28kg long cycle press

SOLID workout but started slow. Good sleep last night and down to just 1/4 ocy before bed. Energy and pain levels were fine at work til my last client then things crashed a bit. Got a ten minute nap and a hot shower before training but things were dicey til I got started.

Can't wait to get this oxy shit out of my system for real, it's playing havoc with so many things in my body I can't believe it. From body temperature regulation, to sleep, to anxiety and agaitation, etc., etc.Thank goodness the pain is dissipating quickly and the healing is going well. Great to have done so well after yesterday's big workload.

One arm swing warmup; 16 kg x 5/5 x 2 sets

Long cycle clean and press
16 kg x 5/5
         x 3/3
20 kg x 4/4
24 kg x 3/3
28 kg x 2/2 x 5 sets
24 kg x 5/5
         x 4/4
         x 3/3

the 28's were all over the place although very strong. I was trying to push out and up and it kept swinging wide, especially left. then I went back to the 24 and basically pushed straight up and it worked great.

haven't been thinking or stretching my shoulders and lats much this last month and I can tell.hasn't been a high priority and it's been very cool that the shoulders haven't hurt. but time to get going on them again.

Belt squat
 24 kg x 12, 12, 10, 10

these were ok and deeper than prior tkr( Glenn says 3-4 "). felt ok but I think I'm going to go to box squats to work the depth more. just have to figure out how to load it a bit.

Crawls
 4 laps  of 30 feet with some rocking at the end of each lap

the best these have felt yet.

3 rounds of 50 reps on the exercise bike. rotations were much smoother than Sat and could do them in my vibrams which I couldn't sat. nice. even got some ankle dorsiflexion going. :)

back press
4 sets of 10 with blue band

suprsingly hard :(

BODYWEIGHT this AM = 150
mid day 152

getting back up there finally


datsit.
SISU

32 kg one arm swings, 44 kg power swings

cut back on the meds last night and slept poorly. it's so weird. once I get up and move around the calf/ leg feels ok but I can't find a position where it's good for more than a few hours. Got to fix that. No sleep sucks.

But strength was ok and was good as soon as I got going:

One arm swings
16kg x 5/5 x2
20 kg x 5/5
24 kg x 5/5
32 kg x 5/5 x 8sets
          x 10/10 
100 reps
7000 lbs

no problem felt square and solid and my left leg tracked really well

44 kg Power swings
44 kg x 5 x 5 sets
25 reps
2425 lbs

these were surprisingly strong as well although the groove was hard to find for the first few sets. definitely different with this knee and the closer stance that I am taking in everything now

Alternate
stationary cycling ( 50-100 reps)

Barbell curls
45 x 10
55 x 5,6,7,8

Got the full revolution on first attempt, a very good improvement.

Curls felt strong too. wanted some higher reps

Six Point rocking 20-30 reps
Four point rocking 20-30 reps

both with neck nods.REALLY like these and crawling again. Really.

datsit
Sisu/

Four weeks post op

Good day. Slept well and long. Took my 1/2 oxy at midnight just because I knew I should but it wasn't that bad. Got a good stretchout this am and knee and ankle felt pretty solid. Lots of tight of course but definitely going in the right direction.

Lowered pad on half kneeling lunge stretch to folded yoga mat. No problem but lots of stretch.Myo ball and IT band work.

Break around 8 and did prone quad stretch against wall and that was painful. things just started to light up.Isolated static stretches seem to really create pain and tension. then did prone quad stretch with strap and this has lots of potential .Need to tie in dorsiflexion with knee flexion and that's the toughie. Knee flexion with plantar flexion not so hard but it doesn't seem like it will translate

Lots of food. Coffee with cream and honey, bagel with cream cheese and oj milk and protein powder shake all before 7. felt good.

1/4 oxy at 10 and this helps immediately so more dynamic mobility for squatting movements and more half kneel stretches.

walking feels solid

1:30
CB swipes
10 lbs x 3  x 10
15 lbs x 12
          x 12
          x 14
          x 16
          x 18
          x  20

strong and easy but like last time I'm not sure my shoulders like these. back to snatches next week


Bodyweight lunges


these were good and tough at the same time. started off with the staff as a cane and switched to the squat rack position after one set. this challenged my balance more but activated the stabilizers more and that made it easier than the supported stance

4 sets of 8/8

Sled drag


these were great. just last week I bailed half way through these from sheer fatigue. today was strong but I can still see  I need more hip flexion and toe off. pleased as punch though. my leg is straight and tracking right and I don't have to think about it

4 laps of 200 ft with 45 lbs
1 of 200 with 55 lbs

supersetted with standing marching as Glenn did his set. these felt really really good.Definitely will help hip and knee flexion

Upright bike
about 100 revolutions!!!!

