Pop. #@*$.ACL Tips from an Veteran

Day 69: Um, yeah?

2009-02-19T22:58:00.004-06:00

So I've been neglecting my 4th ACL recovery blog. I have to default you for 'recovery' advice to my '3rd.' I will write eventually about the things everyone needs to know....

Today at the gym, one legged.
280x10.
320x15
360x10...

Days 47, 369, 1535 and 2954 Post Op.

2009-01-28T22:19:00.002-06:00

I woke up on Sunday and declared that it had been 1 year post op. My Girlfriend noted that didn't sound as impressive since it was also 6 weeks post op.

Lifting at the gym today I did 220x10, 240x10 and 260x10 one legged. Consistently been increasing that weight since the first time at the gym in early Jan. The first day I did probably 30x10. I can still pinch off a bit more of 'excess' from the surgery leg.

Day 25.

2009-01-06T12:21:00.002-06:00

Officially hit 'near' full flexion unassisted. 144* vs 145*. In the gym I hit full flexion last week.
Monday I was able to get 120 lbs one legged on the leg press. After each leg press set I would lay on the situp machine and dangle my leg for 30 seconds, then stand up and use the foot bar to assist in flexion.

Flexion is MUCH easier to do if you use your body weight to move your body to your leg instead of vice versa. I blogged about this in the past, so read more below.

PT Consisted of:
5 minute warmup on Bike.
3x15 12" stepups.
Measurement.
3x10 1 legged leg-press (maxed out the bands)
3x10 leg extensions with weight (band goes around knee and attaches to pulley system)
2x 1 minute 1 legged stands on an inflatable balance device bouncing a weight off of a trampoline.
5 minute 'brisk walk'

Day 17: Atrophy

2008-12-29T23:22:00.003-06:00

So I've been fairly good at recovery. Still haven't hit full flexion.

I did notice today after a shower a noticeable size difference, in just 3 weeks of preferring my left leg.
Approximately 11" above the knee cap:
Right: 23.5", Left: 24.75"

At the 'widest' point approximately 4" up from the groin:
Right: 25.5", Left: 26.5"

With my knees flexed at 120*, I can pinch off a considerable amount more of skin. (Photos Pending)

Day 10: PT #2

2008-12-22T23:09:00.002-06:00

112* flexion.
5 min - Bike
2 leg-leg press: 3x15 (all bands)
1 leg-lex press: 3x10 (5 bands for first 2, all bands for last).
Straight leg extension w/weights: 3x15x70 lbs.
Step up/Step Down: 3x15x12" step

I was told that I'm at where most people are at at 'a few weeks'. I was also used as an inspirational story for one of the other patients. HS Senior, 9 days post op was still relying heavily on crutches and had minimal Quad control.

I swear I'm not even trying this time. I don't sit down and go "PT Time." Before bed I may stretch a bit. I'll probably twitch my quad dozens of times per day just doing nothing.

The stairs are also an excellent place to stretch. Place your recovering knee on the 3rd or 4th stair and then lean back into it. An easier way to do active stretches is rather than bring your heel to your ass, bring your ass to your heel. Tilt your hips to the good side twist down and sink your hips, creating a stretch.

Day 3: PT

2008-12-15T21:32:00.002-06:00

To be cleaned up later...
Walking with Cane.
88 Degrees unassisted.
98 degrees assisted.
Quad engagement is good, can almost visibly activate the vastus intermedialis.

No cryocuff since day 2, sleeping on my side and sitting up most of the time.
PT once a day, if that. Mainly just letting it 'be'

Day 0: He we go again on our own. Going down the only road we've ever known.

2008-12-12T18:33:00.003-06:00

I already blogged about the ACL recovery, what more is there to write? Plenty. I'm finding stuff I forgot. Stuff I'd like to add, change, comment on, so unfor

This blog is for you, the reader. If you have torn an ACL and want to know how it goes. I remember tearing my first one. I was terrified. This wasn't A ligament, it was The ligament.
Then #2 and I felt a bit better and knew what to expect.
Then #3. I thought damn, this'll be easy.
Then #4. Here we go again.

At this point I have had more ACL surgeries than fillings done.

If you have any questions about ANYTHING. Please comment or e-mail me at acl@exstatic.org.

Day -1: Starting Over.

2008-12-11T14:52:00.001-06:00

Nurse just called. I should be there at 6:30 for surgery prep.

Day 80: Smashing through the boundaries

2008-04-14T23:59:00.001-05:00

Lunacy has found me
Cannot stop the battery
Pounding out aggression
Turns into obsession
Cannot kill the battery
Cannot kill the family
Battery is found in me
Battery

After the weekend off, I went to Highschool Rugby practice and helped coach. I managed to hang in with the youngins during the sprints.

I then went lifting. I decided to try my luck at the squat machine again. I started with 320.

320x10x2.
340x10x2.

Both were rather uneventful. Lift off was a struggle for both. I usually do 0->90 or my leg press but I have the set at maybe 80. So the first 10 degrees are a bit of a struggle. I can definitely say that most of my atrophy has gone. Visually there's no difference (I really need to get my camera into the gym for doing these reps).

Then I decided to do a full 360. Changed the iPod to Battery, my power lifting song (more specifically Battery as performed by the San Francisco Orchestra and Metallica [0]). Got on the machine and did some slow breathing during the intro. Then up. Take off felt like forever and almost felt like I was moving against a stone wall. Everything was going good through rep #7 when my knee locked straight. Reflex took over and I contracted it and dropped all the weights. I finished the set and #8 take off was more difficult than the first.

Then a 'simple' 360x10 on the left leg.

I think I broke some blood vessels in my pecs holding on to the hand grips on the last set. I was dead tired (as if I had just sprinted) and couldn't immediately stand without feeling light headed. Surprising from an anatomical point of view how much O2 had to have been carried and how hard my heart was pumping to get it there just for a simple set of 10 leg presses.
-
Gotta love the doctor. I went in for my thumb.
10 minutes - Driving to doctor
10 minutes - Waiting and filling out a form (apparently my allergies may have changed since I had an ACL done at the same place)
10 minutes - Waiting for X-Rays & Doctor
30 seconds - Doctor grabbing my thumb, "Yep, you did something to it, lets schedule an MRI"
10 minutis - Driving back to work.

I should have just scheduled an MRI from the beginning. Although to be fair to the office I saw the sheet of appointments ranging from "Wrist pain" to "Something hurts in hand." I think I was the only one to walk into him and told him what I did.

MRI tomorrow determines if it's a just a cast or surgery and a cast.
-
[0]. Battery, as performed by the San Francisco Orchestra and Metallica.

[1]. Hall of the Mountain King, as performed by Apocalyptica. My other 'power' song. Typically I use it more when running to set a quick pace or for trying to punch out reps. I have other stuff on my iPod, but these two seem to get played more than anything else.

Day 74: One Ligament to Another

2008-04-08T22:37:00.004-05:00

So at the SIU Carbondale Rugby Tournament I managed to tear another CL, my ulnar collateral ligament (UCL). ACL held up most excellently. According to the team captain I was a tackling machine. Knee felt great through it all, i completely forgot about being only 10 weeks out. Managed to smash the other one into the ground. Currently it's bigger than my right knee.

I don't remember tearing it during the game, but I don't remember tearing it at the social either. Currently my thumb does this awesome trick.

I have an appointment next Monday, but given that I can barely tie my shoes without the joint almost coming out of place (Think of a Mini ACL and the knee) it looks like I'm headed for another 3-6 weeks of a cast/splint and then another 3-6 weeks after that in a soft cast. Good news is I've almost hit my MooP for insurance so this one should be free.

SKIERS THUMB

Day 67: Size doesn't matter.

2008-04-01T23:07:00.003-05:00

One of the metrics which I just thought about and wish I had recorded was the circumference of my thy. It's measurable, easily obtainable and it would definitely show a trend towards atrophy, etc.

Even though it's a bit too late to keep record now, I decided to break out the cloth tape measure and see what I was. The doctor was right. My right (surgery) leg was larger.

24.5-24.75 vs 24-24.25. I tried taking the measurement at the same place and apply the same amount of tension. I repeated it a few times until I settled on those measurements.

When I went to Google to determine how I was doing I was suprised at the lack of information. They have chest and bicep sizes for weightlifters, but not leg. I did find this USE AND MISUSE OF THE TAPE-MEASURE AS A MEANS OF ASSESSING MUSCLE STRENGTH AND POWER. Which I believe, I know my right leg isn't up to 100% par with my left. I just wish I measured the entire time so that I'd know what it was doing the whole time. Especially when there was atrophy that people commented on in the early weeks.

While I had the tape measure out curiosity got the best of me... and should I ever need a manzier/bro I'm a 42B.

Day 65: For he to-day that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother

2008-03-30T23:58:00.004-05:00

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, a physical therapist, a trainer or licensed in anyway as a medical professional. More specifically I am not YOUR doctor, physical therapist or trainer. This is just my blog, not advice.

