Knee Surgery

[CindyS.]

Cathe,
I recently had knee surgery to repair a torn cartiledge and
ACL. I've passed the physical therapy test, but was told that
my leg strength was not in the correct ratio to my body weight.
SO... I've been lifting a little heavier. The problem is that
my legs really put on muscle and my calves are getting bigger
than I'd like them to be.
Can I correct this strength problem by lifting lighter with higher reps, or am I going to have to lift heavy and accept the results?
I'm only released to do non-impact cardio for now, so I'm doing the recumbent bike and eliptical machine. I'm supposed to wait until 6 months from the surgery date to attempt any step, aerobics, kickboxing, softball, etc. I'm dying to get back into your step tapes!
(BTW, I've been doing your tapes for 3 years now and my leg muscles were so great that the doctor couldn't decide if my knee was even injured because he couldn't get it to dislocate. He had to do an MRI to find the problem!)

 

[Cathe Friedrich]

Hi Cindy! Sorry to hear about your injury. Did you have a full ACL reconstruction or or partial tear repair? Was it your doctor that told you that you had an uneven leg/body weight ratio?

Being that you are still fresh out of rehab, I would really ask your doctor for specific exercises to "even out" your leg strength. I'm sorry that I can't give you specific advice but when it comes to injury rehab, I truly think that you need to be in close contact with your doctor's advice/approval etc. The fact that you are not cleared for weight bearing activities still tells me that there is a form of caution that needs to be addressed. Good Luck with everything!

 

[CindyS.]

Cathe,
My ACL was completely gone, it had obviously been injured years before and only now was I truly getting enough problems for surgery. They stripped my hamstring muscle and made a new ACL from that tissue. SOOO, my hamstring was VERY weak and is still
somewhat weak.
I was in Physical Therapy lifting weights within 4 days of my surgery. I have been lifting with their specifications 3 times a week. They wanted me to go as heavy as I could doing 3 sets of ten for each exercise.
It was the Physical Therapist that told me my leg strength still was not up to my body weight (in ratio).
SO, since I'm cleared to lift and do whatever I want (on a machine, no lunges - they don't want ANY threat of twisting yet), my concern is that my legs are bulking and I don't like that. I was basically wondering if I could do more reps at a slightly lighter weight and get strength as a result.

 

[Cathe Friedrich]

Hi Cindy! I, too, had an ACL reconstruction. I was instructed to lift hard and heavy with the surgery leg. I'm curious, do you have this stength imbalance in both of your legs or just the surgery leg? In any case, you still need to ask your doctor if backing off of heavy training would be detrimental to your full recovery.

If it makes you feel any better, I can tell you that while my leg got really full too, it slimmed right down after I was cleared to do weight bearing activities (such as running). So my advice is to FIRST ask your doctor and then do whatever you have to do to get that full recovery back(or at least 95% to 99% full recovery). You can always work on the "visual appeal" later but you will never get this one year rehab opportunity back again. Thats why they had you lifting 4 days post surgery. This is a very critical time and you must work your hardest to regain your full leg strength/range of motion potential.

Lots of luck and hang in there. It sounds like the hardest part is behind you (remember the breaking of scar tissue, YOWSA!)