What training have you done today?

[henri]

Yeah, its much more better than rollerblading. Its safer than blading and also causes less pressure on knees, also twisting etc. I just regret that i didnt start it from the very start of my rehab. Anyway, whats done is done.
I cycled 20 km-s today, had a busy day, so took it easy.
Actually i have been doing quite hard rehab for more than 8 months now. Visiting gym regularily, and now, for past 2 or 3 months have been visiting PT. Also visited this university laboratory, where they tested my muscle strenght in VMO muscles. So when i return it most likely in autumn, i can compare it to my strenght in spring.
 Have done alot of muscle strenghtening exercises and have quit all the intension to return any pivot sport. Even if my graft has failed or stretched, which is more likely, i want to grow my muscles to support the knee and therefore atleast walk without pain at some occasions. I can still see obvious difference between muscles mass when comparing it to my healthy knee and as i said, it causes me alot of problems, even when walking.
 Another problem for me seems to be, that as i didnt do much rehab at the very beginning i now find it quite hard to get my muscles working normally again. It seems as they dont wake up, i dont get the burn etc, but cycling seems to give it to me( Atleast when i cycle, i can feel the burn, on the other hand, i dont usually get much burning the next day).
 Also when doing lots of leg press exercises and hamstring curls. Its quite hard to work out, as my other knee also troubles me, but thats another story. So, anyway, my plan at the moment is to do as much muscle mass growing and strenght building till next winter and then start snowboarding hopefully.
I wont plan to return competitive football, only freestyle football.
Snowboarding and walking/running normally (when some other drunk punk decides to attack me ) are my priorities at the moment.

[the_player]

It's funny reading your post Henri as I think you have the same problems I do - i.e. didn't train your knee that much at the beginning and are having trouble building up your muscle mass.  I too really have trouble hitting the VMO and some of the other muscles in the leg to get that nice burn and as a result still have less muscle mass in one leg than the other...  Randomly I have recently started to do a lot of cycling too and am hoping this is going to be the last step in recovery....

[zengirl]

I DO LEG EXTENSIONS!!!


LOL!                          



We can never make up our minds about this damn exercise, but I need to get my VMO and quads bulked up and when I do the leg extensions I really feel the burn like no other exercise. I get the dreaded clicking too, in the knee, but figure, what the hell, it's yet another clicking so I'll just ignore it.

[the_player]

See this is the thing I have found too - I really need to build up the VMO and nothing quite hits it like the leg extensions!!  I really get a proper burn in the quad after doing a few sets of these!!! 

[henri]

I also do leg extensions, but i do them with very little weight. I made a mistake and started leg extensions too early, as i didnt know what to do. Luckily also at that point, i had some sober thinking and made extensions with little weight.  Now i also do leg extensions, but with about 10-15 kg-s with both legs. It also depends in which gym i am. I tend to do for example 100 extensions in a row with low weight, rather than maximum weight and few of them. When i do one legged(operated leg) leg extension, i take off all the weights, only move this machine or so. It doesent work at first, and ofcourse i look as weak fumbler, but after i have done about 100 of them, i feel the burn. Its same with leg press, when i do one legged half squats with no weight and only move the machine, i get the burn only after lots of squats. But it works, so who cares

I asked my OS about leg extensions, and he said its better to avoid heavier extensions, as it MIGHT, but that doesent mean it will injure graft.
Also, what is controversal, is that what does he mean by heavy? As i am not sure, i keep it extra extra safe. My friends do these extensions with up to 100 kg-s, usually with about 60-80, so i do 10-15 kg-s, therefore i must be on safe side. It is said, that successful reconstruction should give you graft which is atleast as strong as the original one. So i should be able to do also the weights my friends are doing, altough my muscle mass is still smaller than most of them. Still, i wont test it, i dont need it.
I have found cycling, which gives great VMO burn, i am just disappointed i didnt found this sport earlier and did some stupid rollerblading. Still, again, whats done is done.
Leg extensions are controversial for sure, there have been alot of discussion about this.
For example these 3:
http://www.kneeguru.co.uk/KNEEtalk/index.php?topic=32829.0
http://www.kneeguru.co.uk/KNEEtalk/index.php?topic=26378.0
and
http://www.kneeguru.co.uk/KNEEtalk/index.php?topic=32150.0
Zengirl, i wouldnt do them if i were you. Just another clicking, ignoring clicking when doing exercises- thats not a good idea if you ask me. There are many other exercises where you can get this burn.  Buy yourself a bike please.

[rugby nut]

Shock Horror Probe. Yes I do them also. However I do Henri's version where you do a lot of reps (60-70-80) with minimal or no weight. This really gets the muscles burning & screaming, & has been very beneficial to me. This exercise was banned by my surgeon but was recommended to me by one of his own professional rugby clients, who I know quite well. So, Zen I'd thoroughly recommend that you join us in doing them the same way.