This weekend was Nashbash 27 a massive Rugby tournament in Nashville, TN. I was in Louisville for work and my brother was playing for Purdue and... you can't get away from this sport. And as my dad always said, "You can't play if you don't bring your stuff." I packed the car and went.

Despite some bad Plantar Fasciitis from St Patty's day. And walking around all day at a Truck Show certainly didn't help a single thing.

I watched a few games and made the decision to play. I warmed up by doing some child's pose in yoga. Bending the knees fully, plyometrics, and shuffling. Everything felt solid. For mental assurance I put a wrap on it (you can't wear any hard braces in Rugby).

I went around to a few teams and finally found one that short of subs. Saint Louis Royals showed up with 16. I went in about 10 minutes into the second half and ended up playing around 20-25 minutes. I was put out on the wing where I couldn't do too much. I only touched the ball twice and I don't think made any tackles.

And then we drank and then it rained. And it rained some more and we drank some more. All said the 200 people that were left because the rain was too wet floated 32 kegs in a little over 2 hours. And there was dancing, and slip and slides, and there were zulus and singing. And it was a Rugby Social. Comparable to no sport I've ever played, seen, heard even heard of.

Sunday I got in about the same amount. Except I went in at Flyhalf, many many rookie mistakes from just being out of touch with the position (I haven't played it in over a year and I really don't like it either.) Made a few tackles, made a few runs. Sprinting, turning, running, after about 10 minutes in and being caked with mud I forgot all about my knee. I was still a bit guarded going into tackles and avoiding taking them when possible.

Today I woke up sore, sore everywhere except for my knee. My thy was bruised, my pinkie toe was stepped on, my shoulders ached, my hands were stiff and my quads were tight everything I'd expect from a game of rugby except neither knee bothered me.

I was out of shape. Walking way more than I should have been. I shied away from some tackles I would have taken or made previously, but as I've said before, now it's all mental. Convincing your brain that your knee can handle something after being on crutches for .. well 2 days is hard to do.

Today in the gym with the silence of everyone else lifting I had some extra motivation. On leg press it was:
260x10, 280x10, 300x10, per leg. Now don't go comparing this to yours because the 'gearing' on this one I think is a bit different. But the last set, the set of 300, on my right leg I was taking pauses everyone after 6. The sweat started down my face about 7.

When I stretched between each set (Lat machines are excellent stretching devices. Set the knee pad to the highest setting and hold on to the top (after selecting a weight >= your own)) my quads were the tightest part of my body no longer my knee.

Thanks again St. Louis Royals!

Day 48: Week 12 er how long has it been?

2008-03-13T23:59:00.002-05:00

Hit the gym last night:
220x10, 240x10, 260x10,

480x10 (last set on 'old' press)

'New' incline style leg press.

Shuttle + 8x45s so I'm going to call the Shuttle 45 and say 405.

Then 2 more 25s to make 455.

Unlike the other one, you need to almost lock out to lock the bars. Unlike where if you 'fail' you come back to starting. I tested it on an empty one to see if I'd crush my self if I failed out part way through. It wouldn't be comfortable but I wouldn't die (good engineering). The final set wasn't the quickest I've ever done but they got done. I'd say a good set of leg presses is one of the most exhausting lifts ever. Dripping with sweat, trying to catch my breath, I tried to stand up a bit too quickly and had to immediately sit back down.
-
Today I had doctor follow up #3. Except I didn't even get the doctor at first. I got some assistant. (Which I would have paid full doctor prices for either way. If I'm paying for the doctor send me the damn doctor.)

He has me lay down:
Him: "Flex, ok, flex the other one." Looks at chart. Which one was it again?
Me: "The right one, the one with the most recent scar"
Him: "Oh, Well I'd almost say that it looks bigger. Lets see about flexion."
Me: Flex both to about 150ish
Him: "Well, that looks excellent. I'd say I'd go ahead and give you a full clearance, you're what 12 weeks or so out?"
Me: (Read the damn chart). "Um, tomorrow is 7 weeks."
Him: "Oh. Well, I really don't know what to do, lets wait for the doctor."

So I get to wait around for another 10. Doctor repeats everything above. I get the spiel on how my knee may feel very strong but the ACL is actually at the weakest point. Because when I got my graft it was full of blood tissue (I didn't even care to remind him again* that this was an allograft). Cleared to 'run'. No sprinting. No cutting or anything that involves cutting (Rugby).

