Knee Rehab Exercises/Tips HELP

[cardy]

Hi
I tore my mcl in my knee 10 months ago whilst competing. Was diagnosed as a grade 2 tear and didn't require surgery. However I never got an MRI. I can now do all things your average joe can do (run, jump, hop, skip, sprint.) But just got back into mma last week and when I was throwing a roundhouse I can felt my knee pop out of place a little mainly when I'm pivoting and the knees slightly bent. This happened all through the sessions. Wasn't painful just didn't feel strong in that plain of movement.

So does anyone have any exercises or tips on how to combat this or strengthen this plane of movement as I've ran out of ideas. Or is it just a case of easing myself back into mma progressively and time as healer ect.

My diets clean I'm taking glucosmean and glutamine, I'm also applying heat every other night. I'm doing all the usual squats, walking lunges, leg curls. I'm also doing a lot of stability and balance work e.g. wobble boards, wobble cushions, zig-zag runs, lateral hopping.

I'm also doing leg legged squats with a resistance band attached to my ankle the other to a post, placing stress both laterally and medially on the knee (If you get that?) and doing box hops, box jumps, shadow boxing using same technique.

As well as that I do alot of core exercises some of which using the legs e.g. plank, side plank + foot in the air, bridges on swiss ball.

I can only go up to 35 kg on my squats and walking lunges due to the gym not having a smith or squat rack so could lifting heavier on these exercises benefit?

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I've asked 3 different physios and all have said I'm doing everything I can for it. I fear its probably something I'm going to have to live with as the ligament tear has most likely healed but been stretched in the process. LOL really hope to get back into mma propley.

Sorry for the essay lol
Thanks

[C.K.A.Martial Arts]

Hi Cardy

I had a simular problem with my knee ~ cut through the C/L and had to have it shaved down ( piece took out ) as well as having it sucked clean.

any way - I have done teh standard work outs simular to what you have been doing and I find that when I am training i feel the knee moves - very weird isnt it.

I snow board ( not very good but hay ) so I use a bandage and then a double strap knee support.

The knee support is like any other but it has a strap on both the top and bottom so it grips the muscle better so takes the strain off the knee ~ also use Thai Cream or Deap Heat under the bandage to keep the tendons warm during training.

( blitz sports . com ) for the supports

I have been told that this is the best I can do and the weird movement will settle down over the next few years as the leg adjusts it self.

hope this helps

[DetoxGuru.com]

i proper fucked up my acl , which i know is different ( may still be relevant ) I had to stay well away from any twisting for a long time, and still do if possible.

[cardy]

Thanks for the replies guys guess I'll just have to wait it out and see what happens. Ive ordered a double strap support and the deep heat aint a bad idea either. As for the acl its on the opposite side of the knee so has alot to do with twisting movements.

[6million$man]

Sounds like you're doing a good range of exercises (as the physios say). You can't exactly target a ligament and strengthen it, but strengthening all the muscles around the knee (especially quads) will improve stability.

Medial ligaments are notorious for taking a long time to heal fully so dont be disheartened. You'll get there in the end. :)

I'm assuming you've seen an orthopaedic surgeon at some point? If you've seen physios and a surgeon and they're agreed it's a grade 2, surgery isn't needed. An MRI could possibly allow them to make a more accurate assessment, but it's not likely to be neccessary.

Keep doing what you're doing and be patient. Another option for the time being might be taping it up, but it's annoying to do and you have to do it correctly otherwise there's no point.

Hope it gets better soon!

[spirez]

You could do with finding a better gym ;)

Tissues adapt to the demand you place upon them so really you need to be going heavier with the leg exercises. AVOID open chain work like leg extensions/curls as they place more stress on the knee joint.

And really focus your energy on single leg exercises. Split squats, lunges, lateral lunges, bulgarian squats, high step-ups - basically anything that increasing the stabilising component of the knee.

When you say you only have 35kg weight is that 35kg dumbells or 2x 17.5 dumbells?

Do you have a barbell at all? If so, front squats are your friend. Clean the weight up to your chest then squat from there, no rack required. Make sure the knees are tracking in line with the feet and have your toes pointed slightly outwards, about a 5 to 1 position if you were standing on a clock face.

And make sure you are squatting below parallel. Again, squatting down to 90 degress is potentially more injurious as the knee is being forced to change direction when at it's most unstable (open-packed) position.

With your jumps, are you landed correctly? Any valgus force, i.e. the knee moving in towards the midline, is bad and potentially making things worse as it'll stress the MCL more.

Really the key to this is hiring a good professional to check your form and progressions etc. The key is in the detail and there could be a lot we're missing here.

[cardy]

I meant to say I can go up to 45 kg and yeah its a barbell. Dumbbells go up to 30 kg (that's 2 dumbbells = 60 kg) however I tend to avoid lifting heavy with dumbells as I find it hard to keep strict form.

I'm aware of the need to avoid open chain exercises however I used the leg curl machine basically without any weight in the very early stages of my rehab when I was improving the range of motion (Should of left that out when I was describing my current exercise program.

Yes I agree front squats are definitely my friend. (When I said squats I was generalizing when I should of been more specific with the different types in my current program.)

Landing on my jumps seems to be good, not really any valgus force.
However I have been doing 1 legged box jumps (box hops) using a resistance band tied to a post then attached to my ankle, the height is about a foot high. I do 2 sets of 4-5 with the resistance band set so it applies force both medially and then laterally.
I have wondered whether this would be beneficial as this most likely will place valgus force. But I was doing it with the understanding that by placing small amounts of stress in these planes of movement whilst doing the jumps that my knee would become better at dealing with this in certain circumstances (i.e. keeping light on my feet whilst sparring and landing funny on it or missing a step.)

The reason I have doubted that this would be beneficial is because on my landing (box hop) the knee will be slightly bent so the ligaments will be not as tight hence the knee not as stable. Combine this with the impact of the landing and this could be placing to much stress than needed on the ligament.

Hope that makes sense and yes looks like I'll have to find a gym with a smith or squat rack or something.

Thanks

[cardy]

I'm assuming you've seen an orthopaedic surgeon at some point?

Hope it gets better soon!

To be honest I'm not sure if I did see an orthopedic surgeon. I seen the guy who diagnosed me on the night (wasn't in a clear mindset that night as I had just lost a fight) and he told me it was a tear in my mcl. The physio told me it was a grade 1/ grade 2 tear but judging by the amount of swelling and the definitions of each grade tear, I would definetley say it was a grade 2 tear.

I'm not entirely sure what an orthopedic surgeon is to be honest.

[spirez]

Not a smith rack! Never squat on a smith machine.

For a lot of your strength work right now try focusing on the bulgarian squat. 60kg for this lift is a fair bit of weight to begin with so work up to that.

Also single leg squatting to a box. You'll get more than enough load with the weights you have available for this lift

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQIvJaWgAJk