Start jumping and running
Blog 4: Week 12 – 18
January - February - March 2023
"How is the recovery going? Can you do everything again a little bit?" Questions you often get. All no, but certainly more and more. Unlike the first three months, where recovery went up in a steady line, now it goes up and down in a wave motion. No longer improvement every day or every week, but a step forward every two or three weeks.
DAILY LIFE BALANCE
In the previous blog I wrote that I still had many complaints during daily life. This is now much better. Whereas I used to think about the knee every ten minutes, this gradually decreased and is now only a few times a day. Outside, I also pay less conscious attention to things like sidewalks, stairs and cycling. One hundred percent confidence, however, is not there. I also notice this during exercises in which vision is lost or double tasks are requested. Blind confidence, even during daily activities, still needs to grow.
Less restrictions during the day also meant that more social things were possible. The agenda was filled again with weekends away, social evenings and building up to full-time work. Positive, of course, but at the same time a change of pace when you could first adjust your entire daily schedule to rehabilitation. Besides consistent training, recovery is important and this includes rest, good nutrition and a good night's sleep. If I fail in this I feel it immediately in my knee and then I can be quite annoyed with myself. Sticking to a rhythm helps me find a good balance. In addition, I remind myself that I am doing more each time, so there is progress and I am doing well.
JUMPING, RUNNING AND MORE STRENGTH
After four months, a strength test was done. The results were better than I expected and confirmed that I am on the right track. This is also reflected in the size of my thigh that is slowly taking shape. At first I couldn't imagine this coming back. So thankfully, all those squats are not for nothing (the counter is already rising nicely!). Also with many exercises you think; I can't imagine that I will be able to do them soon. Once you do it, it's actually not so bad. So I started doing increasingly difficult jumps like skating jumps, rotations on a trampoline, box jumps, one-legged jumps and the jump rope has been taken out of the closet.
Surely a small milestone is running for the first time. Thanks to all the deceleration, jumping and running forms, I had a lot of confidence. Without tension I stepped on the treadmill and for a first time it went very well. In fact, for the first time anything after surgery felt better than before surgery. Then I sometimes experienced a sagging/knuckling feeling and that was not the case now. Nevertheless, the gait pattern was still stiff and asymmetrical. In the following sessions this did not improve and as a result I did not run for two weeks. Back to the floor and practiced a lot on running technique. In that respect, rehab is also a bit of trial and error. With every step you encounter new points that you have to work on.
In terms of strength, things are progressing well and static exercises also work without too much effort. However, with more dynamic exercises the coordination and control is not yet optimal. As if somewhere between my head and knee there is a fault. It takes time to automate the movements again. Right now, in week 18, running is going much better. Less stiff and with moments it feels like old times. The next goal is to increase endurance.
The most important lesson I take away from the past few weeks is that it is not realistic to always throttle 100% throughout the entire process. Once in a while it is healthy to put your priority elsewhere and not be too hard on yourself. With new energy, you can then give full throttle again. For now, I'm looking forward. On to spring, where hopefully I can exercise more outdoors.