*He's not to bad of a doctor but his perceived memory of who his patients are and his bedside manner suck. I know every single time I've been in there he's asked me who did the knee before me and I know that we've had a 30 minute conversation our first meeting that it was Dr. Shelbourne.

Day 46. Weight limit exceeded

2008-03-10T23:59:00.005-05:00

Well after taking Friday->Sunday off for travel. I made it back to the gym. Since I'm on a diet I decided to hit the bike for 70 minutes tonight. iPod + TV Shows = best way to pass time, plus I never have to fight for TV space or watch commercials. (I use rtorrent, pytvshows, & mp4ize if anyone is interested).

A combination of it being 4 days since my last leg lift, I was feeling great, I had a long day at work, and I just wanted to push my limits lead me to start off at 220 lbs. Per leg.

220x10, 240x10, 260x10 then 440x10,480x10,495x12. And that's all the more the machine has. It does look like I'm going to have to move to the sled where I'm going to have to rack all the weights by my lazy self.

I'm definitely gaining some tone back in my right leg. Actually I'm adding tone in both legs. This is definitely leaps and bounds beyond both previous surgeries. Hitting the gym early is the only reason. Even before I had full flexion back I was working on strength. While I've heard one before the other, I think they go hand in hand. I've gotten my best flexion stretches after doing leg press.

Unfortunately my camera, flash and skin don't exactly show this off the best...

Day 42. Week 6.

2008-03-07T09:11:00.003-06:00

Last night I pushed the limits of what I could do, with both legs. I ran my last set of leg presses to failure. In much the same manner as before individual legs than both.

180x10
200x10
220x10

400x10
420x10
460x10 (to see if my legs are more than the sum of their parts).

I haven't attempted running yet, but I'm still biking like I used to. Although I would have to say that I've been ready to run for 2 weeks.

Knee feels strong, when I put my hand on it there is just a slight bit more 'noise' than my left. If I've been sitting for a long time the first time I straighten my knee there's a slight pop coming from under the knee cap, sounds/feels about like cracking a knuckle.

If I stand with my knees locked for a while, when I continue walking something medial will 'catch'. Not painful just feels really awkward.

Day 39. Status Quo

2008-03-05T00:13:00.003-06:00

More of the same. Stretching and lifting. Tonight I did 60 minutes on the bike on level 10. I didn't get as far as normal because my legs were exhausted and the last few days of my diet have been high in protein and not so much carbs. So RPM was around 60-80 rather than 100+ like Sunday.

Although the long term energy stores weren't there, I had plenty in me for leg press. Which I did like I have been: 3 sets of 10 on each leg then 3 sets of 10 combined.
160x10
180x10
200x10

380x10
400x10
420x10

After which my right leg felt amazing. I was stretching between each set on the combined and I could get both legs equally as far up in flexion. To stretch my PT suggested that I go up against a table and rest my leg on it then sit back rather than grabbing my ankle and pulling. I was doing this but against the arm curl machine (the leather than you rest your arms over). I was getting a nice deep lean into into it. Everything feels great for 5.5 weeks. Atrophy is nil.

1st surgery: I was about at this level. I remember being amazed that I was cleared to run at 5 weeks, however I was pushing myself to make senior track season.
2nd surgery: Recovery, flexibility started great out of the gate but stagnated around this time because well, I had nothing to work for. I was going to take a whole year off Rugby and I was in the middle of school.
3rd: I seem to be combining the best of both.

A tip for everyone:
Atrophy is horrible. I'd have to say that I'd rank atrophy above flexion as the worst thing that could happen to an athlete trying to return. Even if you steadily work on it your flexion will return, it's a slow process as is. But once you lose that muscle, it's gone and it's not going to come back over night. Now obviously one has to precede the other, you're not going to stop that atrophy if you can't bend your leg to 90 degrees.

What is atrophy? It's when you start losing your muscle due to inactivity. Even if you don't actively lift your legs do. Imagine every step as a short rep of your body weight. A football field would be 50 reps per leg of what ever you weigh. Now imagine completely stopping that.

What did atrophy feel like? Guys, grab your favorite lady friend. Ladies you already have two simulation atrophy legs. Yes, I'm serious. That's what it felt like. Subcutaneous fat on the stomach doesn't have the right 'texture'. Grab your thy and 'jiggle it' with your quads loosened. With atrophy you can try as hard as you want to tighten those quads, but it still jiggles a little bit.

Get Flexion Back.
Stop Strength Loss.

