Slow down Grasshopper LOL. You definitely don’t want to re-injure the knee. I spent 3 months in PT. You will get there. Make sure your PT knows you want to get back to performance level, otherwise they may cut you loose too early.
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Hey Jack how are you and your wife so far?
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Thanks for asking man… we’re doing much better. Me fessing up about being tempted by the other woman was kind of a wake up call for both of us that if we want this thing to work then we need to work on it. Short version is that I’m making an effort to be more supportive and encouraging and she’s making an effort to be more romantic and make me feel valued. It’s not perfect but 110% better than it was.
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I see. That’s really good! Glad you guys are working it out together. Hoping for the best!
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Good to hear man.
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Little photo update on my surgery. If I didn’t know better I’d think I had an ankle injury. I’m much more swollen there than I’m the knee itself. I’m bruised pretty good around the shin, ankle, and behind the knee but not too bad on the knee itself. I’m curious to see the incision, but they want me to wait until the steri strips pretty much fall off or 10 days whichever comes first. Stitches come out on the 31st
Hello there! Good luck with your recovery. i’ve been on the ACL surgery twice, so I know the pain (even worse with hernia…)
The first days really are horrible. The pain at night was terrible, especially for my second knee, which I begged for stronger drugs than paracetamol (I had a morphine derivate for my first) but they wouldn’t.
PT is a bitch. I was much more swollen but it drains out after a week. Worst pain I’ve ever experienced was at PT, they just placed my ankle on some thing and let my leg stretch via force of gravity. Felt like a torture, I was completely white and about to pass out lol.
Though you are an active badass so recovery should be good. For my first knee I wasn’t doing really much activity and paid the price. For the second well… good nutrition, after one week I was going the PT everyday then the gym everyday. Even walked 1h30 in my splint by 40° celsisus to go to the gym. But after 3 months I did jog for 45 mins (even if it was a bit stupid) and now my legs are better than ever.
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Nice to hear from someone who has been through it. I feel like the pt I put myself through is tougher than the other pt. I just have this young girl who seems nice enough, but pretty much just gives me the list of movements to do. I’ll give her another week and then if it doesn’t change probable go to a specialist functional performance pt. This is just the pt at the surgery center.
1/24
No weigh in
Well I’m 1 week out from surgery and seem to have made some progress and hit some walls.
I accidentally rolled over onto my stomach the other night and in the process of getting back to my back think I popped one of the internal stitches from my right laparoscopic incision. I need to call thee dr about that one.
I feel like the swelling and bruising must have peaked with the leg. It’s really stiff first thing in the morning but I’ve gotten into a routine that manages pain pretty well. I don’t like taking this many drugs but I don’t like hurting really bad even mores. I’ve been doing more or less the following:
Wake 530 - 800 mg ibuprophin
Ice and sleep in recliner with foot elevated for a while
9 pt
930 2 hydrocodone 1 anti spasm
Try not to fall asleep but usually unsuccessfull
330 either 800 mg ibuprofen or 1 hydrocodone and 1 anti spasm
4 pt
9 pt
930 - 2 hydrocodone 1 anti spasm
I’m supposed to go back to work on Monday which seems like a bit of a joke but we’ll see how the weekend goes…
1/28
Ok so The doctor has released me to lift again. I’ve been doing sort of a 60-75% effort with my normal split this week. I’m still holding a lot of water in my swollen leg so it’s hard to really judge weight or any fat gain / muscle loss during the time off. The putting edema in my leg is absurd. It’s like my shin bone is under 3/4 of an inch of memory foam.
I’m back at work and that’s a little tough but getting through it. Each day seems to be getting a little easier.
Today’s weight
171.0
Today’s work
Wide lat pulls 3x15
Underhand barrow pulls 3x15
Low v handle rows 3x15
Low rope pulls 3x15
High rope pulls 3x15
Isolation curls 3x15
Incline seated curls 3 x 15
Rope hammer curls
3x15
Mega set
Ez bar curls
Narrow x 50
Wide x 50
Supinated x 50
So 150 reps no rest.
Overall I’m feeling pretty good and looking forward to being able to push it 100% again.
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Glad to hear it! Hope you managed to catch some good movies and shows during your bed-ridden days!
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If I remember correctly, stationary bike is one of the recommended modes of active recovery for those coming from a knee surgery. High reward, low impact. Any PT here who can confirm?
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I watched The Witcher on Netflix. It was pretty cool, hmm what else… My daughter and I watched all the Harry Potter movies. Ad Astra, Abominable, and a bunch of Beat Bobby Flay. I’m glad to be up and around for sure!
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Yep! Right now they have me on this partial rep bike. It gives an elliptical movement more or less without requiring a full revolution or a deep knee bend. They also have me doing a hack squat more or less. It’s just a total gym… so a sled with no weights. Then all the motion exercises like heel slides and quad sets. It’s getting a little tougher each week.
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1/29
Woke 170.8
Yesterday was much better than my first day back at work. I was exhausted when I finished but not miserable.
Today’s shoulders
Plate raises
OHP
Front delt raises
Dumbbell OHP
Reverse flys
Rear felt cable pulls
Lateral raises
Heavy lateral raises partials
Swelling was down in my leg this morning quite a bit… pain was up. Think the cold weather played a role in both things.
Hope recovery will be a breeze
Quick question for shoulders…I haven’t been doing any front delt stuff in the gym (aside from that sequence that you and jmaier shared) with the rationale being that bench and OHP use the front delts a lot already, so I just focus on side and rear delts when in the gym. Is that justified?
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Well I lift for asthetics, symmetry, size… typical bodybuilding style. While the front delts are worked during bench I feel like they are in a support role and direct work helps build a balanced mass to the shoulder. The delts in my opinion are the game changer in a solid physique.
If strength in bench, deadlift, ohp, and squats are your concern then I don’t think a bunch of front delt work is necessary. My focus would more on medial delts. Hope that helps
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Got it, thanks!
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It just occurred to me that front delt work might be what’s missing from my training…
I’ve never done it because of bench and OHP. I always hammer my lateral and rear delts for symmetry. I want that line between my delts and pecs to be more defined. Perhaps it’s the front delt that will make the difference. Face palm moment.
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Any time you want a line to be more defined it’s usually a BF% in all reality. You can definitely increase the size of the muscle but even if it’s smaller it will pop more the leaner you are. I’m preaching to the choir though. You know your stuff dude
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