. Its a long (sometimes frustrating) process - as I’m sure you know. I’m assuming you had a patella graft? I’m finding that the hamstring rehab is tougher than the knee rehab at times.
Time from injury to surgery was about 14 months. It would have been shorter if I was diagnosed properly to begin with. From MRI to surgery took 5 months. I was still doing karate with no ACL, but I was quite limited - no kicking. Fortunately I teach, so I was really able to pour myself into that. I also played a half season of dodgeball, up until I got the results back from my MRI. The frustrating part of it all was that I could participate in many activities, but I couldn’t really push myself. The only thing I felt confident pushing myself in was lifting.
On the plus side, if I never got this injury I don’t think I would have the basement gym set up that I have now.
So training…
I think I have now found my line and I tiptoed on the wrong side. My knee was stiff and sore on Sunday, so I decided to back off a little. It is feeling better this morning after having a night off.
Anyway here’s what I did on the weekend
Saturday
5 min bike
Foam roll, LAX, ankle work, hamstring stretches
Ball ham curl 3x10
Reverse lunge 3x8@20
1-leg eccentric ham curl 3x7@10
High box squat 3x15@80
Calf raises 3x15@15 es
Sunday
Bike 5min
Wall slides 1x10
1-leg bridge 3x10
Clams 3x10 es
VMO ball squat 3x10
Quad sets 3x5
Belt quad sets 3x5
Blast strap single leg squats
3x10
TKEs 3x10
Balance 3x60sec
Push-ups 3x10
Ab wheel 2x8
I feel ya on the stuff we ‘shouldn’t do,’ but now want to!!!
glad everything is going GREAT!!
Ahh…Actually I think I remember you mentioning this a while back. So glad you got that taken care of!
I will say though, and I’m mildly jealous that you’re so much more advanced in your recover than I was at the time. Girl, you are impressive!! I’m super happy for you, having had all sorts of internal and physical struggles. MEH! I won’t obsess in your log tho, lol! That’s why i have a log, duh…
Anyways, someone gave me great words of wisdom about recovering from knee surgery - he said, ‘There are days when you’re going to feel great and you’re going to want to push it, and then you’ll feel like shit and you’ll want to scale it back. Best thing to do is stay a steady course’ Balance is key! I think you’re doing great!
That is great advice. Right now I think I’m going through one of those ‘shit’ phases. I’ve developed some persistent posterior knee pain along with a bit of catching when I walk. I can’t help but worry about my graft - it seems to always be on my mind.
I haven’t had much to log about even, just some half-assed upper body work.
Thankfully I go to see my PT tonight where I’m pretty sure she’ll tell me everything is going to be okay and that this is just a small hurdle in this long recovery.
YES!! I completely understand! Every three or four weeks I come into PT and I’m like, “It huuuurts…I think I broke something!! Maybe the graft came loose!!!” And then they check me out and reassure me that all is well.
I do believe you WILL know if something if something goes wrong with the graft, so worry not. Plus from what they’ve told me, the only thing that can spring a graft loose (or whatever happens in there) would be a fall or something related to pivoting etc. So unless you did something like that, I’m sure you’ll be fine.
FWIW throughout my recovery I noticed that I’m exceptionally achey in the knee around my TOM, which my PT said makes sense re: water retention. AND, if something else is off, say my quad or back is sore from some other workout or something like that, then that will inevitable affect my gait, which then makes me knee ache…ugh! its a vicious cycle.
Are you diligent with the icing? I used to ice for 10 mins every morning and night (now I only ice after a workout or at PT), but i found that was incredibly helpful throughout the process.
I will say, its nice to have a buddy going through this with me!
Good luck tonight!
Maschy - I agree it is nice to have abuddy! And my PT did tell me that I would know if I did somthing to my graft.
I have been pretty diligent with the icing. I ice everyday, but maybe I need to step it up a bit and go back to icing twice a day.
So my PT said the pain behind my knee is most likely hamstring tendonitis… ick… but it could be worse.
For the next week I have a pile of stretches and eccentric movements to do to try and stretch and strengthen without increasing inflammation.
My mis-tracking patella is most likely cause by muscular imbalances and a ridiculously tight hip.
Just another hurdle!
Well after a week of stretching, eccentric movements and resting it looks like I am back on track. The tendonitis has cleared up and my kneecap is starting to track properly again.
I saw my surgeon for my three month check up and she is pretty happy with how I am progressing. If all goes according to play I should be able to hit the treadmill in the next couple of weeks. It’s funny, I’ve never had so many dreams about running before. It will be nice to do it in real life!
Now it is all about getting my strength back and regaining the mass that I lost. My affected leg is still 1.5-2 inches smaller than my good leg so I have a ways to go yet.
go get it LS!
N - Thanks - I’m getting it one day at a time!
I keep slipping back into my lurker ways. I’m very much an observer irl as well. Over the past few months I have been honing my videography skills and working on a little documentary project following 4 dodgeball teams this season. It’s so easy for me to sit behind the camera and observe, but I really had to force myself to go and interview people. Even though I know them quite well, it can be challenging for me to break out of that observer role.
Anyway… as my knee has been feeling stronger, I also am back to a somewhat regular training routine.
