It has been exactly 4 weeks since my ACL surgery (hamstring graft).
My leg is feeling much better. I am able to do my daily activities with more confidence.
The muscle wasting has stopped. There was a point (around week 3) when I would refer to my leg as “the chicken leg”. Meaning it was skinny as hell. It’s normal to lose a bunch of muscle after the surgery.
Icing my knee from the front and back
This week I have noticed that my thigh on the operated leg has gotten thicker.
I don’t go to physio often because I want to save money. From now on I’ll see him once every 2-4 weeks.
I started doing some squats with the bar. I am almost able to do a parallel squat. I don’t want to push it because I’m only supposed to be quarter squatting at this stage. If I go too low my knee starts hurting.
Doing a hamstring strengthening exercise
I am also pretty much back to my regular work schedule. I came back last week and it was hard at first.
I work as a personal trainer so it’s a lot of standing around. My leg would hurt in the evenings. In the last 2 days it has gotten much better.
Between personal training clients I will sit or lie down somewhere and take a nap. Lying down and relaxing between clients is crucial for me because I work every day. So I have to find my own time to relax throughout the day.
In other news I have started actually working out again. I go to the gym and do pull ups, dips, exercise bike, squats with the bar (as low as I can tolerate), deadlifts with the bar and presses.
It feels so good to workout! But after I am done I feel so tired I can just pass out.
My favorite post workout meal: steak and broccoli!
That’s all I have to report at the 4 week mark. If you have any comments or questions please post them below.
Get well soon Mike! Just make sure to do your therapy regularly
Thanks man, ya staying on top of it!