As I complete 8 weeks of post op rehab I'm left to ponder some decisions around strength and mobility. There's an old adage... "A muscle stretched to its greatest extent will rebound with the greatest amount of force", hence, the greater the Range Of Motion in a joint the more power one can produce.
Week 8 was a week of set-backs ending in triumph(sort of). My mobility work suffered at the expense of doing more strength based rehab. The outcome... way too much pain which impeded my capacity to work on ROM. On testing flexion on Tuesday I'd gone nowhere, still stuck at a painful 120 degrees. The only good news to come out of that session was that forced ROM was at 30 degrees which makes me feel excited about getting a good range back. However, my stupidity was on full display on Wednesday when Coaching. Our WOD was a Partner Workout, High hang Power Clean ladder, not heavy, 35kg for boys, 25kg for gals 10-1-10. As most of the groups hit the top of the ladder one of the participants told me he couldn't continue due to his tennis elbow blowing up again. So instead of grabbing a 8kg training bar and stepping I jumped right in on the 35kg bar. The weight felt light but what I didn't account for was the remaining 45 reps of load thumping directly into my knees every time I dropped into jerk position...IDIOT! That left me with swollen knees for 2 days and walking like I'd just left hospital...BLOODY IDIOT! I've rolled and rolled for the past 2 days to get back to normal. I resumed mobility work this morning and managed to pick up lost ground.
So the moral of the story....it's 8 weeks you clown, work range not strength for now!
The one smart thing I did was to scale 20.3 and do 1 rep!
As I look to 20.4 the issue will be whether or not I have enough strength to safely negotiate through Box Step Ups. Mobility is fine I have the range but will the quads tolerate the downward pressure is questionable.
I've been rolling quite a bit and it helps significantly. There is virtually no pain in the knees themselves except when I do dumb shit. The vast majority of my pain comes from the quads, specifically where they cut just above the knee. It's constantly sore and tight. I look forward to the day this is long gone. Having said that, as my surgeon said as long as you keep pushing it your going to be swollen and sore but long term it'll be worth it. I'm also back in the pool swimming laps which feels great.
Things that still SUCK... Stairs up and down, sleeping, feeling like I want to break into run but knowing I can't, having to constantly ice down, still so limited in many movement patterns.
On Monday I'll be seeing Luke Kane Exercise Physiologist and owner of MTP Health(Move Train Perform). He'll be guiding me through the remainder of my rehab. Luke's a great physician, he's been to the CrossFit Games so he understands CrossFit as well as anyone.
So the following week will be mostly mobility work and a little strength.
Have a great week everyone!!!
BRENT