Here’s my quickie upper body (plus a few squats) training from last night:
Bike: 5min
A1) High box squats: 1x15@65, 1x15@70, 1x15@75
A2) Pallof press iso: 3x10sec es pink band
B1) Dips: 3x6
B2) Seated rows: 1x10@45, 2X10@55
C1) Alternating neutral grip DB bench press: 1x16@25s, 2x16@30s
C2) DB row: 3x8@45 es
Aside from getting my leg strength back, I am also working toward an awesome strong back.
Awesome strong back for the win!
When you remain in lurker mode you do not allow us the opportunity to learn from you. An honest exchange will always leave both partie richer.
Sounds interesting, you’ll have to have a PW screening!
Hey Laststand! Awesome strong back sounds fantastic in my book. I’m curious, why did the MD use your hamstring instead of the patellar tendon for your ACL repair? If you don’t want to share that’s fine
Glad to hear you’re back strong and back to a regular schedule!
N - That is a very good point!
Patch - Sounds like a good idea. I’m having such a fun time with the project. I’ve never attempted a video project so large before - I have 25 hours of footage that I’m logging right now.
Here’s my teaser trailer: Dodgeball Trailer on Vimeo
Lula - I guess there are a couple of reasons. It is the method she specializes in and she believes that it will cause fewer complications down the road. But there are pros and cons for both types of graft and I’m sure different surgeons will have different opinions on what is best.
On to training!
Friday: OHP and arms to keep me busy!
Bike: 5 min
A1) OHP: 1x6@45, 1x6@60, 1x8@65, 1x5@70
A2) Band pull-aparts: 3x20 purple
It feels so good to start the OHPs again. My shoulder has been giving me problems since my longboard wipeout. OHP feels great now, much better than bench pressing even.
B1) Ez-curl: 1x8@40, 2x6@45
B2) Ab wheel: 3x8 kneeling
*note - I need to weigh my ez-curl bar one day
C1)Preacher curls: 3x12@15
C2)Band tri pulldowns: 3x15 purple
Saturday: Knee rehab
Bike: 5min
A1) Iso lunge: 3x10@5sec
A2) Neutral chins: 3x3@5
B1) Reverse lunge: 3x14@20
B2) Calf raises: 3x13@20 ES
C1) Assisted 1-leg squat: 3x10
C2) Eccentric only ham curl: 3x10@12.5
D1) BOSU squat: 3x10 black up
D2) SLR: 3x20
D3) BOSU balance: 3x45 blue up
Sunday: Squats & back
Bike: 5min
Hip mobility stuff
Screwing around with the dodgeball practicing lefty trick throws against the wall.
A1) High box squat: 1x15@70, 1x15@75, 1x15@80
A2) Pallof press iso: 3x10@10sec purple band
B1) Dips: 3x6
B2) Seated rows: 3x10@55
C1) Medicine ball push-up (ball under one hand): 3x10
C2) DB row: 2x8@45 es, 1x8@50 es
Just a note, I throw in some sort of stretching or mobility type movement during my rest period between sets. That way I can fit it all in!
Whew, sorry for the wall of text.
Yesterday I had such a fun physio appointment. My PT tested how many 1-leg squats I could do in 30sec on each leg. Since I passed that little test, I was allowed to do some hopping drills. I did 2-leg hops with 2-leg landings, 2-leg hops with 1-leg landings, crossover steps, shuffle steps and 2-leg forward hops.
The forward hops were tough and I’m favouring my affected leg too much. The mental aspect of this rehab is going to be interesting. In the meanwhile I’ll keep practicing my hops whenever I get the chance. Good hops = time to start running again. I know I can get over the mental hang-ups especially when I go look back in my log at what I was doing without an ACL.
Wednesday’s training:
Bike: 5min
2-leg hop 2-leg landing: 3x10
2-leg hop 1-leg landing: 3x10 on the surgical leg
Crossovers: 5x back and forth across basement
Shuffle steps: 5x back and forth
2-leg forward hops: 3x back and forth
A1) OHP: 1x6@45, 1x8@55, 1x8@65, 1x5@75 - this is the most I’ve pressed in a long time, pain free too!
A2) Band pull apart - 3x20 purple
B1) ez-bar curl: 2x8@45+bar, 1x6@45+bar
B2) Ab wheel: 3x8 kneeling
I’m thinking that I’m going to put my OHP back on the 5-3-1 progression. It was really working for me and I would like to get my OHP back to where it was pre elbow tendonitis and wipeout. Digging back into my log I think that was 90x3.
90 for three is hardcore! Most I’ve done is 88 for a single. Good stuff. I’m sure you’ll get back up there soon. Lots of good stuff going on here.
Dude, you’re doing so freaking awesome on the rehab!! So happy for you!! And nice work on that box squat. You’re freaking awesome girl. Keep plugging away!
And its so much fun when PT is actually enjoyable and a challenge. Sounds like you were getting in a great workout! Definitely got yourself a good PT there. Congrats on that!
Just watched the trailer - love it!! You’re super talented with the camera skillz, LS. Can’t wait to see it on the silver screen When you come to the tribeca festival you better let me know!