Cleared to do leg weights at the gym!

Today has been a very good one after seeing both my surgeon and physio who are both extremely pleased with my progress. My physio even joked with me that he has too hold me back otherwise I could overdo it! First off I saw the surgeon first thing this morning before work. It was a brief meeting but a good one. He took a look at my knee and was happy with how it looked. He mentioned there was still a little bit of built up fluid around the knee but said that was normal at this stage (2 and a half months post op).  He then tested the ligament and said it felt strong. He said I could stop using the anti-inflammatory tablets and that my rehab could continue as per any normal rehab program at this stage. Finally he said to do lots of cycling, swimming and leg exercises.

Next off I saw my physio on my lunch break. He was really pleased at how the knee was looking and gave me the go ahead to start light leg weights at the gym! Woo hoo! I was very excited with this news! He wrote me a program to concentrate on over the next month or so before I see him next (he is off until Jan 18^th but is not concerned about not seeing me until then):

·         Hamstring curls - 3 sets of 15 (10-15 kgs)

·         Individual Leg press - 3 sets of 15 (20-30 kgs)

·         Exercise bike - 10-20 minutes

·         X Trainer (or Cross Trainer) - 10 minutes

·         Calf raises - 3 sets of 15

·         Swimming

·         Walking in pool (mentioned I can commence jogging only if the water is at least at chest level)

·         Other usual exercises – SLRs, one legged squats on exercise ball, sports cord 4 directions etc

I’m looking forward to getting into it tomorrow! He gave my knee a good 15 minute massage and mentioned that if it does flare up to take a day off the program especially if it doesn’t respond too well to using the X Trainer. He also said that I can stop wearing the tubigrip and that a knee brace with a hole for the kneecap would be a good option when training at the gym.

Knee Brace - similar to what I will be getting

In terms of the last 3 days I got back into my usual routine of going to the gym on my lunchbreak and doing bike riding on the exercise bike at home after work at night. I’ve been doing around 20 minutes on average on the bike per night along with my usual upper body program & leg exercises at the gym each day. All in all a very good news day J