Torn ACL

kalliejerome1

I tore my ACL, Lateral miniscus, and MCL back in February. I am trying to gain my quad strength back so I can get back to Basketball. Does anyone have any quad strenghening excercises that they do that doesn't put to much pressure on my knee? (Squats hurt to much) Also, I was curious what are your daily excercizes and an workouts? I need more home workouts! Thanks everyone in advance and feel free to add me!

Sam_I_Am77

kalliejerome1 wrote: »

I tore my ACL, Lateral miniscus, and MCL back in February. I am trying to gain my quad strength back so I can get back to Basketball. Does anyone have any quad strenghening excercises that they do that doesn't put to much pressure on my knee? (Squats hurt to much) Also, I was curious what are your daily excercizes and an workouts? I need more home workouts! Thanks everyone in advance and feel free to add me!

Did you go through Physical Therapy and are you cleared for exercise or are you just pushing to get back for bball? If you are cleared for training, see if you can find a gym that has a NASM PES certified trainer or an NSCA CSCS as they have more of a background for training athletes. You'll probably need to start slow with the Strength & Stability training before you get into anything too serious. I know you said "at home workouts" but you should consider taking this a step further until you're feeling better, squats shouldn't hurt.

Was your ACL injury contact or non-contact? If it's non-contact, you especially need to find somebody intelligent in training because odds are there was a deficiency in your movement somewhere that caused it. It could easily be one or more of poor quadriceps to hamstrings strength ratio, glute strength deficiency, poor hip and / or ankle mobility, etc. You have approximately a 25% chance of re-injuring it, so you really need to find some professional help and not what folks on MFP will recommend for training. Not trying to scare you or anything, I studied this topic a fair amount in school and it should be taken pretty seriously as to avoid a first and definitely a 2nd ACL injury in your case.

kalliejerome1

It happened while playing basketball and yes it was from contact. I am done with PT but my leg is not as strong as my other one yet. I know it'll take time to recover fully, but I just don't want it to get re-injured because it hurt really bad so I'm trying as many strength excerices (that are comfortable enough to do)! Lol and I was also told the reason my knee still hurts (when I do certain exercises) is because the scar tissue from surgery is pulling my knee cap a little lower than normal, so all I was told I could do be try and rub out the scar tissue. I was also told I needed to build up my quad before I could get fitted for a brace that I's also another reason why I want to build my quad muscle. And going to the gym is somewhat hard since I live in a town of 200 people out in the boonies. Lol

Sam_I_Am77

kalliejerome1 wrote: »

It happened while playing basketball and yes it was from contact. I am done with PT but my leg is not as strong as my other one yet. I know it'll take time to recover fully, but I just don't want it to get re-injured because it hurt really bad so I'm trying as many strength excerices (that are comfortable enough to do)! Lol and I was also told the reason my knee still hurts (when I do certain exercises) is because the scar tissue from surgery is pulling my knee cap a little lower than normal, so all I was told I could do be try and rub out the scar tissue. I was also told I needed to build up my quad before I could get fitted for a brace that I's also another reason why I want to build my quad muscle. And going to the gym is somewhat hard since I live in a town of 200 people out in the boonies. Lol

Okay, well that's really unfortunate how your injury occurred. Who said you needed to improve your quad strength? It's pretty uncommon for somebody, especially women, to need a quadriceps focus even for rehab unless the quadriceps were directly afflicted with an injury. The hamstrings and glutes are a more common deficiency, especially in women, and is a more common source of knee and ankle injuries. If a professional made that recommendation to you then great because he/she can obviously see you in person and evaluate your movement.

As for working at home...
1. Continue working on lower body mobility, stretch the hips, hammies, low back, quads, calves, tibialis
2. Work on your core musculature as the core muscles also manage much of how you move
3. Don't neglect hamstrings and glutes
4. Quads... this difficult if you can't do squatting or lunging type exercises. One thing you can try is Step-Ups. These won't require you to squat down as you start from a standing position with one knee flexed. Your hip will also be flexed so your glutes get some work too as your hips are also extended through the movement. If your house has stairs you can simple do them on the steps, start with one step and then two steps or if you can buy boxes, aerobic step, or something to increase the height and angle of your knee at flexion to increase intensity as you regain strength.
5. Plyometrics: At some point add some light plyometrics. You play basketball so you have to get use to absorbing the weight of landing after a jump and just to start jumping again. Be very conservative with plyo work at first and maybe don't do any for a couple weeks until you feel a little more comfortable. My wife tore her ACL so I understand how you may be a little apprehensive about certain things, but some things need to be worked on at some point for adequate recovery for a sport. A basic plyometric can be using the same stair or box and just hopping down into a soft landing and holding that landing for 5-seconds. As you build strength you can add something like a standing broad jump or a squat jump, but make sure to land softly and hold that landing for a few seconds so you body gets use to the force and adapts to stabilizing upon landing.

If you have questions feel free to keep posting or email me on MFP. As part of my degree and certification I studied a lot about training for ACL surgery patients upon being release by their PT.

SonyaCele

it took me a year rebuild my quad after my ACL injury , and even after a year it still wasn't full size. If your acl is really torn, you are crazy to play basketball, you're gonna sprain your knee the first lateral step you take.
I rebuilt my quad with squats and deads and other strength training stuff. Squats don't hurt when you do them right, they dont need an ACL. Leg Lifts are good, and just squeezing and releasing your quad all day long will help train your brain to connect back with that muscle. Good luck with it. I had to have my ACL replaced , i'm 7 months post op and still building it back from the atrophy after surgery. my PT says at 12 months i should be 95% back to full size. Its a loooooong slooooow process.

SonyaCele

<<<<Okay, well that's really unfortunate how your injury occurred. Who said you needed to improve your quad strength? It's pretty uncommon for somebody, especially women, to need a quadriceps focus even for rehab unless the quadriceps were directly afflicted with an injury. The hamstrings and glutes are a more common deficiency, especially in women, and is a more common source of knee and ankle injuries. If a professional made that recommendation to you then great because he/she can obviously see you in person and evaluate your movement.>>>>

wow this is completely wrong. The quad (women and men ) atrophies after a knee injury, and a huge part of rehab focuses on building it back up.

Sam_I_Am77

If a professional made that recommendation to you then great because he/she can obviously see you in person and evaluate your movement

Did you catch that sentence? I have known people personally with ACL surgery and have done many case studies, it's not always true. In your case and in the OP's case it was true, so build your quads. But if your quads are atrophied, likely your hamstrings will be atrophied and need to be strengthened as well.

GiddyupTim

Kalliejerome, have you tried biking? I did a TON of biking to strengthen my leg both before and, particularly, after my ACL surgery. I thought it was excellent. Lots of hills. There is no pounding with the bike. But the movement is good, it calls on your strength and it isolates each leg, so there is no cheating. Good luck. Did you have surgery? It is not clear from what you have written.

ashleycho21

Sorry to hear you tore your ACL. I tore my ACL in August and I am currently on the journey back to sports as well! 7 months post op ATM.

I found lunges (split and walking) to be helpful as well as the leg press (single and double). I would say don't just focus on the quads! Its the whole package: quads, hamstrings, glutes, stable hips. I personally need to work on my glutes and I recommend you build a program that encompasses all aspects of the leg.

Don't forget about balance!