Dislocated knee rehab II.

[Kraspor]

Forgot to mentio that only the jumps for press and bench are every other workout. On the other lifts i increase every workout.

[Kraspor]

Hi there,

I already answered a few days ago, but i guess it got eaten up. I had a few issues with the forum the last few days. So if this is a double post please just disregard this. I condense the "new" version of the answer as well.

Yes, you suffered a serious knee injury and it is going to hurt for a long time. It is possible your knee will always feel a little different and you may need to be careful with it from time to time. If shit starts hurting badly, you already know what you need to do. You should not be surprised at all when your knee hurts. It is going to hurt. It is up to you to figure out why, how bad it is, and how to train around it. Remember, I am some asshole on the Internet in California. There is only so much I can do.

I understand that, the thing is that i was talking about the other knee, not the one i dislocated. But i get your point i think.

Possibly, although intermediate training is generally harder and can take more time. What are you lifting right now? What does your program look like? What kinds of jumps are you taking on your lifts?

Having a kid makes things difficult. Not only do you get no sleep, it is correlated with crashing testosterone levels in males. Neat. Remind me to have lots of children. Realize that you will probably need to scale back your expectations during this time until you are able to get more rest.

Depending upon what your program looks like now, I would bet we would have you squat less and make less frequent and less aggressive jumps. We'll see what you come back with.

My programm is as follows:
Workout A:
Squat
Press
Deadlift / Barbell Row underhand grip (Alternating)

Workout B:
Squat
Bench
Chin Ups

All exercises 3x5, except for Deadlifts (1x5) and Chins (3xmax). Workout A and B alternating, 3 times per week. First thing in the morning. Wanted to introduce a light Squat day this week, but due to serious back pain, the knee issues and a very busy work schedule i skipped the wednesday workout.

Stats are as follows:
- Squat 122.5 kg (3x5), 2.5kg jumps every workout
- Press 52.5 kg (4/5/4), having trouble with finding the right spot for the belt), uneven jumps of 1kg / 1.5kg every other workout
- Deadlifts 150kg (1x5), noticed some lower back rounding, want to deload next time and work back up, did 5kg jumps every workout so far
- Bench 82.5kg (4/3/2), uneven jumps of 1kg / 1.5kg every other workout
- Rows 72.5kg (3x5), 2.5kg jumps every workout
- Chins (5/4/3)

What do you think i should change?

Greetings
Kraspor

[Tom Campitelli]

I understand that, the thing is that i was talking about the other knee, not the one i dislocated. But i get your point i think.

I misunderstood. Sometimes your knees will hurt and then they won't. If it hurts for a day or two and goes away and doesn't come back, it is not a problem. Get used to this. Bodies are weird.

What do you think i should change?

You are limited both by time and recovery. If you squat three times a week, at least one of those days should be light. Perhaps, quite light. Maybe two sets of five at 80% of what you did on Monday. You can potentially drop your jumps on the other squat days to 1.25 kg. Perhaps you only squat twice a week if you really aren't sleeping. You can move to the advanced novice program where you do a top set of five and then two backoff sets at 95% of your top set. We are trying to limit your stress while still doing something to make you stronger. Drop your bench and press jumps to 1 kg. If you miss occasionally, don't worry too much. Just come back after it again next time. In the event of a miss, you can also go for another set, either at the same weight for fewer reps, or at 95% for a set of five. Or you can just call it good and move on to the next lift. Go up on deads by 2.5 kg.

My point here is that you have lots of options. I would keep you on something that looks like Starting Strength because it is simple and time efficient. I would just deload you a bit. We would decrease the frequency of heavy squatting and make your jumps smaller. Start first with a light day. If you burn out on that, then move to something besides sets across (the 95% backoffs). Then move to squatting twice a week. The idea is to keep you in the game. Fast gains are probably not in the cards until you start getting some rest.

[Kraspor]

This.

I'm not a doctor or a coach, but I've had the same injury. Actually, I did it 4 times before having it surgically repaired and once more after that. I haven't seen any images of your knee, but you'll probably be aware of some occasional pain or 'twinginess' in the knee from now on. The way it was explained to me is that the underside of your kneecap is incredibly smooth. Once you forcibly pull the patella out of its track, that smooth surface gets roughed up and it stays that way (I've seen this part in images of my own knee).

The good news is that, speaking from my own experience, you can still train and participate in athletics (or life activities in general) after the knee heals up. As my handle indicates, I play a contact sport and haven't re-injured the knee for quite some time. I use a cloth brace when playing and I wear wraps when I train the squat. YMMV especially since the first time I had this injury I was 14 years old and young people heal like gangbusters.

Best of luck moving forward Christian.

Thanks a lot, that sounds very promising.
4 Dislocations? I don't even want to imagine that pain coming back. One was more than enough.
So you think it may be a good idea to invest in some rebands or wraps?

