Injury Makes Exercising So Difficult!

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AshHerch
AshHerch Posts: 8 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
For about 7 months, I have been dealing with a pretty serious knee injury.. obtained from cheerleading. I completely tore my ACL and have a large meniscus tear as well. As you probably know, this limits my exercise A TON. Pretty much any cardio kills my knee, or my knee is just not strong enough to handle it. I was wondering if anyone could recommend types of exercise they believe I may be able to do? I am doing yoga, but most poses I need to modify.
This topic is a hard one for me to talk about, considering before the injury I worked out 3 times a week and was in competitive cheerleading.. I feel so useless now! Any input is greatly appreciated.

Replies

  • mjbrenner
    mjbrenner Posts: 222 Member
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    Have you tried swimming? Swimming can burn tons of calories, and it is a great way of building endurance and improving joint health without any impact.
  • hbkanumalla
    hbkanumalla Posts: 61 Member
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    I second the swimming. Also, I did a little search and found some exercises that can be done with an ACL injury.

    Hope this helps!

    http://www.livestrong.com/acl-exercises/
  • elainecroft
    elainecroft Posts: 595 Member
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    Upper body cardio? I know there are some boxing type workouts that can give you a good workout with very little use of the lower body
  • saragato
    saragato Posts: 1,154
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    You could, aside from swimming, try looking up water aerobics or see if a local gym has classes. I dislocated my knee cap back in '10 and went through 2 months of physical therapy that never helped and water aerobics were suggested to me.
  • reneegee23
    reneegee23 Posts: 233 Member
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    I know, it's so hard with leg/foot injuries. I don't have any experience with knee injuries but I did tear my plantar fascia last summer in an aerobics class and I was SO BUMMED. I cried on the way home because I knew I did something pretty bad to my foot. It took right around 12 weeks to heal and during that time I did a lot of mat work, spin and swimming. :/ Again, not sure what you're able to do with your limitations. Sounds like you're already doing yoga so maybe add some more mat work?
  • missigus
    missigus Posts: 207 Member
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    I understand completely, I have arthritis in both knees and wound up with double bursitis (both knees). I went from working out everyday and training for my black belt in karate 2 hours a day, to being a couch potato due to the pain. I give you kudos for still trying to work out...I got to the point that I was just miserable and couldn't stand the pain anymore at all.

    I hope you are in some sort of a therapy program. I finally broke down and went to a physical therapist and it did wonders for me. It strengthened the muscles I needed, and taught me better ways to manage my knee pain issues. I am now back to working out- some light jogging even, but I have leaned what NOT to do to save my knees, through therapy. ( I ice everytime after workouts).

    The best exercise someone already mentioned. Swimming, also water running ( litterally running in the water in the deep end with a floatation belt) was one they suggested to me since I am not the best of swimmers. I also walk a lot. The elliptical is good because there is little impact, some people have good luck with a bike- although too much pressure/resistance on the pedals bothered me. Much of it is trial and error. Stay clear of anything like lunges and squats. Hope you find what works!

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