Squats after Knee surgery?

itzgambino

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Now I Know most people will imediately say squats performed correctly help strengthen knees as opposed to further killing them. Although, ever after my knee surgery (torn meniscus) in the summer of '07, I have tried doing squats but I always feel discomfort in my left knee. A couple of months ago I was talking to a former football player turned trainer about it, who has had multiple knee surgeries and he suggested I just stop squatting and turn to alternatives such as lunges and step ups.

I have sinced changed my routine to include step-ups, heavy walking lunges, and one-legged presses in attempt to stimulate leg development. Although my knees feel better then they have in a long time, I feel like my legs are not growing. Is there anything else I can do, or is there some form of squat I can turn to which will not bother my knee? I tried doing hack squats today and unfortunately I still feel discomfort in my knee, not as bad as regular back squats but still present. Any ideas?
 

KC012

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After having 4 knee surgeries before the age of 21, i can tell you that there will always be discomfort within your knee. The repair or removal of the meniscus changes the mechanical operation of your knee and your body sometimes just cannot adjust or get used to it. My legs will never feel the same and are always in discomfort but my body has adjusted to the new feeling of them. It's when the discomfort turns into pain that something needs to happen.

When i felt thing were too uncomfortable or painful or just weren't right, the best person to talk to was my surgeon. Physios and trainers will never know the finer details of your individual knee and therefore won't be able to give you the best advice for you. Your surgeon may even recommend another op as the first may have not been completely successful.

If you can't get back to your surgeon for whatever reason, i'd recommend single legged partial squats from 0-20/30 degrees, to focus on the VMO's as they are usually the first to go and last to comeback to full strength when dealing with injuries.

You could also do leg lowering by standing sideways on stairs, keeping your exercising leg on the higher step and lowering your non-exercising leg down to the step below, then pushing back up to full extension without using the lower leg. Try to do it slowly - about 5 secs per rep.

GL.
 

JDK5386

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Now I Know most people will imediately say squats performed correctly help strengthen knees as opposed to further killing them. Although, ever after my knee surgery (torn meniscus) in the summer of '07, I have tried doing squats but I always feel discomfort in my left knee. A couple of months ago I was talking to a former football player turned trainer about it, who has had multiple knee surgeries and he suggested I just stop squatting and turn to alternatives such as lunges and step ups.

I have sinced changed my routine to include step-ups, heavy walking lunges, and one-legged presses in attempt to stimulate leg development. Although my knees feel better then they have in a long time, I feel like my legs are not growing. Is there anything else I can do, or is there some form of squat I can turn to which will not bother my knee? I tried doing hack squats today and unfortunately I still feel discomfort in my knee, not as bad as regular back squats but still present. Any ideas?

What type of knee surgery? There's a mountain of difference in say, minor cartilage and an ACL replacement.
 

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