Thanks guys! Definitely gonna check Amazon later for some of those.
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Not Pwn, but I was built very similar in high school and weighed around 200-210 in 8th grade at ~5ā7ā. Lost about 70 or so pounds and grew an inch between 8th and 9th grade and sat around 135 in 9th.
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Was going through your blog and in a 2016 post you said, āMy heart goes out to surgeons and physical therapists, because I know Iām a terrible patient.ā
Was there something the therapists could have done better? Were they holding on to certain restrictions for too long in your opinion so you just broke them anyway or were you a bad patient because you were just reckless?
Just asking because I officially got licensed as a PTA earlier this week so I think some patient perspective on an ACL rehab would help a lot as I get started in the field.
@loganator I genuinely donāt know enough about GIVING physical therapy to say if they were doing anything wrong, but from my own perspective things felt very NOT individualized to me. My surgeon wrote the physical therapy prescription and my physical therapists told me to do it and would occasionally evaluate progressā¦and that was it. I genuinely didnāt see their role in the process, because they kept telling me that it was simply a matter of time letting the graft heal before Iād be cleared to return to training. If thatās the case, I may as well have just had some youtube videos and a calendar.
What I imagined in my mind was an ability to engage in an aggressive protocol to return to training faster. My understanding is that the graft just heals on itās own timeline and nothing can make that come back sooner, so it may have been an unrealistic approach, but if nothing else I needed that explained VERY well to my athlete brain.
Only one of the dudes on my team āgot itā with me. I remember distinctly us having a conversation where he goes āI know weāve told you to take it conservative and not rush back into training, and I also know youāve been ignoring thatā¦so how is that going? Are you having any issues?ā It was good to just have someone acknowledge reality.
I was being cautiously reckless. I wasnāt doing everything I used to do, but I was definitely pushing things. I brought out the prowler, and I wouldnāt put any weight on it, but I set a PR pushing it unloaded for a mile. I figured with it having no direct load or eccentric, itād be fine. I was doing 1 legged hatfield squats, seated good mornings, etc. All things that were very much TECHNICALLY following the rules, but completely violating the spirit.
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Had I not read any of the prior posts, Iād have thought you got back into powerlifting
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[quote=āT3hPwnisher, post:4915, topic:212755ā]
All things that were very much TECHNICALLY following the rules, but completely violating the spirit.
Iāll have to remember that one.
As far as healing graphs the most I know you can do to heal it faster is by increasing bloodflow. I think those general precautions they have are because they might assume youāre like most athletes doing soccer/basketball/football where theyāre doing a lot of movements where something could go wrong.
Thatās odd, were sessions 1:1 or were therapists seeing multiple at once? I was lucky enough to see 4 ACLs during my clinical rotations, 3 were high schoolers so we did some higher level balance stuff with them that I would struggle with and my ligaments are fine (balance is not, apparently).
I basically tried to make sessions like personal trainer with a big emphasis on safety and my instructors were all for it. You can return before itās fully healed (at least to non contact practice, not competition ) if youāre able to move safely at a high level. We had one girl basically doing a dynamic track warm up with skips and dot drills.
Itās a shame you got some bad therapy, it should be about the patient.
Things were 1 on 1 for the most part. Occasionally others would be in attendance, but there were enough techs to still allow individual attention. Since it was free from my employer, I couldnāt be too upset with it, but it was underwhelming.
I forgot to ask, how long after surgery did you start PT and how many weeks did treatment last?
I SHOULD have started it days after surgery, but it was about a month because my insurance screwed up and had me filed as a pain case rather than post surgical. I did some stuff at home thankfully which helped bridge the gap. From there, it was 4 months and 3 weeks of therapy.
Sorry to hijack but hereās my experience, having two ACL grafts. Both were done by the same surgeon, who also did my wrists lol.
So, 6 and so years ago, left ACL graft, done with the āDIDTā method. I scrupulously followed the Docs instructions. 3 weeks in a splint pre and post surgery. Using crutches post surgery. PT started a few days after surgery. Using electrostim, some lying TKE, weird machines that bend your legs, and that what pretty much it. Later it was only proprioception work. Many months passed before I was cleared to use weights, appart from some kind of leg press. They would make us run. Therapy was like 5 months. This knee hurt for almost two years, and this leg is still smaller than the other one. My left hamstring is tighter and weaker than the right one.
