Imp's ACLr and Meniscal Trim - Musketeer number 3 finally made it - 20/8/2010

[impishgrin]

Well, it's been an enlightening few days.

I ended up going for my run on Thursday evening. Running round cones in the park on my own, I did feel a touch silly, but it was worth it. I ran and ran and ran, but the knee didn't complain once. I was sprinting over 5m-10m then turning about 90-120 degrees and sprinting off again. The 25m Jog - 25m 3/4 spring - 25m jog felt brilliant as well. I was really worried that any sort of pace I previously had would be gone, as this was one of my greatest strengths, but my fears seem to be unfounded. The old knee was put through it's paces and came out of it with flying colours. The rest of me however, wasn't in such great shape. Every muscle in my legs ached beyond belief and using the foam roller afterwards was absolute agony.

Weights on the Friday evening again and feel like I'm starting to progress well. I think I'm ready to start increasing the weight in the unilateral leg press from 60kg, though the hamstring curls are still killing me. Had a day off on Saturday and went out for a few drinks. A friend who had moved to Glasgow was back for the weekend with his Girlfriend, so a few of us went out to catch up.

Unfortunately this did nothing for my state on Sunday and my run on Sunday was unpleasant. Knee felt fine again, but the dehydration had tightened up all my muscles. I did my warm up run, put the cones out and start my zig zags. After 8 of my 10 repetitions I was sick on the side of the pitch, which was unpleasant. I finished my last 2 reps but decided against the jog-sprint-jog. This was both disheartning and ecouraging. It shows how far I still have to go (I do keep forgetting these days) but it was great that it's not my knee that's holding me back. I even had a little slip on the grass yesterday when pivoting on my bad leg and not a twinge, all was well. The joint itself actually feels looser today that it did yesterday morning as well, though my muscles are like strings on an instrument today.

I will head back to the physio this afternoon and see what other delights he has in store for me. Hopefully I'll get clearance to start doing Deadlifts, Squats etc. again. If so, then I'll be trying to get back to doing full body workouts and trying to build everything up again rather than just my legs. 

[tez27]

it sounds like things are going really well for you tis excellent news and must make you feel as if there is light at the end of the tunnel I am really pleased for you
How are thing with your giant cat? how did she respond to he steroids? I hope she doing better, pets become so much part of the family we all hate it when there is something wrong with them, and they cant tell us how they feel.
Congrats again on the running etc on you new ACL
Take care Tez

[Snowy]

Awesome news. I'm glad that everything is going so well. It's incredibly reassuring when the knee tackles new challenges without complaining, although I hear you on the sorry state of other muscles after months of rehab.

I hope your kitty is okay - any sign of a response to the steroids? Our little gang of three send sympathy purrs.

[impishgrin]

Just a quick update, physio has cleared me for free weights (squats, deadlifts etc) and I can play golf again now which is excellent, some more sport to focus on. He also told me if things keep going the way they are, he'll be getting me to do some ball drills in a few weeks time, which is, quite frankly, amazing

As for the Kitty, she seems in much better spirits on the steroids. The vet has given her another prescription and shes doing well. She's still breathing very heavily but she's kept her "healthy" appettite and she's not having to lie down after a few steps anymore so the signs are good. She may not have that long left, but a little bit longer with us while she's comfortable and happy will be greatly appreciated.

I shall pass the good wishes on to her in the form of some kind of food, I'm sure she'll understand the sentiment and be greatly appreciative

[Snowy]

All right! Sounds like you're heading for your release to full activity in the not-too-distant future (mine is this week, although I'm far too sick with this stupid flu to actually make the most of it.) Bet you can't wait to get a ball at your feet again after all this time...

Glad to hear kitty is responding to the steroids. It's always tough when they're not well, especially as there's no way to explain it to them. Hopefully this means she has plenty more time left to enjoy her food and your company.

[impishgrin]

Well, I've had quite a good week

Tuesday: Hit the pitches after work, did my sprints and agility work. Was pretty pleased as I've managed to get my time down quite a bit. I think it's more to do with building my confidence and being able to actually attack the turns at speed than massively increasing my speed over the ground.

