Building Leg Muscles after a Total Knee Replacement

rykalov

Hi

I am almost 5 months post op from a total left knee replacement. I have a lifelong fitness background and I am regularly over a 100 miles a week on the bike without any problems. I have lost 32Ibs since April to help things along (currently 11st 10lbs) but, having a read an article on here about building up legs muscles even further, ie lunges, squats etc. Is there alternatives which will achieve the same effect. I have 125 degree flexion but worry about pushing too far.

Thanks

imposter2.0

If you mean this article here: http://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/arti ... ghs-41700/ - then I would just ignore it, as it is pretty much irrelevant from a cycling perspective. Quite why the editorial team saw fit to publish that on here is a mystery.

If you are already cycling, just keep doing it. Presumably you are (or were) on some kind of physio re-hab programme after your op, so just use the guidance from that in terms of how hard to push.

dennisn

What does your Doctor say to do????????

rykalov

Thanks for that imposter. I have finished my rehab visits. I will invoke rule No5!

dennisn. My consultant is an avid road cyclist and said "Crack On" and keep doing what I am doing

dennisn

rykalov wrote:

dennisn. My consultant is an avid road cyclist and said "Crack On" and keep doing what I am doing

Sounds great. In that case "Crack on".

kingstonian

rykalov wrote:

Thanks for that imposter. I have finished my rehab visits. I will invoke rule No5!

dennisn. My consultant is an avid road cyclist and said "Crack On" and keep doing what I am doing

Out of curiosity, who was your consultant?

rykalov

Mr Williams. Musgrove Park Hospital and Nuffield Hospital(Private)

Bar Shaker

rakalov, I am in a similar situation, although my surgery was the repair of my shattered tib and fib. In March I had had many pieces of bone screwed back together. I am very grateful to have kept my foot but 4 months of no weight bearing and no exercise at all, with that leg has left, me with a lot of muscle wastage. A knee replacement sounds more serious and I suspect your lead up was with little or no exercise.

I am now riding again and although I can mess myself up if I push too hard, I am now up to 30+ mile rides at around 16-17mph average (over Essex rolling hills). It isn't a five minute fix and constantly pushing without doing damage is always a balancing act. I have been riding twice a week and am now looking to increase this to 4 times a week.

I'm not after huge quads so am looking to rebuild a good balance of twitch and power muscle, with the emphasis on good speeds over 50-75 miles. Every ride gets easier and time in the saddle seems to be the best solution.

I am still having physio but my cycling is being encouraged by my (excellent) physiotherapist.

markp80

Bar Shaker wrote:

rakalov, I am in a similar situation, although my surgery was the repair of my shattered tib and fib. In March I had had many pieces of bone screwed back together. I am very grateful to have kept my foot but 4 months of no weight bearing and no exercise at all, with that leg has left, me with a lot of muscle wastage. A knee replacement sounds more serious and I suspect your lead up was with little or no exercise.

Every ride gets easier and time in the saddle seems to be the best solution.

I am still having physio but my cycling is being encouraged by my (excellent) physiotherapist.

That's an encouraging post - I too had surgery, back in May, to repair a broken tibia, which has left me with a lump of metal and rather a lot of screws in there. I'm currently 11 weeks post-op, and just starting to partial weight-bear, but still on the crutches.
Lots of muscle wastage too, how quickly it disappears! I can't wait to get back on the bike, but I guess it all needs to take time.

Best of luck to the OP...

Cheers,
MarkP

slowmart

I have a missing outer lateral condile and to top that i had a spiral fracture in the tim and fib last year which complicated and lengthened my recovery.

Take the vets advice, pain is natures way of saying slow down to reduce the miles or intensity. As I'm posting on a forum I have no doubt someone will disagree but my consultant informed me 6 months off equates to 6 months to get your fitness back to where it was prior to the event.

I found swimming was beneficial as it supports the weakened muscles while at the same time gives your body a decent work out without much risk to injury.

My main focus during recovery was to stay injury free and simply get out and enjoy the riding. It can be a long road back and everyone will recover in different timelines and the way back for me was to have small goals. Its easy to go head down, chasing your previous times but then potentially you're missing the point why your out there on your bike.

Bar Shaker

I've now been weight bearing for 5 weeks and riding for nearly 4 weeks, which has been 6 rides. The longest ride was 30 miles and I ached for a few days afterwards.

My FTP is recovering quickly and I am already at 85% of where I was at peak.

I estimate I will be back to full fitness in a month.