ACL Recovery

[DirtyGirl000]

I am just over 4 months out of ACL surgery.  I had a patella tendon graph.  I went to PT 2 X a week for a couple of months where I did lots of leg exercises.  Outside of that I did a lot of push up, pull ups, sit ups, shoulder presses and pedalling the stationary bike on my own.  At 2 months I was back to running and stated squatting with weight again.  I am about at 90% of my presurgery 1 rep max for squatting right now.  Still can't do a pistol squat though Doc said I could start riding at 4 months if I wanted to, but my mechanic has been slacking on getting my suspension done so I haven't gone yet....

This is my second ACL surgery - matching scars now.  What worked best for me was to keep moving - even if I had to do it sitting down.  MY PT was very cautious, but my doc was supportive and let me know exactly what I could and couldn't do.  I figured since he was the one who put me back together he knew what he was talking about.  Check with your doc before doing leg extensions - my doc said no open chain exercises during healing.

[billyghog]

Thanks for the tips.  I'm a month out of surgery and just saw the doc today.  He said everything was looking great and my recovery is faster than normal.  He's typically been way more conservative than the physical therapist though, who I will see later today.  I've been riding my bike on the trainer 2x a day and doing the stretching and things are feeling pretty good.  Looks like I might have to joint a gym  to get some stair stepper, rowing machine, and weight access.  They weighed me today and I've lost 10lbs in 3 weeks which I think is just the muscle mass going away because I sure haven't changed my diet any!  Hopefully they'll let me start working with weights to get that back. 

[Dirty Sanchez]

Thanks for the tips.  I'm a month out of surgery and just saw the doc today.  He said everything was looking great and my recovery is faster than normal.  He's typically been way more conservative than the physical therapist though, who I will see later today.  I've been riding my bike on the trainer 2x a day and doing the stretching and things are feeling pretty good.  Looks like I might have to joint a gym  to get some stair stepper, rowing machine, and weight access.  They weighed me today and I've lost 10lbs in 3 weeks which I think is just the muscle mass going away because I sure haven't changed my diet any!  Hopefully they'll let me start working with weights to get that back. 

*join

[Englishman]

Eat 10 lbs of beef and drink a gallon of wine a day.

Oh wait .

You are anyways.

Carry on.

[billyghog]

Eat 10 lbs of beef and drink a gallon of wine a day.

Oh wait .

You are anyways.

Carry on.

Don't forget the beer.

[Joe Jet]

3 ACLs and a 4th surgery to clean up. Range of motion exercises and cycling are key.  If you have access to a pool swimming is awesome for range of motion as you cannot over stress the repair and it very low impact on the joint.  It also depends on how bad your knee is and the amount and type of damage.  My first 2 recoveries were quick and easy.  3rd was quick and easy too and progressing like first 2, but something happened while I was running.  It wasn't anything weird like a slip or twist or anything, but I lost range of motion and I felt a light resisting pop when extending.  Also had chronic swelling after.  That was the reason for the 4th surgery.  Doc cleaned up the restrictive pop, but still have the chronic swelling and restricted range of motion to this day.

[billyghog]

Well it's been just over three months now and I have full range of motion back, just working on getting the strength up.  Been trying to ride the bike as much as possible and jogging/weights when I can.  Three more months-ish until I'm back on the bike!

[cattledog04]

Well it's been just over three months now and I have full range of motion back, just working on getting the strength up.  Been trying to ride the bike as much as possible and jogging/weights when I can.  Three more months-ish until I'm back on the bike!

Don't forget to concentrate on glute exercises as well, they are a prime stabilizer of your knee.

[DeSto]

ACL's are over-rated   Have many friends had theirs fixed only to stretch out and back for surgery.

Had mine removed many years ago and have NO issues at all

Can run, moto, mountain bike, etc... without any problems!!!