8 Months after ACL surgery

Well, its been about 5 weeks since I last reported on my ACL surgery recovery process. All seems to be going well. I did take a break from training over the Christmas holidays which I think helped my Jumpers Knee a lot.

I have started up some running again. I ran about 3 km straight the other day without any breaks and I am happy to report that was not that much discomfort at all in my patella during the running or the next day. Today I managed to do some sprinting on a treadmill with no ill effects either.

So the plan from here on in is to continue with some quad, hip and hamstring exercises that I've outlined throughout the past 8 months.

For those of you new to my blog, be sure to check out the Blog Archive on the menu portion of the screen. Hopefully it will help people out. I will try to report back from time to time on any new activities I try and how my knee feels afterwards. I do have a 5km race planned for March 2009 so I will work towards getting in shape for that.

Week 28 - ACL Surgery Recovery

If you're a new reader to this blog and are about to have reconstructive ACL surgery on your knee, be sure to check out the "Blog Archive" for previous posts which will give you a good idea of what the first few weeks are like to go through.

At this point, I'm 28 weeks in and the my recovery process is now all about being able to return to sports. For the most part, my knee feels good and if I did not intend on playing sports, I could get by without the physio now. But my goal is to get back to where I left off so, I keep plugging away.

There is still some swelling after intense drills and exercises and I probably do not ice my knee as much as I should. Also, after an intense workout with running and plyometric drills, I can feel the Jumper's knee slightly act up a bit. When this happens I usually have to tone it down for a couple of days.

Today, I'll show you a new running drill from physiotherapy which is to help you get use to the quick start and stop movements needed to play in a lot of competitive sports. Again, I've constructed a very crude diagram but hopefully you'll get the idea of how it should be performed. Line up 6 or 7 pylons only a few feet apart in a straight line. The pylons I use for this drill have thin 6 feet polls sticking out of the tops. You want to run in and out, around pylons (following the arrows) and make sure you don't touch the polls.

Looks easy? Well, what makes this drill difficult is while I'm running through the pylons, the therapist will randomly yell the word "switch" which means I am suppose to turn around and run backwards in the same pattern. Its actually pretty crazy. By the time you run through it back and forth 5 times without stopping, you're very beat.

That's it for this week. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them in the comment section below.

If you have a similar blog or site which you'd like to promote here, then please don't spam my blog posts full of your links. It would be better to contact me and ask me about maybe posting a link to your site on the side bar menu.

ACL Surgery Recovery - Week 27

So its no secret that the recovery process after ACL surgery on your knee can be long and boring, doing the same exercises every week and only seeing small amounts of progress at a time. It's definitely good to change things up a bit each week if you can. I'm trying to show you different exercises as well as variations to freshen up your weekly routines. Remember before trying anything you see on my blog to get the green light from your physiotherapist.

This late into the recovery process, a lot of people will be running and doing sprinting and cutting drills. These exercises are even good for people who are training to compete in sports such as basketball, soccer, hockey, tennis and more.

A couple weeks back, I showed you how to do the "H Drill" which is really good for your cardiovascular conditioning, reaction time and helps get your knee use to the quick start and stop side to side movements again. This week I'll show you a variation of the "H Drill" and its simply called the "A Drill".

The running pattern is almost similar to the H drill except, obviously, you're running out the pattern of the letter A this time.

Step 1 - your starting point at the bottom on the left hand side. Run the full length up to the top at a good speed and make a quick stop (2).

Step 2 - run backwards as fast as you can to the middle pylon (3)

Step 3 - from the middle pylon, side shuffle to the right across to the other middle pylon (4)

Step 4 - run forwards to the top of the A (5)

Step 5 - now run backwards again all the way to the bottom right (6)

Step 6 - run forwards to the middle pylon (on the right) (7)

Step 7 - from the middle pylon, side shuffle to the left across to the other middle pylon (8)

Step 8 - run backwards back to your starting point (9)

Think that was easy? well add a couple of steps to it before stopping.

Step 9 - side shuffle to the right again to the bottom right pylon (10)

Step 10 - side shuffle back to the starting point (11)

Try this 5-10 time during your workout with a 30 second break in between. Your heart should be pumping pretty good by the time you've done 5 of them. Repeat this drill about 5-10 times depending on what recovery level you're at.

As for my progress, I'm doing running and these cutting drills twice a week. I find my patella area gets a little sore the next day which is probably due to my Jumper's Knee issue. So i make sure that the soreness is totally gone before running again. As far as my running goes, I am up to about 18 minutes of 1 minute sprints and 30 second walking on the treadmill. I'm still not comfortable with flat out running for that period of time without any walking breaks again due to my Jumper's knee issues. I'm being very cautious and if there is any discomfort what so ever, I stop so it doesn't get aggravated again.

That's it for this week's ACL surgery recovery update. If you have any questions, comments or information you'd like to share, feel free to leave them in the comment section below. I always like to hear from people who read my blog and you may also be able to provide helpful information to others at the same time.