Links to my course:
http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/5235/imag0136s.jpg
and my time:
http://img714.imageshack.us/img714/2640/imag0137s.jpg

I ran myself in to the ground, but it felt really good and when I went home I treated myself to a nice, cold beer

Wednesday: A day off work, how wonderful except I had to be at the doctors for 8.30am However he gave me a prescription for the lung problems I've been having and I was away before 8.45. Treated myself to a fry up (healthy I know) while I waited for my Gait Analysis Clinic appointment, which again was quick and painless. They made up my custom orhthoses for me and sent me on my way (I even managed to fit in some stretches while they were making them up) This was followed by a lovely pub lunch (steak sandwich, healthy again) followed by a trip to the driving range. Having not swung a club in 2 1/2 years I was a little bit ridiculously rusty, but I soon got back in to the swing of things and was starting to hit a few decent shots by the end. My Lats and my forearms however, did thoroughly ache afterwards. Thursday night was sent on the sofa with Rozzie watching DVDs, which was nice

Thursday: Fairly quiet, got up early and got in some stretching and foam rolling before work. I'm having a bit of trouble trying to work my hamstrings as effectively as all my other leg muscles using the foam roller, any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated  I had intended to go to the gym after work but decided against it as I was only going to be doing cardio, probably on the bike, I decided instead to recharge at home in preparation for a fairly intense session tonight.

Friday: Tonight I'm going to head to the gym and really hit the weights. Then come home and try and tidy the house up a bit for tomorrow.

Tomorrow morning I'm going to head for my run and agility work, then we are having a party tomorrow night. People will be arriving for the United match around 5 so I envisage it being a fairly messy evening/night/morning

Hope everyone's weekend goes well

[impishgrin]

It would seem that my weekend was largely composed of fail on the knee front. Saturday morning I went down to the pitches for my run to find that some extremely selfish people had decided that they were playing football matches on them instead. I mean, what was I supposed to do, lol. I thought I'd go down to the park and try there, went for my warm up run, but the ground was so uneven and full of potholes I tweaked my right ankle a little so decided that sprints would probably be a bad idea. So I went home, stretched and got ready for our party on saturday night.
 
Party went well, there were about 40 people there at a time, the only casualties being a few of our glasses, though we have too many anyway so not really an issue. Unfortunately, while trying to help carry some drunken spanner outside to get some fresh air, he stumbled, causing me to trip and fall down the 2 steps outside our front door. I stayed on my feet but landed on my bad leg, twisting my ankle a bit and jarring my knee quite heavily. I didn't think much of it at the time (alcohol is a great anaesthetic it seems) but the next morning it ached quite significantly and stiffened up and it still doesn't feel right.
 
Luckily enough I'm going to the physio today anyway, but I'm a bit worried by all this. I haven't really had any major set backs so far and I've been waiting for them to happen, so I'm watching the clock tick towards this physio appointment with a sense of dread.

[tez27]

Hi Imp good luck with your physio today I hope whatever you've done to the knee and ankle its not anything serious and just a wee tweak ,you will need to take more care of yourself the thing I keep thinking about is your not even back playing football yet and you still manage to do yourself some damage.
take care and let us know how physio went
Tez xx

[impishgrin]

Well, the knee is fine, a little angry, but no damage thankfully. I have however sprained my ankle, which is annoying as that will be putting my agility work and running on hold until it improves, don't want to risk making it worse. Back to the positives though, he wants me to start trying to kick a ball again if my ankle settles down my the weekend he wants me to go out and kick a ball around for a while and see how the knee reacts, which has me excited to a ridiculous degree. The rest of the week will mainly be spent doing weights in the gym I think, though I may postpone the free weights again until my ankle has healed up.

Tez, I shall provide you with a list of names that have been used to describe me over the last 5 or 6 years.

-Glass Man
-Chocolate Bones
-Polystyrene Bones
-Balsa Wood Bones
-Spaghetti Hoop Ligaments

I fear I may be somewhat injury prone...lol.

I reckon working harder on my rehab this time round will probably help me in the future though.

[sherwooa]

Imp, glad to hear it was "only" a sprained ankle.  That's also very exciting about you getting to kick the ball around soon.  I am almost 5 months out myself fom ACLR (allo) and feeling pretty good (have been working on a running/agility progression since late Jan) and I hope to get similar clearance next week from my OS to try coming back to my sport (lacrosse).

