I have reached month 7 of my ACL rehab!!!!!
What does that mean????? 😃😃😃
Exactly what it did before!!! 😜 I’m just one month further into the whole process. Yippee!!
I do have good news and bad news to share, though. So, here is my brief and current update for you with regards to this “intriguing” journey known as my millionth ACL rehab. Or there-about. 😛😉
Let’s start with the bad news, first. 👿Alright, so, Monday, October 18th, 2021 was my 7-month post-surgery anniversary. 🥳 And my knee was feeling really good and I could tell that it has gotten a lot stronger! However, I could also tell that the power when I would try to jump or hop was still lacking on my surgeried side. It has continued to feel restricted and weak when I would try to spring from the ground.
So, I brought it to my physical therapist’s attention and he gave me a bunch of plyo things to do – – like all different types of skips, jumps, bounding, small leaps using an attached band for resistance, jumping onto a foam block, and so on. Needless to say, I was VERY warmed up from all of these drills and exercises!
Then things went South rather quickly. I was asked to perform Step-ups on a 4-tiered unit (so 4 levels high) and use 2 – 16KG kettlebells – – so 70.4 lbs – – while I did it. This was more weight than I had ever tried before….
Soooooo, ridiculous me, instead of doing an actual warm-up set with way lighter weights, to make sure my knee was ready, I grabbed the 70 lbs, and just went for it. And my knee did a jarring buckling as I rose to the top of the step unit, just on that first one!!!!! OUCH and UGH!! It was just a little too much for my quad, right off the bat. ☹️
I was so mad at myself because I know better than that. I know that I should have given myself an actual warm-up set!!!!!! I actually handled the weight really well, after this very scary tweak. So, had I properly prepared my leg for this work, I would have been totally fine. I say it again, I totally know better than that and I caused my own setback!!
NOTE TO YOU: Please learn from my mistakes!!! When you’re working out or training hard, always prep your muscles and joints for the work ahead, even if you “already feel warm.” Because it is certainly not the same thing!!! And it’s better to do an easier set, feel awesome, and then crush that super heavy weight….rather than going for the heavy weight, hurting yourself, and then having to deal with a tweak and take it easy from a setback….
Which is where I am now. Yuck. Boo. Hiss. 🐍
Okay, bad news: ✅
Moving on to the GOOD news, Part 1!! Which gets this guy —> 😈 because my stubbornness comes through on this one! (I can be very stubborn, it’s true! Hide your shock and please carry on! 😆)
So, on Monday, even after I tweaked my knee like a fool, I still finished the Step-ups with those 16KG kettlebells, along with the rest of my exercises. And my knee was noticeably sore but not painful, so I moved to the Curve treadmill, to finish my training for the day. And I decided to see if I could reach my target: One month ago, on September 18th, I challenged myself to a 3/4-mile jog/run on the Curve with zero breaks by my 7-month Anniversary. And Monday was the day!!!
And you know what???? I did it, even while wearing a mask!! YAAAAAY!!!! Was it the wisest decision that I could have made because my knee was tweaked??????? NOPE. Even though my knee didn’t bother me as I was running/jogging, (except for teensy twinges every so often 😬), my knee still didn’t actually NEED to go for 3/4’s of a mile on a self-propelled treadmill, clearly.
See???? Total stubbornness. 😐 I must say, though, I was still super excited that I could do it!!!!!! Goal = REACHED AND CONQUERED!!! 😁 Go little knee!!! It was a big deal for me.
Plus, on a brighter note, it proved to me that my little tweaky moment on the Step-up was not catastrophic for my knee!! Otherwise I would not have been able to run straight for those 8.5 minutes and complete my 3/4-mile challenge. A lovely silver lining to my stubborn ways! 🏃🏻♀️
And finally, Good News, Part 2: 😊
My progress is coming along, as I continue to balance my body and catch up my left side to match my right!! I am still behind and not where I need to be; however, I have a very wonderful photo to show you! This perfectly depicts my progress over the past 6 weeks:
Visual feedback, in the form of photos or video clips, can be so useful to self-critique and better our form….and also to see how we’ve improved over a certain period of time!
I was so pleased to see that I am no longer REALLY favoring my left knee on these Lateral Lunges and that both my right and left sides look quite symmetrical! It’s a great sign that I am trusting my left knee more and more as it continues to slowly build strength over time.
So cool, right?!?!?! It’s nice to know that good changes are happening as I continue to show up at PT and work as hard as I can. We shall see what fun changes I can create once I arrive at month 8!
Good New, Parts 1 & 2: ✅
Update concluded and now you are all up to speed on my wild-and- crazy shenanigans at PT. Will the fun never end?!?!?! I just don’t think it CAN!! 🤣 And if it loses fun, you know, (off the top of my head…) when possible TWEAKS come up that throw me off my game, I will keep this fabulous quote in mind:
Embrace change. Embrace challenges. Embrace the journey we’re on. And take this just-for-us ticket that we have and just enjoy the shenanigan-filled ride!! 😁🎢🚀🎡✈️🤗