I’m about 4 months into my ACL rehab with hopefully only two to go. Today my PT told me that I might not ever squat again. Is it really true that my days in the squat rack are over?
[quote]MAS50 wrote:
I’m about 4 months into my ACL rehab with hopefully only two to go. Today my PT told me that I might not ever squat again. Is it really true that my days in the squat rack are over? [/quote]
I doubt it. If you can play pro football again, why couldn’t you squat?
Just be sure to rehab all the way. Don’t rush it. I had my ACL reconstructed a little under 2 years ago and I still squat. However, I still have knee problems. I have to make sure not to aggravate my knee days before a squat session.
Squat themselves do not hurt, but remember to keep your form in check. When I first got back into squatting, I would start the favor the good knee without realizing it, so have someone look at your form, or record it and post it on here. I wish I would have started with single leg training first before squatting.
I can still deadlift with no pain though so you could always do that on days when your knee isn’t up to squatting. Even though its a whole different movement, its better then skipping a lower body day.
Talk to Mike Robertson.
Listen to the guy above me, and don’t rush it.
I tore all 4 ligaments in my left knee about a year ago (3 complete tears, one minor tear) and they told me I would never squat again.
I can’t do full olympic squats due to some scar tissue, but I can go far below parallel.
The therapists give you the worst case scenario - they don’t want to give you false hope if something happens. You are a T-Nation guy, so you should be above average. Rehab it hard, and dont rush it - BIG mistake.
Do all the shit your PT tells you, a lot. DO it GTG style. Good luck.
(I tore all 4 ligaments in my knee and my hamstring in half - im still looking at playing soccer for a D1 university next fall. nothing is impossible.)
oh, did i mention my knee is well enough that i can play without a brace?
suck it.
[quote]tom63 wrote:
MAS50 wrote:
I’m about 4 months into my ACL rehab with hopefully only two to go. Today my PT told me that I might not ever squat again. Is it really true that my days in the squat rack are over?
I doubt it. If you can play pro football again, why couldn’t you squat?
[/quote]
Just high school football but I thought the same thing. If I have to exlode out of a stance 40-50 times a game why would squatting be a problem? I did light squats with 185 for sets of 10 last Thursday but I’m going to wait until rehab is finished before I do anymore.
I did notice that my left leg was recieving more of a pump from the squats. I just wanted to be sure that the possibility of squatting regularly someday is there. My PT also said power cleans were not a problem but you start out of a squatting position so that really didn’t make sense to me. I did a few sets today and I’m estimating that I only lost about 50 pounds off of my max clean so that’s good news.
[quote]MAS50 wrote:
tom63 wrote:
MAS50 wrote:
I’m about 4 months into my ACL rehab with hopefully only two to go. Today my PT told me that I might not ever squat again. Is it really true that my days in the squat rack are over?
I doubt it. If you can play pro football again, why couldn’t you squat?
Just high school football but I thought the same thing. If I have to exlode out of a stance 40-50 times a game why would squatting be a problem? I did light squats with 185 for sets of 10 last Thursday but I’m going to wait until rehab is finished before I do anymore.
I did notice that my left leg was recieving more of a pump from the squats. I just wanted to be sure that the possibility of squatting regularly someday is there. My PT also said power cleans were not a problem but you start out of a squatting position so that really didn’t make sense to me. I did a few sets today and I’m estimating that I only lost about 50 pounds off of my max clean so that’s good news.[/quote]
Sorry, I meant to say that pro football players play again, so why couldn’t you eventually squat again? You’ll do it, just be patient as the other guys have said.
You probably can squat again but don’t rush it. I did my ACL about 5 years ago and I have been squatting for years now.
If you have other damage it may chnage things.
I’ve torn both ACL’s and I still squat. DO NOT under any circumstances try to go heavy though for at least a 2 years. You need to keep in mind you had a major knee surgury and while pro athlets do come back from this surgury you are probaly not at their level. When I had my first ACL surgury I was 18 and started to squat with 135lbs about 7 months poost surgury. I stayed at that weight till a year out and then didn’t go over 225lbs until 2 years post surgury and that knee is totally fine.
I rushed it a bit after doing my second when i was 22. I was squating 315lbs 18 months out and now at 29 that knee is shit and I had to completly stop playing basketball and rugby b/c of it. Moral of the story is take your time and keep the weight light for a long time.
[quote]MAS50 wrote:
I’m about 4 months into my ACL rehab with hopefully only two to go. Today my PT told me that I might not ever squat again. Is it really true that my days in the squat rack are over? [/quote]
It may not be anytime soon, and it probably won’t be anywhere near the numbers you used to put up, but your squatting days are far from over. I would say that by the 1 year mark you could be squatting again. I am now 3 years post surgery, have been squatting since 2 years post op, and could have been doing so much earlier had I not neglected PT to the extent that I did.
[quote]DjSm28 wrote:
Just be sure to rehab all the way. Don’t rush it. I had my ACL reconstructed a little under 2 years ago and I still squat. However, I still have knee problems. I have to make sure not to aggravate my knee days before a squat session.
Squat themselves do not hurt, but remember to keep your form in check. When I first got back into squatting, I would start the favor the good knee without realizing it, so have someone look at your form, or record it and post it on here. I wish I would have started with single leg training first before squatting.
I can still deadlift with no pain though so you could always do that on days when your knee isn’t up to squatting. Even though its a whole different movement, its better then skipping a lower body day.[/quote]
great advice
like djsm mentioned take your time and let your acl ‘fully’ heal… you have your whole life to workout. give it a year to get strong again.
My experience has been that if you aren’t squatting pain-free with some degree of external loading at four months of rehab, you need to get yourself a new PT.
A pro hockey guy I’m helping to rehab squatting just over 200 to just below parallel for five reps today - about 9.5 weeks after his surgery. He was back to skating at eight weeks.
The best surgeons are very proactive with building stability within the range of motion that is being created - even if full ROM hasn’t quite been reached.
The biggest limiting factor is often the graft site - most commonly patellar tendon.
PS - There are probably hundreds of thousands of people on the planet walking around pain-free without ACLs. They’ve got chronic tears they don’t even know about because they haven’t become symptomatic.
If you’re having these issues, chances are that you have some other stuff going on…
My friend had an ACL surgery and he is a competitive olympic lifter.
[quote]Eric Cressey wrote:
My experience has been that if you aren’t squatting pain-free with some degree of external loading at four months of rehab, you need to get yourself a new PT.[/quote]
I didn’t feel any unusual pain the other day while squatting and I’ve been doing the rehab for about four and a half months so that must mean I’m doing good.
i tore my acl in '03…i’d did alot of unilateral work for a while to build the leg back up. Now i’m on a new routine that requires squatting 3 times a week and my knee’s have never felt better…I would focus on getting the weaker leg back up to par 1st
For most of the people on hear who tore an ACL how long did it take to get back to their previous strength in the squat. I was intending to start trying to get back to a 420 squat over summer weightlifting with the football team but according to most of the information I’m getting I should wait a whole year for heavy weights which would set me until october. Should I bust ass with heavy weight on squats this summer or not?