Exercising with a bum knee

[dekoba]

Hey folks.

Short introduction. I started college when I was 21, two years ago. Upon entering Uni, I weighed in at about 420 lb. (I am not educated enough to know kg,) As of this morning, I weighed in at 324 lb. and I am pretty happy with the progress I have made, although admittedly it has taken longer than I would have liked. However, my goal for the moment is 280 by valentines day, and since I was 340 when classes started up again Sept. 1, I feel like I will be close if I keep up with the lifestyle that accompanies life at school.

HOWEVER, Oct 8, tragedy struck. Whilst in a friendly game of flag (american) football, I destroyed my right knee, tearing my ACL, MCL, and Meniscus, as well as damaging my PCL. I am just now able to walk comfortably unassisted, but little else. Unfortunately, I do not have access to a pool (on a regular basis. There is a gym about 5 miles away, but I have no car or bike.) Due to the nature of the injury, my exercise program is severely limited: I now lift weights once a week (down from 2,) walk rather than run (twice a week,) and no longer participate on my football team or martial arts club.

To further complicate the matter, I will be having knee surgery in mid Nov. which will put me in a wheelchair for ~7 days then on crutches for 2-4 weeks, after which I will slowly regain athletic abilities for ~1 year, back to (hopefully) full recovery. This is the timeline my doctor has given me, and it scares the crap out of me.

Does anyone have any advice for ways to exercise and keep up a fitness program in spite of these obstacles? I have hit speed bumps before, but I am fearful that this might be more of a chainsaw-to-the-engine-block.

[Nath]

Ouch, that's rough.

First of all, congratulations on the progress so far. 96lbs in two years is no small feat.

Unfortunately, I do not have access to a pool (on a regular basis. There is a gym about 5 miles away, but I have no car or bike.) Due to the nature of the injury, my exercise program is severely limited: I now lift weights once a week (down from 2,) walk rather than run (twice a week,) and no longer participate on my football team or martial arts club.

What's the limiting factor in the weight lifting? Does it hurt if you work out more than once a week? If it's now your main form of exercise, why not increase it to 2 or 3 times a week?

Also, don't forget to adjust your eating habits to match your lower level of activity. Some people gain weight when they get these kinds of injuries, because they forget to do this.

[dekoba]

What's the limiting factor in the weight lifting? Does it hurt if you work out more than once a week? If it's now your main form of exercise, why not increase it to 2 or 3 times a week?

The group that I was going with do a variety of lifts each session (I go mondays now, they go thursdays as well,) and I cant do many of the ones they do on the day I dropped, deadlifts, squats, etc. I still go for the bench and machine exercises, but I don't want to put too much pressure on my knee so I am being cautious. Plus, truth be told, I don't like lifting as much as other exercises. As I said, I was involved in the Martials Arts club (a lot of wrestling, or TKD-style sparing) and that was always much more fun to me.

Ultimately, I want to keep exercising, but I never really planned a workout routine: I did martial arts because it was fun, same with playing football. I started lifting because my friends did. I never even planned to lose weight, it just happened. I am happier with a more active lifestyle, and I have been putting diet restrictions in place for now which seem effective (for example, I only eat meat at one meal per day,) but I don't think this will have the effect of continued weight loss that I am looking for.

[Nath]

I can understand not doing heavy leg exercises on an injured knee, but given that many of your usual exercise options are closed for the time being, it probably makes sense to add another lifting day or two. It can even be a repeat of the Monday workout if need be. It's hard to make progress from one workout a week anyway. Also, how do you feel about light leg work? Even just bodyweight, maybe? Have your doctors recommended against it?

The martial arts stuff can be tricky, at least for the next few weeks, but it might still be worth showing up from time to time, sitting on the sidelines, and participating in drills that are unlikely to put too much stress on your knee. If you're more experienced, you can come in and coach. It keeps the enthusiasm and sense of community going, and even if you take it easy, at least you aren't just sitting around. (I do martial arts stuff as well, and it's pretty common for injured people to come in for a light half-practice -- or just to sit and watch, if that's all they can manage.)

As for diet: I understand the logic behind reducing meat, but protein helps healing (I'm pretty sure; you can probably look it up if you want confirmation). You might even need more protein now than you did when you were active. If you're getting plenty of protein from other sources, I suppose that's OK. Ideally, you'd want to limit your total calorie intake, but get a good fraction of your calories from protein.

[dekoba]

status update:

The holidays were unkind to me, and my knee surgery was pushed back from Nov to Dec 2, so only in the last week have I regained my ability to walk.

As of my surgery I weighed in at 307, Last friday I was at 314. I for some reason (it seemed like a good idea at the time, i dunno what I was thinking) fasted for 3 days this week, and I have been working hard on controling my diet since the walking and lifting were out (although I may start lifting again soon.) I have been running up and down stairs the last couple of days, which sounds silly, but as its been almost two months since i broke a sweat, felt really good all the same.

I dont think 280 in the next two weeks is terribly realistic, but a guy can dream.

again, anyone with any advice on how to make this go better/faster is welcome.

[Peter Galbavy]

Have you tried cycling ? Is the pedalling motion good or bad for your specific injuries ? I am a keen cyclist and have weighed about 135kg (300lbs ish) for a number of years. I "destroy" bikes that are typically built for those half my weight, but by careful selection of models and my local friendly bike shop building me customer rims etc. I am fine for road cycling.

After a some serious injuries in Sept 2008 - dislocated left ankle and right shoulder - through an idiot in a van, I have since then recovered most of my fitness level and almost got the full strength back in my joints. According to the medical folks, my shoulder will fully recover but always be at risk while my ankle will alway s continue to irritate and likely develop some form of arthritis earlier than the rest of me. The joy.

On the downside, I can't seem to lose weight but on the positive my cardio-vascular health is very good. Meh.