I can only repeat what he said about this guy's ACL being wired up with probes whilst undergoing various exercises following ACLR. For each "closed chain" exercise the graph remained constant & within guidelines, while trying leg extensions it zoomed off the screen! Proving the amount of stress put on the ACL graft during this exercise. Proceed with caution. It is definately better to avoid this exercise until at least 6 months post op guys.

It's been so long since we've had a good discussion about Leg Extensions 

Alan

[jb-knee-geek]

I've avoided leg extensions, replaced them with lunges (put your front foot on a BOSU for more fun), barbell squats, jump squats too. I'm a closed chain fan. Love to cycle: spin, mt. and road.....

My knee still aches when over doing it, don't forget your extension routines!

[zengirl]

Yes, I do three sets of leg extension lifts with a 10 kg weight. This is enough for me right now. My quads REALLY burn doing this. I am a year post op and half my graft has ripped out; I figure what the hell, if I can't do them now I'll never be able to do this kind of exercise, and after ACL recon op you should be able to go back normal. I used to do leg extensions before, so I'm going to do them now, especially since they are so so good for burning the quad muscles and building up strength in those precise muscles.

[WJD]

It's been so long since we've had a good discussion about Leg Extensions 

Alan


LOL!

[NeutralFan]

After reading this today I decided to do my first leg extensions since my op (7 months now).  I did them with no weight and max reps I managed was 20 with Op leg (did this 3 times).  The muscle burn was quite intense.  Just for comparison I tried it with my good leg and to be honest I could do more with the op leg.

Used the same process for hammy's as well and feel like it works it harder?

[henri]

when i do hammys, i still put on some weight. Still , yes, as others usually do up to 10 reps with one go, i tend to do about 30-40, but i also use less weight. As much as i know, the more weight you use, the more power you get into muscles, less weight and more reps equals more aerobic power(not sure hows that in english)
Today i did some brain work. Its going to be alot of brain work for another one week and no gym/cycling for one week, and then i am off to Thailand for 2 week vocation. Cant wait

[Kai]

5 hours of heavy labor landscaping - lugging trees, unloading trucks, laying sod, etc...    later, 2 hours of taekwando....   glad my day off is tomorrow...   

[zengirl]

Henri, where abouts in Thailand are you going? We have booked to go there for two weeks in August (yes, I know it's the rainy season!). We're going to an island between Phuket and Krabi called Koh Yao Noi.

[henri]

I am not sure about the whole trip, as its 2 weeks. But some of time i am going to spend in Bangkok, some in Pattaya,  then there is this 5 day stay in this island called Koh Phangan , where its this full moon show or smthing like that. Then we are planning to visit northern Thailand. And then there is also some other stuff planned, such as shopping for cheap clothes and stuff. I mean, clothes there are CHEAP, even to Estonian
They are fake, ofcourse, but they look just like real things, so who cares. And then there are some so called underground shopping places, where you can buy real clothes for cheaper price.
Main reason  i am going to  Thailand, is to visit my sister who has studied there for 4 years and is now graduating and going to England to university. Its last chance to visit her school etc.
Zengirl, the place you are going to visit, i think it was struck by 2004 tsunami, specially Phuket. But they have rebuilt everything by now.

[Kaputt_Knee]

As we have such beautiful weather right now (27°C and rising to 31° tomorrow) I decided to test my knee   to see how the strength is coming along. I loaded my bike into the car and drove down to the Inn valley and cycled for the first time in 2 years. I rode 10 kms upstream, crossed into Austria at a cyclist's bridge and rode the 10 kms back into Germany. I am so chuffed - 20 Kms when I had reckoned on 5 or 6 at the most!

The knee held up well but is now swollen (doesn't surprise me really) but importantly NO PAIN. It is stiffening up a wee bit but the pain in the butt end as I did not expect to go so far and only had normal shorts on - next time the cycle shorts will be in the car as well.

Tomorrow I'm back in the rehab centre so it will be interesting to see what they make of it.

For Sazzle: I'm particularly proud of myself because my OS (the one who mangled the knee) told me on Wednesday that I needed another ACLr as the laxity in the knee is too great for stability. I declined his attentions on the grounds that I'm going to need a new knee before long, so I want to avoid more surgery if I can until I absolutely have to. I was pretty down and that affected what I was able to do  in rehab on Thursday and Friday - vicious circle effect. Now I can go back show off my sunburn and boast about my bike ride! For every down there is an up and it is usually higher than you were before the slide!
Recovery is a roller coaster ride but as long as you believe that you will get there you will. The road goes on!

Sue