Second knee, using the āDT4ā method, more than a year later. This time I did it my way. I wasnāt using crutches post surgery. I started doing bodyweight squats 3 weeks after the surgery. They didnāt like that, especially that I was trying to go to parallel. I would also work on the leg press and every exercise I could do when I was able to. After 3 months I ran for 45 mins. Yeah that was a bit reckless. Anyway I stopped PT and started squatting and other exercies back at the gym. This leg is in perfect shape.
So I think moving (and IIRC I had read several studies in that regard as well) is paramount to recovery, as well as intelligent resistance training when able to.
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@T3hPwnisher when was the last time you dislocated your shoulder, and did you do anything particularly foolhardy to speed up healing? Iāve just clocked up dislocation number five (I think, you lose count) so any advice appreciated.
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LUNCHTIME WORKOUT
High Handle Trap Bar deads
5x135
5x225
3x315
1x405
1x495
0x585
SURPRISE DEEP WATER WORKOUT
Trap bar deads 495
8x10
1x2
1x4
1x6
1x9
Pull ups
1x12
Notes: 2:00 rest between the first 9 sets. Between sets 8 and 9 I lied down on the floor and that totally made the wheels come off. After that, I pulled that set of 2, took a 3 minute rest, pulled the set of 4, then took 2 minute rests again between 6 and 9. I pulled 9 reps, making the total 101, because I was upset with my bodyās show of weakness today and decided to punish it rather than let it off easy.
Was originally setting up for a max effort day, but had to walk it back. Went for the set of 585 and could still feel the abductor was a bit loose. Itās funny: I thought for sure it was gonna be the groin injury that was going to hold me back on this one, but that actually felt totally find for the trap bar pulls. Decided on 100 reps of trap bar pulls at 495. Settled on 2 minute rests between sets, and it wasnāt until set 3 that I realized I was doing the last week of Deep Water Beginner. Nothing is original. At least I know that, if I ever decide to run it with the high handle trap bar, Iāll need to use slightly more than 495.
Even though my pulls all look super grindy on video whenever I show them, there IS an element of explosiveness to them at the start of the pull. I equate it to watching a rocket launch. Youāll see the flames out the bottom and stuff is clearly igniting, but nothing is moving at first. Then it suddenly starts lifting off the ground. I bring that up because I COULDNāT do that today, which is what prevented ME work from happening. It also meant that every set started with a VERY slow first rep while I tried my hardest to not suddenly shift weight onto the injured part of the left leg but instead slowly ease it onto the limb. That made this workout SUPER sucky. I pulled touch and go so that Iād only have to do that once per set. Made those last small rep sets really suck.
Garage gym is definitely surface of the sun level hot these days. Had a crazy good sweat going.
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@mattjp Sorry: no idea how I missed your post. The last time I disolcated my shoulder was rolling over in my sleep about 6 years ago. Jumped out of bed, swore a lot, kept rolling my shoulder in the socket and it eventually found itās way home. I then woke up later and trained in the morning, haha. Recovery has gotten faster the more frequently Iāve dislcoated it, and I imagine itās less about healing faster and more about the fact that thereās really nothing left to damage in the damn shoulder anymore.
Were I to try to speed up the process, Iād try to just get a big pump to the area, most likely using partial ROM stuff. Just trying to get restorative blood flow there. During my non-lifting time, Iād just spend time slowly moving the limb with control through space and getting familiar with where the loose points are in the ROM. Basically retraining the shoudler to hold itself in place.
Cheers. Think we posted at the same time.
Got some light bands so that was broadly my plan. This is the first time Iāve done it as someone who trains so will see how it goes.
Your thoughts about injuries being forced periodisation really resonates with me though. Looks like a lot of cardio, leg and core work in my future!
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Yeah right. I shall remind me to pop over here from time time to scare me and realize that Iām a pussy and should work harder
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Yep @T3hPwnisher decoded to take the calm, sensible way out of a workout and only did 100 reps of 5 plate deads on an injured leg. 5 plates each side, no less.
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Greatā¦another reminder of how weak I amā¦ I swear you and @flappinit are part of a conspiracy 
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I was scrolling down through your log by tapping the ādownā arrow on my keyboard. First āSurprise Deep Water Workoutā comes up, then slowly reveals an image with stars and Bender. Solid humor moment.
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Not Pwn, but Iāve had multiple partial and complete dislocations in both directions. Once things healed up a bit, broomstick shoulder dislocations and band dislocations helped a bunch.
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