Beginner advise please

whatawaster

Hey,

On my physio’s instructions I’ve joined a gym as part of my knee rehabilitation. I’m 23 and have suffered from long term knee instability and injuries.

Physio has given me a letter to give to instructor at the gym saying to show me how to use two machines (leg press and ab-duction I think they’re called) and those two machines only.

I’m not allowed to do any running for another few weeks but he told me to use a Bike and a Cross-Trainer. My question is really how long should I spend on each?

I’ll have about an hour and a half or so to spend in the gym 3 to 4 times a week.
I have to do 3X15 reps on the two machines.
Should I spend the rest of my time equally between Bike and Cross-Trainer?
My number one goal is obviously to fix my knee; my quads are quite atrophied still even after several weeks of physio, so I need to make them stronger. Which exercise would be better for this?

Thank you!

TommyKnocker

Hi There

As you are under medical supervision, then this is really a question for your physio to answer.

Forum members are forbidden from giving out what would be considered "Medical Advice" on teh forum.

You really should phone your physio and check with him,


Best Regards & Good Luck with the Rehab,

M

jimmyskank

Hi there, whilst this is not medical advice, I think i could give you a few pointers to help strenghten your knee.

I myself have had numerous operations on my knee (acl reconstruction) so I know all about the long and painfull road to get back to a reasonable level of fitness.

First up I would say not to spend any longer than 50 minutes in the gym for the first few months anyway, you dont want to out your knee under too much stress.

The 2 machines I would recommend using are the leg extension and leg curl. Both will help with the strenght and flexibility of the knee and you should only start off on very light weights then build up the strenght gradually.

It is important that all excercises you attempt are non-impact, so I would recommend swimming (or even just kicking leg movements in the pool if you cant swim) along with 15 mins cycling machine and 15 mins cross trainer.

3-4 days a week and you should be really start feeling improvements within a few weeks!

Hope the rehab goes well for you.

Yapamillias

Good to hear that your on the road to recovery. Obviously as the last poster said we cant give out medical advise. Your Physio wants you to increase your knee stability. The first road to this is in mobility and by the sounds of it youve had a few sessions where he would have worked on mobility and now hes got you on to stability which is the second step right before strengthening the knee joint.

Just as the last post said swimming is great as it is low resistance. The aim is to start very very slowly and build up stability. If your gym has any resistance bands then these can be used as a great way of helping knee recovery and they can also be used at home. (they are well cheap).

Also I would consuly your physio about the crosss trainer as many models do not mimic the natural running biomechanics seen in free style running and place extra strain on the knee joint.

Good luck in your recovery mate

whatawaster

Thanks everyone.

Might try a bit of swimming as well actually.

Burkatron

OP, stick to what your physio has advised for the moment. He has his reasons for giving you the excercises he has.

FYI ( just incase)If you do consider swimming do not attempt to do breaststroke. Also you ideally need a spot on & very relaxed leg kick in Free style or back stroke as to minimise movement in your knee for rehab purposes!

whatawaster

Burkatron wrote: »

OP, stick to what your physio has advised for the moment. He has his reasons for giving you the excercises he has.

FYI ( just incase)If you do consider swimming do not attempt to do breaststroke. Also you ideally need a spot on & very relaxed leg kick in Free style or back stroke as to minimise movement in your knee for rehab purposes!

Yeah he said swimming is fine, but not to do breaststroke.

Inspector Coptoor

i second the point about not doing breastsroke

a good exercise for kneew stability as well is simply to balance on on one foot.
go for time. 20 seconds, 30 seconds and build it up
try to get it up to 3 minutes

when you can do this, try to get it up to three minutes with your eyes closed.

you could then progress on to a wobble board but this will take time