Welcome to my ACL surgery recovery blog where I have been giving week by week updates on my recovery since I had ACL surgery on my right knee back on May 22nd, 2008.
If you're new to reading my blog, you might want to check the blog archive to read my older posts. Especially if you've just had or planning on having ACL reconstructive surgery on your knee. The archive list is on the left hand side towards the bottom.
Torn ACL ligaments in the news recently, St.Louis Blues defenceman Erik Johnson. The funny thing is, that he apparently tore it at a team golf event. The season hasn't even started and they've already announced he'll miss the entire season. (He tore his MCL ligament too).
Okay, on to my personal recovery process. We're fast approaching week 20 and still no running. As I mentioned last week, I'm not going to try again until i see the surgeon again on Oct 7th and get some x-rays done. Its also looking at this point that my 5km race at the Toronto Zoo on Oct 18th, will be a not so competitive 5km walk for me since I've already dropped $40.00 to participate. It bothers me but I trying not to concern myself about it at this point. Even the best athletes have troubles recovering from anterior cruciate ligament reconstructive surgery.
This week at Physio I did a couple of new things. They are plyometric movements. First was on the trampoline. It is just basically getting a bit of height in my jump and then jumping off the trampoline to the side and landing on the ground, making sure to bend my knees when I land to absorb some of the pressure.
The other new exercise was using this squat machine that they have. You're actually laying down and simulating a squat. It using cable resistance to increase difficulty levels. I don't know exactly what the machine is called, nor can i find a picture on the Internet of it. Anyway, on this machine you're actually doing jumps. I have been doing jumping with both legs but this week I've advance to one leg jumps. The key on this is to land with your knee and ankle aligned properly making sure the knee doesn't lean inwards or outwards.
We did some strength testing on the Kin Com machine and it did show that my strength has improved over the last week. I still continue to hit the gym hard and challenge myself with reasonably heavy weights on leg presses and leg curl machines as well as the hip abductor machines. I'm also keeping up with my 30 minute sessions on the elliptical machine. I'm even keeping a set of exercise band and ankle weights by my TV in the living room so if I'm just sitting around, there is no excuse for me not to do some work on my knee while watching the tube.
My next post will be after I see my surgeon for my 4 month check up. So I'll report back then. Thanks for reading my ACL Surgery Recovery blog.
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