eyeball-san Posted September 7, 2003 Posted September 7, 2003 I looked all the way back to June and didn't see one so here we go. I had knee surgery for torn cartilage at the end of May and have recovered fairly well. My problem is now that I have started training again, I am experiencing pain when I pivot on my leg during kicks. I don't want to reinjure my knee. Are there any special exercises to strengthen the muscles of the knee?
SaiFightsMS Posted September 8, 2003 Posted September 8, 2003 Leg extensions. You want to strenghten the muscles around the knee. Do them with very light weight and high reps but never beyond the point of pain.
WhiteBelt Posted September 8, 2003 Posted September 8, 2003 Don't forget leg curls. Now that you're recovering you don't want to have an imbalance cause more problems. When you're ready look into better exercises (leg press -> lunges -> squats -> etc).
ZR440 Posted September 8, 2003 Posted September 8, 2003 Combine the two previous posts. That's what a specialist would recommend. Start with 3 or 5 lb ankle weights if you don't have access to a machine. Do the extensions (don't lock out the knee) in a chair or on a table and the curls standing up against a table. Go slow. You'll be surprised how a little weight will tire you out. It's happy hour somewhere in the world.
eyeball-san Posted September 8, 2003 Author Posted September 8, 2003 Thanks guys. I will give the extensions and curls a try. I went thru three weeks of physical therapy in June but they were mostly interested in helping regain flexability and making sure the surgery went well enough to not cause pain with each step. So far I'm doing pretty good, I tested up a belt last week!
sindian Posted September 9, 2003 Posted September 9, 2003 Heh, great timing. I was going to start this thread a week ago. I ripped the hell out of my ACL and MCLs playing football. I had reconstructive surgery (the patella graft one) a year ago, and I'm slowly getting back into tae kwon do now. My advice to you is to do weight training. It hurts like hell after knee surgery, but it's important. The best exercises, according to my physical therapist, are the leg press, leg extension, and leg curl. Do some squats, leg raises, and calf raises if you have time. My doctor didn't want me to do the leg extensions for a while after my surgery though, so be careful. I'd also get on the treadmill or the stair climber. Don't forget to keep stretching. Also, keep wearing your knee brace for a while. I still wear mine just to be safe. Also, take it easy in class. Train hard, but listen to your body. Now for my question. Is anyone who had reconstructive knee surgery sparring competitively now? The sparring used to be my favorite part. I’m sparring some in class now, but I’m being super careful.
Ironberg Posted September 9, 2003 Posted September 9, 2003 I Hope the weight training helps you, eyeball-san. My sympathies go as well. Well, my sympathies are kinda low, however. I injured my knee three weeks ago. I injured it doing a really fast spin-hook kick that made an incredibly loud pop at the point of extension. It isn't serious, however, as it appears to almost all healed up know, but it hurt like hell when I did kicks or jogged. I actually made it through an entire sparring session yesterday , so I should be back in business and going to tournaments again real soon. Once again, the best of my sympathies. "An enlightened man would offer a weary traveler a bed for the night, and invite him to share a civilized conversation over a bowl of... Cocoa Puffs."
eyeball-san Posted September 14, 2003 Author Posted September 14, 2003 I Hope the weight training helps you, eyeball-san. My sympathies go as well. Thanks! Update: I did some light leg workouts with weights this week and one just before class yesterday. With the help of an ace bandage during class. I made it through fine, no pain at all. I avoided butterfly stretches too, I think they were not doing mich good right now. I will wait a while longer before starting those back up.
quixote Posted September 25, 2003 Posted September 25, 2003 Im hearing from different mds favorable things about glucosamine to keep cartilidge Md told me that tendonytis is one precursor to arthritis so one more reason to stretch. Im 52 and being very carefull as the knees are first to go.
Bretty101 Posted September 25, 2003 Posted September 25, 2003 F...orget piviting on your standing leg/knee. Learn to fight like Bill Wallace and you won't have to pivot at all. My Superfoot all off the lead leg, he's proved the front leg is more then powerfull enough. Pivoting on you knee is only gonna make things worse. Hope it gets better! Bretty
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