Knee Rehabilitation Workouts/Exercises

[CUSHKOMA]

Just over 3 weeks ago I tweeked my knee while shredding up in Park City. I was a little freaked out at first considering I've never had a knee injury before but once I realized that I could still bend/extended it and put some pressure on it after icing it for a bit I knew that I was going to be okay. I've since come around and the knee is feeling better everyday; I'm hoping to get out and do some cruisers next week after being off snow for almost a month. At the sametime however, I still want to try and strengthen my knee up as much as I can for the remainder of the season so that I am able to ski at my highest level. That being said, does anyone know any good rehab workouts/exercises that I can do for my knee?

To be more specific, workouts for the Meniscus/LCL regions?

 

[Peter.]

having strong muscles around the knee is really all you can do. quads, hamstrings, calves. look up workouts that work those muscles

 

[Tsands]

Lunges, squats, one legged squats and wall sits are a few simple exercises you can do at home. If you are really serious about building your knee / leg strength then go to the gym and you will have a lot more excercises to choose from.

I hope you recover well man, I found out 4 months after I 'tweaked' my knee that I had done my Acl, but I'm sure you will be all good !

 

[.lencon]

I'd go to a physical therapist instead of newschoolers

 

[ISellMeth]

Knee injures are nothing to play around with man, you should definitely see a doctor. I had the same symptoms really as you and I partially tore my patella tendon and if I would have went about skiing normally I could have fully torn the tendon. It's something that can not just save your current season, but future seasons.

 

[CUSHKOMA]

Knee injures are nothing to play around with man, you should definitely see a doctor. I had the same symptoms really as you and I partially tore my patella tendon and if I would have went about skiing normally I could have fully torn the tendon. It's something that can not just save your current season, but future seasons.

Thanks for the lookout man. I ended up going to the Orthopedic office yesterday and unfortunately its looking like I tore my ACL. It was the last thing I expected to hear as my knee has been feeling better but I don't know shit about knee injuries so I guess it is what it is.

 

[SSchepkowski]

like @ISellMeth said, not something worth playing with, I went through my first knee surgery in 2013, did my physio and all looked good, got the custom brace and did almost everything right. Gotta remember that after its healed and ready to ski its still not the same as before, you cant go back the same strong you were as before, you'll have to come back much stronger for the compensation. My knee was happy all season in its brace but my other leg still had to make up for the other in a lot of situations, and right near the end of the season I took my other one out. Now this past summer I was in the gym 5 days a week and gained about 20 pounds, I was skiing way better and with way less worry this year although I've had 2 knee surgeries now. unfortunately for me 6 weeks ago I didn't see a cliff coming and I hit it directly onto an icy mean cat track. Spiral fracture on my left tib and sprained my right ankle real bad, but, with all the strengthening I did this year, neither of my week knees got injured, thank god. So do what the physio says, get a trainer if you need one, dont slack, and stretch lots!

 

[LucasTrent]

Hey man being considerably knowledgeable on this topic my best recommendation is to see a physical therapist. With that being said I do know some good exercises for injured knees. Try doing wall sits with the angle between your lower and upper leg being slightly greater than 90 degrees. Have your shoulders flat against the wall with your arms fully extended. This will feel awkward and hard to breath(which means your doing it right). If you feel the muscles burning slightly above your patella on the left and right your golden. These are the primary muscles you want to rehabilitate after a knee injury. Also if you go to the gym don't do leg curls or hamstring curls, there bad for your knees as an athlete.

Hope this helps!

 

[marsland]

Also if you go to the gym don't do leg curls or hamstring curls, there bad for your knees as an athlete.

Hope this helps!

Why is this? I found out the hard way that leg extensions are not good after a torn ACL but I was told to do hamstring curls by my PT.

 

[rach]

having strong muscles around the knee is really all you can do. quads, hamstrings, calves. look up workouts that work those muscles

Definitely go see a PT. They will likely want to give you an MRI and schedule routine appointments but be upfront with them. I told my PT that I wanted as few appointments as possible, and that if I could be doing beneficial exercises independently I would much prefer it to save money. But, that is also really dependent on the nature of your knee injury. If you can, find a PT who is a good skier. It makes a huuuge difference in my opinion.

I have hyperextended my knee several times and have dealt with some gross bone bruises as well as mild runner's knee. Luckily nothing worse than that. For me, flexibility and strength in my quads, glutes and IT bands has been crucial.

 

[BenWhit]

Why is this? I found out the hard way that leg extensions are not good after a torn ACL but I was told to do hamstring curls by my PT.

any exercise performed on a machine is not "good" for you. Machines are not built to our specific anatomies, so it forces you into a position that isn't exactly natural to you body. Not so much fitting a round peg in a square hole, but the fit just isn't perfect. If you have any sort of significant muscular or skeletal imbalance, you could be placing too much stress or shear forces on your joints/muscles. Position is more important than load. barbell squats and box squats are far more valuable than leg extensions. the same goes for deadlifts/RDLs for hamstrings. There are even ways of performing a hamstring "curl" without hopping on a nautilus machine.