I misunderstood. Sometimes your knees will hurt and then they won't. If it hurts for a day or two and goes away and doesn't come back, it is not a problem. Get used to this. Bodies are weird.

Yeah i think you're right. Bodies are indeed weird. I have pains and aches all over the place at the moment. Even when pausing training.

You are limited both by time and recovery. If you squat three times a week, at least one of those days should be light. Perhaps, quite light. Maybe two sets of five at 80% of what you did on Monday. You can potentially drop your jumps on the other squat days to 1.25 kg. Perhaps you only squat twice a week if you really aren't sleeping. You can move to the advanced novice program where you do a top set of five and then two backoff sets at 95% of your top set. We are trying to limit your stress while still doing something to make you stronger. Drop your bench and press jumps to 1 kg. If you miss occasionally, don't worry too much. Just come back after it again next time. In the event of a miss, you can also go for another set, either at the same weight for fewer reps, or at 95% for a set of five. Or you can just call it good and move on to the next lift. Go up on deads by 2.5 kg.

My point here is that you have lots of options. I would keep you on something that looks like Starting Strength because it is simple and time efficient. I would just deload you a bit. We would decrease the frequency of heavy squatting and make your jumps smaller. Start first with a light day. If you burn out on that, then move to something besides sets across (the 95% backoffs). Then move to squatting twice a week. The idea is to keep you in the game. Fast gains are probably not in the cards until you start getting some rest.

Thanks a lot. I will try that. Sounds good to me.
Two more questions though:
- You said "i would just deload you a bit". Do you want me to deload the weights or do you mean the adjustments you made as a whole? (again: non native speaker here, sorry)
- I cant do jumps of 1.25kg or 1kg every workout. The lightest plates in the gym are 1.25kg (which means 2.5kg jumps). However i bought two pairs of 0.5kg plates myself to carry them with me. I can do 2 consecutive jumps of 1kg and then a 0.5kg jump on the next day. I unfortunately still didn't get an answer from Dan Miller yet (he sells awesome microplates here at this forum). So that would be the best i can do at the moment. Do you think this can work?

Thanks again
Greetings

[Tom Campitelli]

When I said "deload you a bit," I mean "decrease the amount of stress per week." Keep the weights where they are. Sorry for the lack of clarity. As far as making smaller jumps on the weights, just do the best you can.

[Kraspor]

When I said "deload you a bit," I mean "decrease the amount of stress per week." Keep the weights where they are. Sorry for the lack of clarity. As far as making smaller jumps on the weights, just do the best you can.

Thanks Coach.

What do you think, when should i notice improvements in recovery? How much time should i give it before moving on to the next option if neccessary?

[Tom Campitelli]

What do you think, when should i notice improvements in recovery?

Probably by the time your child is 18 years old.

How much time should i give it before moving on to the next option if neccessary?

Tough to say for sure. If you find yourself failing a lot and you are feeling beaten down, then it is probably time to try the next option.

[Kraspor]

Probably by the time your child is 18 years old.

That really made me laugh, thank you for that. Stupid question. Thank you for your patience.

Tough to say for sure. If you find yourself failing a lot and you are feeling beaten down, then it is probably time to try the next option.

Failing a lot is normal for me on Press and Bench. Hope that gets better now. Today was a pretty good workout though. Felt strong and only missed the very last rep on Press. It was actually a rep PR.

[BostonRugger]

4 Dislocations? I don't even want to imagine that pain coming back. One was more than enough.
So you think it may be a good idea to invest in some rebands or wraps?

The first time was by far the worst. That goes for the pain as well as the psychological factor or "heebie jeebies" involved with seeing a part of my body in a place where it isn't supposed to be.

As for the wraps and sleeves, I don't really feel qualified to give you advice and can only speak from experience. In Rip's knee wrap video he talks about using light wraps for old man knees. Well I'm 26, but that knee feels pretty old some days. The compression provided by the wraps helps me squat without pain. I've never personally tried sleeves. My understanding is that they provide more warmth than compression. I started with wraps because they were cheaper and they solved the pain issue for me so I haven't tried out the other option.

[Kraspor]

As for the wraps and sleeves, I don't really feel qualified to give you advice and can only speak from experience. In Rip's knee wrap video he talks about using light wraps for old man knees. Well I'm 26, but that knee feels pretty old some days. The compression provided by the wraps helps me squat without pain. I've never personally tried sleeves. My understanding is that they provide more warmth than compression. I started with wraps because they were cheaper and they solved the pain issue for me so I haven't tried out the other option.

Sounds reasonable to me. I have a pair of wraps that i used when the dislocation was fresh. They helped pretty good i must say. At least with confidence.
Do you have to wrap your knee for squating every time? It seems like i can geht away without wraps most of the time.
Or do you wrap anyway just to be safe?