[Rouxinol]

How about swimming? I'm not an expert but this seems like the standard go-to for people who want cardio with low pressure on their joints and whatnot.

[mc-]

Originally Posted by runbikegrrl

As ball squats they did not seem to bother my knee that's why I did them ...but I hear what your saying.

Agreeing with Dev here - he is so good at this stuff, really -
so let's unpack that a bit - might help:

the thing about stability ball training is that well, ya you can do them, but what are they doing really? It's adding instability with load - for what reason? - esp when your nervous system is already taxed with a joint that's repairing.

When we test folks after doing this kind of "strength" work, their muscles ALWAYS fire weaker than before they did the movement. That is not the goal to decrease performance from a movement.

If you're squatting, keep both feet on the ground and be as stable as possible for now to focus on rehabbing, not just strength for the sake of.

if you want to practice in a way that lets you explore the movement, forget back squats and smiths etc. just grab a bar and see how the movement feels hanging onto something. See how good full range of motion is with heels staying on the ground.

personally, i'd consider looking into kettlebell swings with a slight variant to favour knee action. see if you can handle this dynamic movement - just the movement initially and then consider load.

It can be like riding a bike but more dynamic - more like running.

Another form of work is to get a band around your calve pulling forward. your knee is bent, heal on the ground. now extend into knee lock and repeat. do a hundred reps. Move the band to different angles, like pulling from the side so the focus is to keep straight while coming up. do this without any pain, any startle

THe knee is designed to rotate on the minisucs, to slide back and forth. Practicing movement of the joint is pretty important.

As far as soft peddling on a bike that is not for me...waste of time. I need to try and maintain anerobic conditioning to some extent and preserve muscle.

alas,
What is more important right now? healing your knee or maintaining anaerobic conditioning?

Right now
if i'm hearing dev right,

biking at a rate that lets your knee move a lot is in no way a waste of time: it's letting your knee practice a good range of motion and sending signals to your brain that that tissue supporting that movement is still needed, so it better support healing.

Cycling with a medium load on a stationary bike also lets your body be in a low risk safe state so that it's not worrying about managing any other tasks.

If however you want to work a little harder and still build reps, especially for a runner, pool jogging is also very good.

using the foot pointed down to add resistance on the up stroke can be varried in such a way to add more or less load and let you find angles that are more natural than being on a bike pedal.

and it lets you practice your running with controllable load to the knee. In fact most of the folks i coach x-country whether they have an injury or not, i encourage them to spend time pool jogging to keep mileage up and stress down.

The other way they work mileage with reduced trail pounding is kettelbell work. Swings and snatches work like olympic clean and jerk and snatches and deadlifts for the anaerobic component of a running program without having to go to the gym that has a lifting platform.

Another point:
rehab is work
work is not always exciting.
but making that task focused - so we pay attention to EACH rep for quality, no startle, range of motion, load, form
is also mentally demanding, and that demand helps repattern the healing.

I guess at this point since I do not know half the exercises people are recommending I guess I will need to hire a trainer who is experienced in rehab.

Thanks

Great thinking to get a coach. Awesome.

I'd be more inclined to work with a movement coach - someone who is trained in movement and knows about working with athletes.

if you let me know (pm me) where you're located if i know someone there i'll be happy to recommend someone for you.

m.c.

[Craig Smith]

Squats get a bad rap. Best exercise you can do if you do them right. Check out startingstrength.com. I have had ACl reconstruction on my left knee and tore everything in my right knee and had surgery on that as well. Get a pair of swimming fins and a kick board. Using the fins in the pool was the best thing for my knees along with squatting.

Running is much worse than squatting. I run with the new minmialist running shoes. They Seem eaiser on my knees than traditional shoes. I hope this helps.