'My ACL Journey' written by Samantha Accredited Exercise Physiologist, is an authentic account of the pain, emotion and work involved in having a successful rehabilitation journey after injury. We admire Sam's candour and preparedness to open up to help others preparing for and rehabilitating after surgery.
After two-three weeks, I returned to work and commenced a body weight strengthening program at home. It involved quad, hamstring and calf strengthening exercises, as well as range of motion and balance. It felt really good engaging in regular resistance training again. I’ve also started physiotherapy treatment twice weekly, to help with regaining my full range of motion and to keep developing my quad strength.
At the three week mark, I felt comfortable walking without crutches so I stopped using them. I was so glad to be free of them. At this stage, I also went to see a physiotherapist/exercise physiologist who specialises in knee rehabilitation, specifically ACL reconstruction rehab. He said my knee was looking really good for this stage of rehab and that it was moving well. He progressed my current program and added in several new exercises to complete in the gym. I felt very proud when he said that I was ahead of where I should be at the three week mark. I worked really hard within the first few weeks and stuck to my rehab exercises. My spirits went up when I returned to the gym. I had missed exercising regularly and was happy to be back. The program I commenced 3-4 times weekly includes the following exercises:
- Cycling (10-20 minutes)
- Box squats
- Lunges
- Single-leg calf raises
- Romanian deadlifts (RDLs) and/or hamstring curls
- Leg press
- Single leg balance
- Step ups
I’m also completing seated knee extensions (body weight) and isometric knee extensions with swiss ball at 90O only, every day.
The next three months will involve trying to regain symmetry in strength and range of motion between both legs. Remember, it’s very important to exercise both legs, not just your injured one. If I reach that goal, I can then recommence running. I don’t usually enjoy running, except when playing sport. But now that I can’t participate in it, I miss it.