20 one leg squats for injured knee, too much?
555
Member
1450 days
Riverbrady posted 20 weeks ago.
How are you doing your 1-leg squats? If you can't do one I'm failing to see how you could be fully rehabbed at this point.
Are these are 1-legged squats with no weight, going to a 90 degree bend between your upper and lower leg, or are you trying to do more than that?
"Care more than others think is wise, risk more than others think is safe, dream more than others think is practical, expect more than others think is possible."
58
Member
417 days
trimas posted 20 weeks ago.
I don't think its so far fetched if you do the squats right, and preferably using no weight (using perhaps an exercise ball against the wall and your own body weight.) I had arthroscopic surgery a year ago and had a similar rehab.
36
Member
172 days
Chiflado posted 20 weeks ago.
If they are FULL one leg squats (pistols) one set of 20 would be quite a feat for triathlete (I think). A FULL one leg squat would be going all the way down with like your glute near your heel or ankle. A not many people could do a set of 20 of those. And probably alot of professional runners could not even do one with good form if one at all! In fact most of the professinal marathon runners don't really have that kind of raw strength in the legs (I'm guessing... don't quote me on this), considering that they don't do much strength training for their legs (which the pistol is a bodyweight strenght training exercise) They train for endurance not for strength. So I think a clarification of what your PT means by a "one leg squat" is in order.)
Here's a video of a full one leg squat... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEBol54EjVE
2558
Member
1219 days
Anton posted 20 weeks ago.
Depending on the kind of injury, and how quickly YOU heal (everyone being different)...a return to 100%, may take a year or more.
Patience Rupert,patience.
"What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?" - Vincent Van Gogh
My Blog: http://anton.trifuel.net
1377
Member
940 days
555
Member
1450 days
Riverbrady posted 20 weeks ago.
To clarify my earlier. Most PTs I've run across will recommend not doing squats beyond a 90 degree bend, due to the increased force it puts on your knee joint...particularly after injury. I've yet to ever run across a PT that advocated doing 1-leg squats as shown in the video as a method of rehab, but have known PTs to ok them for further strength building once everything is back in order (as unweighted plyometrics).
"Care more than others think is wise, risk more than others think is safe, dream more than others think is practical, expect more than others think is possible."
608
Member
415 days
Iron Dan posted 20 weeks ago.
If you are rehabbing from a knee injury, I would also not recommend doing a squat beyond a 90 degree bend.
Back to the original post, I would not recommend going for a run if you can't do one single leg squat. Depending on what type of knee injury you had, going for a run to early can cause severe injury to the knee. Also if your leg muscles are not back up to the strength of your other "healthy" leg, you run the risk of running with a limp, which causes a deterioration in your running form putting unnecessary strain on other parts of your body (hips, back, etc.).
I don't know about the magic number of 20, I am no medical expert; I have only rehabbed from a torn ACL and meniscus. I think the goal would be to match the strength of your other healthy leg more than doing a magic number of 20 squats. If you can only do 10 squats with your healthy leg, being able to do 20 with your injured leg might be a little excessive. However, I default to all medical personnel on matters of injuries. If the PT says 20 squats, and you can't even do one, you are not ready to run and you are not fully rehabbed, if you could do 10-15 squats, you might have an argument about being ready.
As it is, take time and get you knee rehabbed. Nothing is more important than getting your knee healed. Running now might not cause damage now, but 10 years down the road your decision to run could prove to be a bad one.
I wondering if someone can answer this question. Usually during the summer I run and do free running. Last summer I injured my left knee. At this point I fully rehabed it. My PT who is advertised as an expert in athletics, told me the following. He said I should not run again till I can do 20 one leg squats on one leg. I can't even do one. He said that it's a standard protocol after an injury.
I don't see it. ( I did not tell him that.) If every runner had to do that after an injury, we all would have thighs of a rhinostrus. On the other hand maybe it's right. Anyone experienced anything with it?