Saturday, July 20, 2013

The Bionic Knee, the Start



Got my brace on Friday and took it off to sleep grudgingly :)
This thing fits like a glove and immediately gave me a level of support that I haven't felt in that leg in forever. I only wore it three hours the first day as I thought it better not to push it too much ( knowing me) and was still a bit worried that I would wake up jacked up for no good reason today but it wasn't the case.
My leg after three hours in the brace felt straighter and stronger than before and held it through the night and into this morning!

The only down side is I cannot foam roll in it :) Hopefully I won't need that as much now anyway. It's called an unloader brace and that's exactly what it does; unload the medial side of my knee where the arthritis mainly is  by pushing my valgus( bowing) knee inward.The outer brace provides the support my knee is supposed to and wow, what a difference!

The upper and lower cuffs link up with each other and provide the structural support the knee just doesn't have. This is great news. I can feel immediate pain relief as well as better gait and knee mechanics already. It also provides support when I'm standing with the knee locked out which I also haven't felt in eons.

Of course I had to swing in it and it worked great there as well. Heavy day today again, 44 kg for sets and reps!

One arm swings
16 kg x 5/5
20 kg x 5/5
24 kg x 5/5
32 kg x 5/5
40 kg x 5/5( big jumps now!)
44 kg x 5/5 x 10 sets ! Pr
100 reps
9700 lbs

these were tough. I was distracted this morning in a lot of ways, not only the knee and the brace but felt very strong. that's how I got through these, just strength but the knee and everything else held together well.
this was way more swings than I have ever done with this weight and I was a bit concerned about the aftermath but things feel great now.

Two hand swing
44 kg x 10
52 kg x 10 x 5 set

WOW, that was hard,lol.  things moved well but it was a lot of work for me

Barbell Curl
45 x5
65 x 5 x 5

wanted to back off the weight a bit and do some volume. this was perfect. Need the extra wide grip of the barbell as well. The bands and dbs aren't in the right angle.

this was a great and important day for me. The first step to truly normal gait and my own real bionic knee. :) More to come

datsit
Sisu/


7 comments:

Alexander said...

Hope the knee works out fine! I have had great results taping and bracing a bad knee so I could train it. It became a good circle: the knee got stronger: less support needed: it got even stronger and so on. It took some years, but I now can jog and do light back squats again. And pain has decreased a lot.

Diana said...

That's a great brace! Just imagine how great a new knee is gonna feel...well, not at first, but you know what I mean!

Mark Reifkind said...

Alexander

thanks for the comment. The brace is good but not perfect,of course. It's putting the knee in a new position but it's NEW and LOTS of things are lining up, and activating differently than before.
My knee will never let me jog again. New one coming soon!

Mark Reifkind said...

Diana

I DO! Almost everyday! Have an appt with a possible doc to do the job this coming tuesday.can't wait

Mark Reifkind said...

Alexander

thanks for the comment. The brace is good but not perfect,of course. It's putting the knee in a new position but it's NEW and LOTS of things are lining up, and activating differently than before.
My knee will never let me jog again. New one coming soon!

Diana said...

Thoughts and prayers for a good appointment on Tuesday!

wow9gamer said...

wanted to back off the weight a bit and do some volume. this was perfect. Need the extra wide grip of the barbell as well. The bands and dbs aren't in the right angle.LOL Account

LOL Coaching

Thursday ruck

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