Ok, I liked VROOM’s idea so much with the beginner thread that I’m going to start a new thread for knee pain. I figure with all the experts on this site, if we can organize all the info it would make people searching for answers a lot happier!
Now I’m sure some of you are wondering, why is Mike starting a thread like this? Well, unfortunately, the unthinkable has happened: The injury prevention guy has gotten injured! Don’t worry, this wasn’t something weight room related or something I could’ve prevented.
This past February my good friend convinced me to go snow skiing for the first time. Needless to say a 200 pound powerlifter going down steep hills with no friction probably ISN’T a good idea, but I thought I would be fine. After some crazy falls that would’ve made any “Blooper” reel, we headed home and I proceeded to ice my body down for the next week.
As the weeks went on, I realized my knee was still really sore and my ROM was atrocious. Being the powerlifter I was, I kept doing all the recovery things like icing, supplementing, etc., but recovery was slow. Since I was gearing up for a meet, this wasn’t the time to get mental.
I started my normal squatting cycle about 8 weeks out and things were rough; weights that I would normally punish were coming up slower than molasses. The second week is my high volume, moderate intensity session and I was ready to quit…things were just not right. I realized that if I didn’t get this workout done, I could kiss my previous 3 months of training goodbye. I got through it and as the weeks went by, things started to loosen up. All the massage, stretching, ART , chiro adjustments, etc. seemed to be coming around.
As I got into my gear phases I thought the knee was 100%; 10 days out from the meet I’m warming up for my last heavy squat workout, and every time I hit the hole my knee would click. Got it adjusted, and then went ahead and competed the next weekend. The clicking was still there, but the adrenaline got the best of me on meet day! I squatted a 15 pound PR, with the strength to go another 10-20 pounds. Now, I would finally have the down time to let things heal.
Fast forward to this week: The knee was still clicking, so I had an MRI ran. The MRI confirmed a torn lateral meniscus, which the doc said probably happened while skiing 4 months earlier! I’m set to meet with a surgeon next week.
So how does this help you all? Since that time I’ve done even more research on the anatomy and injuries of the knee joint. My goal is to help ANYONE who has knee pain so that they can train pain-free and feel good again. Nothing has felt worse than not knowing what was going on.
As well, I’m going to document my entire treatment and rehab process so that the T-Nation members will have an idea of how I get myself fixed up.
So there it is; if you have any questions regarding knee pain, feel free to post them here. Who knows, if this goes well maybe we can even start other threads for different injured areas…sound good?
Stay strong
MR