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Blown knee, how to stay strong?

Original Post
Ian Cavanaugh · · Ketchum, ID · Joined Sep 2010 · Points: 620

So I recently blew out my knee while bouldering. I am scheduled for surgery in 6 days. I am planning on rehabbing the shit out of my knee and getting it stronger than it was before, but my question is what have others done in order to keep my finger/upper body strong. I have access to a gym with a campus board, hang board, rings...etc. I will have plenty of time but looking at what I can do for the next 3 months so that I can come back to the same or stronger than when I went out. If you have any links to work out programs or just ideas on what to do. I am planning on being in the gym up to 5 days a week on a scheduled program. The last thing I want to do is blow a finger while I am healing my blown knee but also want to be pushing myself. Any and all tips/hints/ideas are welcome.
Thans

kenr · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2010 · Points: 16,608

You mean you're going to be using a crutch for a while?
That would make it hard to do campusing.

I'd guess there ought to be some way to get into and out of assisted single-arm fingerboard hangs (with one or both feet supported on a chair) even with a crutch.

I could believe that there's a creative way to get into and out of out a two arm hang -- seems like it would help if the fingerboard were lower to the floor than usual.

Not saying I know the details -- just guessing what ought to be possible.

With luck, you might have more raw finger and arm strength than before the knee injury.

Ken

Joshua1979 · · Colorado Springs, CO · Joined Apr 2010 · Points: 15

I would hangboard mostly if i were in your situation (check out the rockprodigy article or similar for programs) and mix it up with some one legged top roping to keep the endurance up (obviously make sure your belayer touches you down slowly). This could be a good opportunity to build some sic finger strength. Heal up and go get it man!

Joshua1979 · · Colorado Springs, CO · Joined Apr 2010 · Points: 15

Just to add...mAke sure you warm up sufficiently for your hangboard sesh. Which will be a bit harder not being able to climb (unlesss you top rope first) but it can be done on the hang board alone with a bit of patience and taking the weight off.

Dustin Anderson · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jul 2009 · Points: 0

Hey Ian! Long time no see! Sorry to hear about the knee man, its a bummer, I've had two knee surgeries myself. my last surgery was ~2 years ago on my ACL and meniscus, also had microfracture in two spots.

With the microfx, i was on crutches for 6 weeks and didn't climb at all for 4 months. My personal advice is to not climb until your doc says you can. rehab the knee and really focus on P/t and don't worry about climbing. You won't lose as much as you think, endurance came back for me quite quickly and the power was 2 months or so after starting to climb again.

I'm assuming you are having the standard ACL/MCL surgery. Do not boulder for a long while after coming back. That surgery is one that is 50/50, meaning 50% of the surgeries fail. It is a common injury for athletic folks and lots of the time they re-injure it by trying to come back too fast.

Taking the time to be away from climbing and letting your body heal, is the best thing. You will be amazed at how much you will miss climbing and come back super motivated to crush!

Lanky · · Tired · Joined Jun 2008 · Points: 255
Jeffrey Arthur · · Westminster, CO · Joined Mar 2008 · Points: 290

I remember watching a climber (Name Withheld) coming into Movement after he broke both his ankles from a fall, roll into the gym in a freak'n wheelchair, take the elevator up to the second floor and position his chair right under the campus board. He then proceeded to campus straight out of his wheelchair and train nightly.

Now if he can pull it off with two shattered ankles and a wheelchair you should be able to pull it off with crutches to start hangboarding and campusing regularly assuming you have access to those training tools.

If you're going to hangboard I certainly wouldn't start a program like the Rock Prodigy and even attempt to add weight. Even removing weight using a pulley system may be difficult just from the logistics of picking up the weight and connecting it to the system by yourself. Best case scenario is to find a training partner that's willing to help you and give a good assist and spot for campusing and hangboarding. But truthfully climbing "friends" tend to disappear when one becomes injured.

Fat Dad · · Los Angeles, CA · Joined Nov 2007 · Points: 60
Dustin Anderson wrote:My personal advice is to not climb until your doc says you can. rehab the knee and really focus on P/t and don't worry about climbing.
Good advice. I had two knee rebuilds back when they did a lot more cutting and rehab took far longer. But probably the most important thing I learned was to give your body the time it needs to heal properly so when you are ready to return, you truly are ready. I saw far too many people push, get reinjured and spend far more time rehabbing than if they would have simply waited. Often those reinjuries created additional problems that lingered for years.

Having said that, once you can move your knee somewhat without pain, perhaps you can campus, if you can do so without risk of falling. I actually think it would be far more manageable to campus with casts on your ankles than with a blown out knee. Just too much movement for the knee. Bottom line though, four months is not a long time. It seems like a long time when you're young and hungry, but over the long view it's nothing. There's an old Chinese saying: "No disease, short life. One disease, long life". Sounds weird but means that if you have ever lost your health, you realize how important it is and learn to keep your body healthy. If you've never been sick, injured, you take your health for granted and drive yourself into the ground. Learn from your time off.
slim · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Dec 2004 · Points: 1,103

i think you could set up a hangboarding apparatus with a second "leash" from your harness to an overhead structural member that would basically be a backup in case you came off unexpectedly. i think it is harder with an injured knee than an injured ankle, as any sort of movement/impact to the entire leg will likely bother your knee. so, you would probably want to be pretty conservative to prevent these motions.

David Pennington · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Aug 2013 · Points: 5

Ian,

Hope your surgery went well. In January of this year I took a fall from bouldering and wrecked my MCL, ACL, patella ligaments and ripped up my meniscus pretty good.

If you are getting a full ligament graft, then it's pretty important that you don't put yourself in a position where that knee has to take a fall for a good 3-4 months, as the graft is particularly vulnerable and could break again.

After I was out of my brace from the first surgery (10 damn weeks) I was on the hangboard again. Beyond that, lots of stuff to increase my flexibility - yoga, PT, etc - and building strength without leaving the ground.

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

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