Week 26 - ACL Surgery Recovery

Welcome to my ACL surgery recovery blog. I've been going over my recovery process from ACL surgery week by week since May 22nd 2008. In this blog I talk many related knee injury issue and about the exercises I have learned at physiotherapy. Please be sure to consult a medical professional before trying any of the exercises you see on this blog, especially if you yourself are recovery from the same type of knee surgery.

Ive just realized that I've hit the half a year mark since my surgery. 26 weeks. Amazing. Generally, It feels good but there is a lot of hesitation on my part with some of the training. Mainly when I'm trying sharp turns at fast speeds on some of the plyometric cutting drills. Obviously the reason why is because the injury first happened with a similar type of movement. It is something I will have to mentally overcome if I'm going to start playing sports again. If I wasn't planning on going back to sports, I probably would be able to get by at this stage of recovery but it is important to keep up your training.

This week I took it a bit easy as far as running and cutting drills go. I'm still a bit worried about my "Jumper's knee" acting up. I was feeling it a little bit last week so I laid off anything that aggravates it. I am still trying to improve my strength so I'm adding some heavier weights to certain exercises like leg extensions, hamstring curls and backwards lunges.

This week, I've got a new cutting drill for everyone. Please excuse the crudeness of my diagram below. I put it together rather quickly but hopefully you'll get the idea. Its not overly complicated. Basically, you have 2 rows of 4 or 5 pylons set up like the diagram below. The 2 rows are about 15 feet apart from each other. Starting at the bottom and following the arrowed lines, you want to start by running at top speed around the pylon immediately to the left, then turn and run to the pylon on the right. Repeat this pattern without stopping until you get to the last pylon and then run at top speed down the middle back to your starting point. It was suggested physio that I do 5 of these to my routine with a 30 second rest in between.

Well, that's all I have this week. Remember, to ice and elevate your knee after doing your exercise routines to keep the swelling down and don't forget to add in some massaging to break up the scar tissue. Doing these little things consistently will help you in the long run.

On a side, but related note, If you follow NHL hockey at all as I do, the latest ACL injury to occur happened to Dallas Stars forward Brendan Morrow who snapped his ACL yesterday and is now projected to be out of action for 6 months which will mean he misses the rest of the NHL season.

Thanks for reading my ACL Surgery Recovery blog. If you have any questions, comments or would like to share your similar experience, please feel free to leave a comment. Also, don't forget to check the "Blog Archive" on the left hand side of your screen to see any of my previous posts.

Week 25 - ACL Surgery Recovery

Welcome to my ACL surgery recovery blog. If you're about to have, or have just had your ACL surgically repaired and are looking to get an idea of what the recovery stage is like, you've come to the right place. One the left hand side of your screen (Scroll down a bit), you'll see a Blog Archive that goes through my personal recovery stage week by week. Hopefully some of you will find this information some what helpful. Its hard to think during the first week or two after knee surgery that you'll ever get your knee back to the condition it was in prior to your surgery but with a lot of hard work and proper direction from a physiotherapist, it is almost certainly possible.

I'm up to week 25 and generally the knee feels pretty good. This past week I've incorporated 3 days of treadmill running into my routine, but only 10 minutes. I will run for 1 minute and walk for 30 seconds and repeat. Yesterday I increased the running to 13 minutes at my physio appointment. My knee is a little sore the next day but not too bad. I still feel the jumper's knee a little bit which is expected. That's not something that goes away quickly apparently. I don't plan on pushing it too much more until the Jumper's knee is not bothering me at all anymore.

I'll go over a new "cutting" drill that I've learned at physio this past week. If you're currently in the post surgery recovery stage, please don't try this unless you've got a medical professionals consent. If you're knee is not at a stage where it's not strong enough to handle these kinds of movementes, you may re-injure it.

This drill is simply called the "H" Drill. I've drawn up a rough diagram below of how it is performed. This drill is great for people who are trying to get back into sports like basketball, soccer, tennis just to name a few sports. It will help your surgically repaired knee get use to quick start & stop running and cuts again.

Line up 2 rows of 3 pylons. Each pylon in each row is about 15 feet apart and the 2 rows are about 20 feet apart from each other.

Step 1 - your starting point at the bottom of the row on the left hand side. Run the full length of the row at a good speed and make a quick stop (2).

Step 2 - run backwards as fast as you can to the middle pylon (3)

Step 3 - from the middle pylon, side shuffle to the right across to the other row's middle pylon (4)

Step 4 - run forwards to the top of the row (5)

Step 5 - now run backwards again all the way to the bottom of the row (6)

Step 6 - run forwards to the middle pylon (7)

Step 7 - from the middle pylon, side shuffle to the left across to the other row's middle pylon (8)

Step 8 - run backwards back to your starting point (9)

Repeat this drill about 5-10 times depending on what recovery level you're at.