Day 38. Double Dutch

2008-03-03T23:24:00.003-06:00

Years ago in freshmen wrestling we had to do 500 jumps before we could even begin to warm up.

The first week was painful. Flip rope over. Step over Rope. Flip rope over. Step over Rope. Flip rope over. Repeat to 500.

I steadily improved until 500 was either a 1 or 2 series set of jumps.
-
I recently found my jump rope after unpacking in my new house. I used it for my CryoCuff lift, but it was too elastic.

I recently started taking it back to the gym. I've been doing a few hundred a day in the 'activity room' of the gym (before attempting my yoga headstands.)

I've been warming up with typical jumping, but I've been doing at least 50 a day, consecutively, on only my right leg. It feels just as strong and as tight as my left.

A metric that I didn't think of recording was atrophy using a cloth ruler. (And here's to hoping I don't ever get the chance to find out). At 2-3 weeks under full quad tightening I could still pinch off a bit more off of my right leg than my left. Tonight before yoga I did a full quad tightening (by tightening everything I could and then lifting my heel 1/4" off the ground) and I honestly couldn't tell a difference between my left and my right. Meaning all 'atrophied' material must have been reabsorbed into my body or turned back into muscle. I'll have to dig it out later and measure the difference in size to see if it's just tone or if it actually regained everything I lost. Given how well I'm doing on leg press I'm hoping it's the latter.

40 minutes on the bike today.

Day 35: 5 full weeks.

2008-02-29T22:25:00.004-06:00

Today was another leg day at the gym. Only 20 minutes on the bike, mainly because I was tired. Which is probably my own fault I came home dead tired from the gym last night and passed out, missing dinner and consequently I only had 1130 Calories for the day. Every night this week I've done 40-45 minutes on the bike or elliptical.

My left leg is definitely stronger, but only because it feels more steady and sure of itself when I lift.

Each leg individually:
160x10.
180x10.
200x10.

Then a group effort:
380x10
400x10
420x10

Much more and I'm going to have to move over to the sled...

Day 33.

2008-02-27T21:21:00.003-06:00

Another day at the gym. This week I've been doing 40 minutes on bike or elliptical.

I've been doing legs every other day. I've been doing equal weights with each leg to keep them even, even so my right leg is only slightly behind my left leg. It's just a bit more difficult, but not by much.

140x10
160x10
180x10

Then I decided to do a group effort and see if I could be better than the sum of my parts.
340x10
360x10
380x10

Knee is just a bit stiff. Tonight at Yoga I had near full flexion. Kneeling on it wasn't too difficult nor were any positions.

Day 27. PT Redux

2008-02-21T23:09:00.003-06:00

I went in for my 4th and final PT session today. I've been going once a week just to sort of keep tabs on how I'm doing, but now that I've joined a gym it feels like a waste of time. Especially considering each PT visit is $250 ($50 after Insurance) and a the gym is $25 per month. The choice was easy.

I did find out that all leg presses are not created equal. The PT one must have different 'gearing' because I did: 100x10,100x15,115x15,130x15 and they felt much much more difficult than the 130 at the gym. I didn't do legs tonight but I'm going to guess that the 130 was closer to a 150 or 160 at the gym.

Then some leg curls, where I definitely am lacking a bit. I still can't do much and less than 50% of my left knee.

Then on the calf raise shuttle I maxed it out at 7 bands. And then finished up with 10 lb leg extension with the knee bent over something.

Official measurements for the day: 145 right vs 150 left. I also wasn't given any warmup just went into the flexion.

Some Lachman and other tests concluded what will be my last PT session.

I then had a follow up doctors visit at which point he just looked at it and said 'looks fine'. I'm sure that one was in the $300 range. 10 minutes too.

Day 25. Heavy Lifting.

2008-02-19T22:41:00.004-06:00

I hit the gym tonight and did my usual aerobic warm-up in front of the TV. Then did some stretches on my knee and found a Yoga mat and went down into child's pose. Rested for a few seconds came back up and went down a few more times.

Since I haven't taken a break from my upper body and it's been since Sunday that I worked on my leg, I decided to do legs today. The last time I did leg press was Sunday, but given that it was a day after rock climbing I think I over did it.

I moved from the incline rack with the loose weights to the other side of the gym to the one with the pin and all the weights already attached. I started out very easy:

Left: 60x10.
Right: 120x10.
Ok. That was too easy.

Left: 80x15
Right: 140x20
Ok. Still too easy. My knee has warmed up very well (I'm working out in sweat pants).

Left: 100x15
Right: 140x30
This can't be right less than a month out and this is too easy.

