Post Injury Workout Techniques

[PeeCAM]

Whattup people. I hope I'm creating this thread in the right place. I unintentionaly hijacked a thread before...so forgive me in advance if I'm not in the right spot. I'm new to this, but I got caught up reading a very compelling thread extolling the virtues of different chest excercises when I thought I could put a personal question out there.

Here's my situation:
Coming from an athletic background (college football, track) I've incurred several injuries in the past that might inhibit my ability to really bust ass in the gym today. I'm 37, and the body doesn't respond like it used to.

Nonetheless, I feel as strong as I ever have in my life simply by getting on a consistent program in the gym. Not ready to lift competitively (although it was a thought about 8 yrs ago...), but I like the idea of being strong and bringing my "sexy" back.

When I was 26 I tore my achilles tendon (L) playing semi pro ball. Got it surgically repaired, stayed in a cast for 6 months and then, like an idiot, tore my ACL (R) 6 months after coming out of the cast. Had that surgically repaired as well...and saw an end to any competititve team sport prospects.

I've always prided myself on my leg strength (Quarter squatted 638lbs as a college freshman). I hit the major muscle groups 1x/week. For legs I'm more comfortable doing a Hack Squat than the squat rack, because of the knee. When I go heavy, the knee joint definetely feels tender for a few days afterward. Ice usually does the trick.

My problem is that the size of my Right quad is good 2-3 inches smaller in circumference than my Left quad.

Simple question: How the hell do I get the balance back? Any good suggestions? I don't want to build the right in lieu of working the left. But the more important question is am I putting the knee joint at risk. Right now the tendon is held together with titanium screws.

I should mention that they snatched out a piece of my patella to use as the new ACL. I thought that was better than using a pig tendon or cadavor (EWWWWWWW!!!).

Seriously. All responses would be hugely appreciated.

 

[suncloud]

My problem is that the size of my Right quad is good 2-3 inches smaller in circumference than my Left quad.

Simple question: How the hell do I get the balance back? Any good suggestions? I don't want to build the right in lieu of working the left.

i'm afraid thats what you're going to have to do. do your normal leg workout, but do an extra set with just your right leg. i'll throw this warning out as well - don't drop the weights by 1/2 for one leg, drop it by 2/3. i say that because of the different stabilizer muscles involved, and you definitely don't want to get hurt again.

you also might want to (and probably do already) wear a knee wrap before doing anything involving your knees. glucosamine and omega-3's are rumored to help joint recovery.

welcome to the forums and good luck brotha.

having never torn my ACL i'm working on basic joint recovery theories. hope i didn't miss anything.

 

[hjunior58]

I went two years w/ a torn left acl until a meniscus tear forced me to have some dead guys acl surgically attached with those same screws. I did a full year of self rehab before getting back into real training and found that i was still very unstable and that my right quad was also much larger than my left. After trying multiple leg workouts i called a friend at a rehab clinic and he suggested a larger focus on hamstring exercises, stretching, and an agillity routine to supplement my lifting. It included cone drills, box jumping, sprints, and other agillity drills. It took a few months, but I finally saw a significant change in leg strength and my left quad finally caught up. Couldnt imagine having two tears but i know what your going thru. As long as you dont overtrain and you listen to your body you should be alright (if your orthapedic did his job properly). Good luck man