That's it for this week. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of this blog.

Thanks for reading my ACL Surgery Recovery blog. Be sure to check back next week for another update.

Week 19 - ACL Surgery Recovery

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.

Week 18 - ACL Surgery Recovery

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.

The "run watch" continues. Still having trouble with all running at this point. There is still pain in the lower part of my patella tendon or somewhere around where it attaches to my upper shin bone. At this point, I'm not pushing it. Not until i see my surgeon and get x-rays done on Oct 7th to rule out anything. Physio still insists my hips muscles are weak which could be causing more pressure in the knee. I'm fine with that diagnosis but I'm kind of paranoid that its something else. I'd like to hear my surgeons opinion.

This week at physio, a couple new exercises with some of the same equipment I've been using. First, on the FitVibe, i did side steps with an elastic exercise band around my legs. 10 sets of 30 seconds. Then, i also added an exercise band for when i do the floor slider thingy.

I've also been hitting the gym harder. Concentrating on legs and using some very challenging weight, I've been doing, Leg Presses, Leg curls, Hamstring curls, and also using the Hip Flexor machines. 3 sets of 10 each. Hopefully this will help improve my leg strength. I'm also trying to incorporate 20-30 minutes on the elliptical machine (3 times a week) to keep my cardio up. I find that there is no pain when i use that machine.

Well, that's it for this week. Thanks for reading my ACL Surgery Recovery blog. Hopefully this blog is still helpful for some people.
Take care.

Week 17 - ACL Surgery Recovery

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.

I guess ACL injuries have been in the news the last couple weeks due to another major athlete going down with one. Tom Brady of the New England Patriots is the latest victum this month. With hockey season around the corner, I'm sure we'll see a few more in the coming months. Usually, professional athletes take anywhere from 4-6 months to recover from ACL reconstructive surgery. For your regular Joe Lunchbox, who doesn't have personal trainers working him out 7 days a weeks, its a bit of a different story and usually will take more time to fully heal.

Recovery is still going slow for me. Funny how i had such a great start and now i've leveled off. Im at Week 17 and still no running. Im not even attempting it at this point due to the discomfort it causes. It looks like I'm going to miss my first post surgery 5km race which i had planned to run on Oct 18th at the Toronto Zoo. Its still a month away, but i think it's safe to say that even if I am running by that time, that 5km might be a bit too much.

So, basically right now, I'm still working on strengthening my hips, gluts and hamstrings more. The one new thing i did this week was using a slide board. Its basically a board with a slick surface and it has bummers on each end. You put on some nylon socks over your running shoes and just slide from one side to the other. Its suppose to simulate ice skating. It is for "Lateral training that improves power, change of direction, endurance and balance " according to the product description. I didn't find it overly difficult but it can get your heart rate going if you push yourself a little. You can also use excerise bands around your ankles to make it harder which ill try next weeks at physio.

The challenge continues.........

Thanks for reading my ACL Surgery Recovery blog.

Week 15-16 - ACL Surgery Recovery

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.

Okay, so as i mentioned a couple days ago, I'm still not able to run. I keep getting a pain somewhere in the lower part of my patella from the pressure of running. The physiotherapist has suggested that my gluts and hamstrings are still weak so i should be really focusing hardcore on strengthening those areas. My quadriceps are strong so they are not much of a concern. So for now I am concentrating on squats, lunges and anything that hits the upper and back of my legs.

So my workout started once again with 1/2 on the exercise bike. From there i take my exercise ball and some 20 lbs dumbbells to do some squats. 3 sets of 12-15 (leaning the ball against a wall). After that lye down on the ground and then play my ankles on top of the exercise ball and bridge my body on a diagonal. Then i roll the ball with my legs inwards towards my body. This works the hamstrings good. 3 sets of 12.

Moving on to the exercise bands, i place them around my ankles and just step left and right until my hips can't take it anymore. Next, lying down on my side, almost like in a fetal position with my knees bent, i place the bands around my knees and keeping my feet together just raise the upper knee about 8 to 12 inches. 3 sets of 12 on both sides. Then i place the bands around my ankles and still lying on my side, straighten my legs and lift the upper leg. Again 3 sets of 12 on each side.

On to the lunges. I do forward lunges stepping on a Boso Ball. And i do backwards lunges, 3 sets of 12 each leg both forwards and backwards. Fun Stuff.

After that i move to the trampoline and do one legged hops. 3 sets of 30 hopping forwards and backwards and same hoping left and right.

They did a pit of ultra sound treatment after my workout as well.

So I'm gonna have work hard the next few weeks concentrating on my weak areas. I see my surgeon again on October 7th for x-rays and a check up so if I'm not running by then, hopefully something will show up on the x-rays that might suggest something else is wrong.

Anyway, that's it for this week, thanks for reading my ACL surgery recovery blog. Please feel free to leave comments or stories about similar experiences you might have had.