It has been 3 months since my ACL surgery on January 30, 2017.
In terms of strength my knee is doing very well. I just came back from the gym and I squatted 280lbs 3 sets of 5 reps, deadlifted 315 1 set of 5 reps.
It was my first time deadlifting more than 300 in a while and my hamstring felt a bit of pain after. But nothing serious and it went away quickly.
In a correctly performed squat your ACL shouldn’t be stressed (not medical advice). I also read that Mark Rippetoe (who is a strength coach I respect) – when he was 38 he got an ACL surgery and squatted 225lbs for 5 reps at the 8 week mark.
So I figure I am 3 months post surgery so I should be good to go. When I warm up with squats sometimes my knee hurts but by the time I finish my warm up I forget about it.
Squatting 280 wasn’t too difficult today and I am looking forward to getting stronger. I am moving up 5lbs every workout. So in 2 days I will squat 285lbs.
Running
My doctor said I can start running lightly at the 3-4 month mark. I kind of started at the 2.5 month mark because I felt like it. There is a steep hill near my house and its all grass.
So I just run (jog) up the hill and walk down. I do that on my cardio days. I’ve done it a bunch of times this past week and my knee hasn’t hurt.
How Long Until I Can Do BJJ
At the church where I do my boot camp there is a dog named Molly and she loves belly rubs.
According to the doctor: 3 more months. According to me: 2 months.
3 more months before I get clearance for sport practice. I will probably go back in 2 months because I am getting bored with just lifting and running.
I don’t really wear a knee brace. I might throw it on sometimes when I’m running. But not for anything else. It makes my knee so freakin sweaty! And I figure that my leg has to get stronger anyway.
That’s all I have so far. This month I will be working every day like I normally do and training every day. I am also going to be working on this blog so keep checking back because I’ll have new posts and videos up all the time.