BTW, for injury prevention, the free weights, especially barbell squats, are key.  Squats are just about the best all-around exercise one can do since they get your big movers (glutes, hams, quads) as well as your core (lower back, abs, hip flexors, etc.) so strong.

Good luck with the ankle and the continued progression back to sports!

[impishgrin]

Cheers Sherwooa! To be fair it's a pretty light sprain and I'm just so pleased the knee's fine.

Yeah, free weights are my aim, but it's been over 2 years since I've been doing proper free weight work. Once the ankle is clear I'm going to be hitting the gym with a friend of mine who's a personal trainer. Squats and deadlifts are basically my top priority but I want to make sure my form is perfect after so long away frmo it. My upper body will be getting some work but my priorities are going to be split about 45% legs, 35% core & 20% upper body until I'm happy enough everythings at a similar level and then I'll level it all out

Cheers again, hope your OS clears you for return sooner rather than later

[impishgrin]

Well, it's been a quiet week. I've basically just been trying to protect my ankle as much as anything, so mainly I've just been doing balance work and trying to keep to closed chain exercises. I didn't do any agility training at all as I thought that was just asking for trouble and my trips to the gym were less frequent as well.

However Sunday afternoon was glorious. I spent a good hour down on the football pitches, with my house mate, just kicking a ball around. Passing it back and forth, controlling it, taking the odd shot, it was great fun After 2 years, 2months and 2 days (what an odd coincidence) my touch has deteriorated pretty badly. It was never great to start with but it's going to require a lot of work to get me back up even to that level.

I also noticed my hamstring much more during this activity than I have previously, which surprised me. During sprinting and cutting exercises I start to feel it after a while towards the top of the muscle, but it's usually getting towards the end of the session. Yesterday however I started to feel a real tightness and the odd little twinge towards the bottom end of the hamstring, near the knee, fairly early on in the session. This happened mainly when I kicked a certain way with my right leg (probably due to the left leg then having to stabilise my body weight on it's own and deal with all the momentum) and when I tried to jump quickly. I assume this is the area where the graft was taken. I was sensible, I took it easy and it's no worse today that it would be after a normal work out, but it did highlight that this is just the start of another leg of this journey, rather than the end of it. The sooner I get on to the free weights and start dead lifting and get myself in to the plyometrics the better.

On to the positives. It. Felt. Amazing. It's been so long since I've had a ball at my feet that I'd almost forgotten what it felt like. I think part of me might have subconsciously given up on ever playing again, but the part of my soul that feeds on football was shaken back in to life on that pitch. I intend to start adding in ball drills to my agility work so when I start playing with people again I'm not quite as useless, but also just because it makes me feel better.

I don't think I realised just how much I missed this...

[impishgrin]

Returned to the physio this morning before work. He was delighted with how the knee had held up to football and said that bar my hamstring, there aren't any real problems left. He wants me to got away for 2 weeks and work on strength and balance, then come back and see him. I've been cleared for full squats too. This means I can get away from the machines and on to barbell work so I've fired off a text to a friend who's a personal trainer to get a session booked and sort my form out 

I think it's time to start easing back in to upper body and core work as well. I think my plans are going to be:

Mon: Lower body - gym
Tue: Core - home
Wed: speed / plyometrics - pitches
Thur: Upper body - gym
Fri: Lower body - gym
Sat or Sun: Agility - pitches

If I can keep that up for a while then I should be able to balance it a bit better. I'm not going to allow myself to play footie until I'm in the best shape of my life, so that should give me plenty of encouragement

[sherwooa]

Imp, that's fantastic news.  Glad to hear you're cleared for barbell work.  I have to say that since coming back to squatting and deadlifting at the 3 month mark (I'm just about 5 months now), I have felt stronger and more mobile each week, and my agility, plyo and running workouts seemed to have taken off as a result.

I like your planned strength/conditioning progression.  Attached (PDF) is another, similar, one that I've been following since mid-January, and it seems to be working very well:

Basically, I've structured my progression as:

Monday
Squat – 3x5
Shoulder Press – 3x5
Chins/Pull-ups – 3 sets of as many reps as possible
Single leg squats or step ups

Tuesday
Power Clean – 3x5
Dips – 3 sets of as many reps as possible
Running/plyometrics/conditioning

Wednesday
Off or Skill Day (lacrosse in my case)

Thursday
Squat – 3x3
Bench Press – 3x5
Dips – 3 sets of as many reps as possible

Friday
Deadlift – 3x5
Pull-ups/Chins – 3 sets of as many reps as possible (can be moved to Saturday)
Running/agility

Saturday
Skill work (lacrosse)
Optional conditioning (rowing, kettlebell swings, sledge hammers, etc.)

Sometimes the knee gets a little peeved if I do too much running in one week so I have to miss one of the running days, but I generally find this combo to work pretty well.

As for lifting form, another great resource is the Crossfit website, which has video demos of tons of the basic barbell exercises:
http://www.crossfit.com/cf-info/excercise.html#Exer

Good luck with the continued strength and conditioning, and the return to footballing!

[impishgrin]

Sherwooa - That looks cracking! May be exactly what I need. I had a good read through bits of that crossfit site today as well, some really interesting stuff on there. That, along with your workout, has given me some additional ideas for how to progress my work, so cheers Any other resources you can think of would be greatly appreciated

"The" Workout

This evening I went for my first round of free weight work with my Trainer friend. A fairly light start to the workout with a few minutes on the treadmill, a little stretching session and then on with the weights.

Now to my surprise we ended up over at the Smith Machine. My main desire is to try to get away from machines as much as possible, so this surprised me a little and I commented on this. M said that he understood and agreed with this goal, but because I've never actually squatted using a bar bell before (always dumbells) and even with those my form wasn't great, that the Smith machine was a decent place to start to try and get me comfortable with it before moving on to proper squats. He also mentioned that throwing in a set of Smith machine squats is good every now and then because, while the machine stabilises the weight for you, taking a lot of the impact and therefore the benefits away, it does allow you to make the squat a more hamstring focused exercise because you don't need to lean forward that little bit to keep your balance. I managed 1 set of 12 reps at 20kg to start, 1 set of 12 at 40Kg and 1 set of 12 at 50Kg. Could definitely feel my legs being worked in ways that they probably haven't been in quite some time.

Then moved on to the leg press machine. This one however is very different to the one in my local gym. In the local gym the foot plate is at one end and basically vertical, you sit down, put your feet up on it and push the chair away. On this I can comfortably do a set of 10 at 120Kg bilateral and a set of 10 at 80kg unilateral. On the other machine you sit in a seat so you're lying back at roughly a 45 degree angle and put your feet up on a plate and push it up and away from you. On this machine I found 80kg bilateral difficult so it certainly seems to be working me more.

After this we got a spot on the floor, got a barbell and began the deadlifting. He started by demonstrating a few reps himself and then passed over to me. My form was pretty woeful to begin with and my heels kept lifting off the ground, but with a few adjustments, I managed to get decent technique. I did a set of 12 at 20Kg with an olympic bar (which I think is around 20 Kg) and when I'd finished I was nearly sick. I've never deadlifted before (I don't even remember the last time I used one, my local gym doesn't actually have one believe it or not) and I had no idea just how hard it was. I regained my composure and banged out another set, but with sweat pouring off me and veins starting to bulge in my forehead it was decided that 2 sets was enough...I'm not going to pretend I wasn't a little relieved.

Then to the cool down. We wandered over to the bikes, saddled up and off we went. Sat chatting away, level 3 resistance and keeping the rpm above 90. At 2Km we upped the resistance to 4 and kept the rpm the same and I could start to feel it burning. At 3.5km I got a little surprise - "Right, you've got a 300m head start, we're doing 5Km, I'll race you to the finish line" and race we did. I'm pretty sure he wasn't really pushing himself as he had only broken a light sweat by the end, but I was pedalling for all I was worth. By the 5km mark I was literally dripping with sweat, thought I might be sick again and could barely speak. But I managed to keep the gap to 200m, which was something at least I also managed the 5km in just over 10 minutes (I can't remember how many seconds as I was preoccupied with not throwing up on the readout) which I suppose isn't too bad considering.

Another set of stretches and I was on my way. It was only when I went to walk down the stairs out of the gym that I realised how much it had taken out of me. My legs were really struggling with going down stairs. It wasn't painful, but my legs just did not want to move the way they normally would so I ended up walking around like some sort of crippled duck much to everyone's amusement

I don't think I can face the foam roller tonight, I'm not in work until 11am tomorrow so I think I'll save that particular treat for the morning