Starting over after knee injury

I am very much a workout type of person who loves weights a cardio. However, since my knee injury I have lost my muscle memory, and have gained at least 15 pounds. So, I’m here to start over and hopefully get back to where I used to be.

Replies

  • J383
    J383 Posts: 4,573 Member
    Sounds like a good plan. Take it slow and dont over do it. Im good at that way too often. lol Feel free to add me.
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,130 Member
    I am very much a workout type of person who loves weights a cardio. However, since my knee injury I have lost my muscle memory, and have gained at least 15 pounds. So, I’m here to start over and hopefully get back to where I used to be.

    I don't think you truly lose muscle memory after an injury, it just takes a while to recover and get back into the swing of things.

    It's worth switching your focus to diet initially too, you gained weight because you've not adjusted your food intake to being less active than you were previously, not because you stopped exercising.

    Are you working with a physio for rehab of your knee?
  • neugebauer52
    neugebauer52 Posts: 1,120 Member
    Have been living with a knee injury (skiing - torn inner ligament off the bone) for many years. Best exercise - no jarring, no pulling, no side moves - is water aerobics. Gives an excellent work out and actually makes my knee feel good for a change. Also useful is stationary bicycle - if you can bend your knee that much. Sport massage helps, so does a cloth / towel which has been dipped into reasonably hot water and applied first thing in the morning. Suggest you see a physio who specializes in knee injuries - expensive but well worth it for the long term.
  • thatsmejb
    thatsmejb Posts: 83 Member
    I'm not sure what kind of surgery you had, I've had a few myself. If you have Physical therapy, make sure to do all they tell you to. It can be slow gaining that muscle back (yes, depending on the surgery you do lose some noticeable muscle), but just stick with it!!!!
  • gt0186b
    gt0186b Posts: 78 Member
    Biking is a good exercise when your knees are painful.
  • s_rivera_92
    s_rivera_92 Posts: 92 Member
    Also had knee surgery! Agree with all of the posts above. Recumbent and stationary bike are absolutely great. Work yourself up to using elliptical (not that bad on the joints, low impact) and gain strength/muscle by slowly increasing incline on the treadmill. Take things slow and steady at first and listen to your body
  • Danp
    Danp Posts: 1,561 Member
    Don't neglect rehab on your knee!

    I had some serious grinding in my knee after recovering from an injury. Turns out that I had been favouring one muscle group in my thigh over another. So the unfavoured group got underutilised and began weaken and atrophy while the favoured group got stronger as it had to compensate. The imbalance caused the stronger group to overpower the weaker group and pull my patella to the side and out of alignment.

    It wasn't painful but having your knee rumble like it's full of gravel every time you bend it gets tiresome. A quick trip to the Physio who gave me some exercises isolating and targeting the neglected muscles soon put things right.