Left: 120x14.
rest.
Left: 140x20.

I got off of that machine and felt amazing. Grabbed my ankle and did a full flexion - heal of my shoe. Rest of the day I felt great (and still do). Between every set of things I did for the rest of the night I would either go down into Child's pose or just standing hamstring stretch. On the way home I think my left knee may have been aching a bit more due to the weather.

As soon as I got home and showered I got ice on it to keep any swelling down. Unlike last night where I just made contact, tonight I actually got my heel indented my butt. Not quite as far as my left leg, but it's definitely close.

Day 24. Down in a Yoga like position.

2008-02-17T23:59:00.002-06:00

2/15:
40 minutes of bike riding while watching Law & Order. No leg workout but I did stretch during my upper body lift. Got my heel to touch my ass for the first time in 3 weeks. 3 weeks to the day much better than the last 2. (To be fair, I wasn't trying the 2nd time)

2/17: 40 minutes of running forwards and backwards in the water with rugby. Then to the gym for 20 minutes of the bike and then leg press and curls and regular upper body. Pushed my knee to a bout the limit. It's stiff and there's a bit of pain below the incision when moving.

2/18: Yoga tonight. Was able to do child pose and pigeon on both knees.
http://www.sissel-online.com/exercise/yoga_pigeon.php

http://www.abc-of-yoga.com/yogapractice/childpose.asp

Bit of numbness when kneeling. Not too much pain. Slight amount of pain when biking, but on the knee isn't caching. I gets close but it just passes.

Day 22. Upper Limit

2008-02-16T15:00:00.004-06:00

What better way to promote a quick recovery than rock climbing. I had been invited by some co-workers to go rock climbing and thought I'd give it a shot.

We went to the Upper Limits climbing "gym" in Bloomington, IL. After abysmally failing the belay test (it's been at least 10 years since I last belayed) we go to climb. My knee was feeling pretty good. The only thing I couldn't do is some weird bending of the knee. Other than that it was no different than climbing stairs.

The only time I had climbed in the past was in boy scouts and a few of those portable towers. All were designed to be climbed by anyone. This place was not. I made 2 full silo ascents on 5.7 and 5.8s. I climbed an auto belay 5-6 more times. I attempted to go as high as I could on the 5.9 route but gave up (or fell). I much enjoyed the bouldering 'cave' better. Lots of grips everywhere but it still tested your upper and lower body strength and if you fell it was no more than 4'.

My knee was a bit stiff afterwards but nothing more than usual. Felt great to get out and get a workout.

Day 20. Gym!

2008-02-14T23:59:00.001-06:00

Joined a gym on 2/10.
Day 1 leg press and leg curls. No weight on the leg press, but it was the inline type.

Tuesday PT: same as week 2 but bike for 5:00. No more leg workouts at gym until Thursday. (Every other day). Knee continually makes improvements. Still some minor flexibility on flexion almost to equivalent to left leg.

Wednesday went to Yoga. Could not do exercises requiring sitting on the ankles. Everything else the knee held up.

Thursday: leg press, worked up to a 25lb weight (in addition to the weight of the shuttle). Leg curls. Everything feels good, no pain, just no muscle. There is a sitting leg press that I will switch to next time I'm there. I won't have to rack my own weights and it's oriented such that I can do some low weights on it and it goes up to 495 lbs.

M, T, Th: 20 minutes of bike riding. W, 20 minutes of elliptical.

Day 11. PT #2.

2008-02-05T23:59:00.001-06:00

Today was my second round of physical therapy. The PTist said that I was doing excellent. 130 degrees without any assistance or towel to pull me along. We started on the weight lifting today. Here's what I did:
3 sets of 20 leg extensions (with my knee oven a 'thing') with 7.5lb weight
3 sets of 20 leg lifts with a 2 lb weight
2 sets of 20 leg curls with ~40 lbs
3 sets of 20 on the 'shuttle' leg press on a medium difficulty.
3 sets of 20 calf raises

I've been given strict instructions not to do leg extensions and to do squats instead (Wall squats). I've also been cleared for elliptical and bike.

Afterwards everything felt great and I was walking probably the best since I walked into surgery. As soon as I went back to my desk and sat down everything stiffened up again.

Speaking of which, yesterday was my first day back at work. I'm at a desk 90% of the time, but getting up and walking I could tell my walk was getting progressively worse. If I went down to a test cell I had to sit down otherwise the swelling / throbbing was just too much. I think 10-15 minutes is my limit for being on my feet. Having my leg below my heart is enough.