Once I got warmed up it was pretty much no problem and almost no side shift! still have to get the ankle dorsi flexed but one thing at a time

datsit
sisu

Short cycle presses, kb deadlifts and crawls

not the best day. A bit overworked and trying to hard to turn revolutions on the bike. working through too much pain and not getting a quality result. Pushing reset, literally. I did the recumbent today and although I could sit without the airex pad seat it wasn't good. I will stick with the upright bike and work on increasing ROM much more gently. I'm done forcing it. Walking, stairs stretching, crawling. marching( high knees) squats etc seem to do more to increase ROM than trying to force through reps on the bike.

Short cycle press
16 kg x 5/5 x2
20 kg x 3/3
24 kg x 3/3 x 8 sets

these were surprisingly strong and fast.wasn't feeling more hip work.

Kb deadlifts
28 kg x 5
32 kg x 5
36 kg x 5
40 kg x 5
48 kg x 8 x 2

these worked my quads well. next week stand on two plates increase depth and ROM

Crawls

4 passes of 20 feet.

done very slowly trying not to lift the left hip and the knee came under.these felt very right. complete extension and as much flexion as possible

Rocking
2 sets of 10 reps - done on knees, toes plantar flexed
Rocking in crawl 1 sets of 10

these have EXCELLENT potential for increasing knee , hip and ankle ROM!

AM training
recumbent bike
stair work up and down ( made it down 2 flights with just one hand hold on railing!)
stability ball wall squats  - close stance, these felt great!
foam roller
half kneeling hip stretch

datsit
sisu

28 kg One arm swings

Making my way back. Strength feels good but conditioning still has quite a ways to go. Sleep is much better although I am still up at 2:45 or 3 am instead of being able sleep in til 4 :) Calf pain is down, ROM is better, walking is even better and I bought an upright bike to keep the ROM inproving and start putting some meat on my legs

And my body. I was a huge 148.8 this morning despite eating more and more each day. Not happy about that but I'm sure it will catch up soon.Able to work most of my shift without crashing and that's good too.

Just the beginning but I am way ahead of schedule, truth be told.

One arm swings
16 kg x 5/5 x 2
20 kg  x 5/5
24 kg x 5/5
28 kg x 5/5
         x 6/6
         x 7/7
         x 8/8
         x 9/9
         x 10/10
         x 5/5
         x 6/6
         x 7/7
126 reps
7938 lbs

Two hand swings
32 kg x 10 x 6 sets

these were solid too although my lack of stamina started to catch up with me here

Clubbell shield casts
20 lbs x 10/10 x 2
25 lbs x 8/8

Barbell curls
45 x 10
55 x 10 x 3

all good

datsit
Sisu

Solid day of rehab,work and training

It didn't seem like I slept well but awoke with good energy and less pain than the day before. The knee and the leg is feeling more normal than ever and I am trusting more and more that when I put weight on my left foot my knee won't hurt and buckle. It's cool :)

Doc told me yesterday to spend more time on the bike and doing revolutions so that's what I focused on this morning.
Had to use airex pads to raise the seat and it was tough( up on toe, hip shift) to get even one revolution but after a few it started oiling up and the reps got easier. I need an upright as I don't like shifting the hip so much.
Worried about my back.

Lots of stretch work all morning today with squatting opening up , half kneeling getting better, back over ball, and seated heel slides.

No mid morning crash and only one oxy yesterday!

Training:
Clubbell swipes
2 10s x 10 x 3
2 15s x 10, 12, 14 x 2 rounds


these felt great! the close stance really let me work ankle flexion as well as knee flexion. it didn't hurt at all and felt very "right". weight felt light. this has always been a strong, natural movement for me.


Bodyweight lunges:
5,6,7,8

using a stick for balance but these felt GREAT! NO knee pain at all and also felt very "right". Excellent stretch on the rear leg for rectus femoris and of course knee ROM, great ankle and toe dorsi flexion( which is sorely needed) and of course all the great quad glute and calf work on the lead leg.
Way better than expected.

Crawling
4 sets of 4 feet( 20 each way)
these also went very well and will definitely be in my tool box forever. Lots going on here that needs improvement but the main thing is that I can do it at all and it didn't hurt. I don't think there will be ramifications tomorrow for it either.


this would a great day. finished strong with a 'wee' bit left in the tank for the first time since the surgery.
Tomorrow is a low intensity, longer walk when I get home from work. Can't neglect that but man, there's a lot of stuff I have to do everyday :)

datsit
sisu

First day back to work, stairs, clean and presses and figuring out this schedule :)

First day back was not that bad. Slept very well again, even though I was up an hour early at 3 am I felt rested and ready. Forgot to put on the compression calf sleeve but still no cramps! excellent. Work was not that hard and being able to move around a lot and continually stretch and experiment with PT type work was good.

I also added in one flight of stairs, up and down each time I took a potty break so I ended up with three trip and 30 stairs. Again, up was no issue at all( !!!!) no pain in the knee( crazy!) and down was decent; two hand rails close enough to use, not too high of a stair and I held each step for 2-3 seconds to stretch out.

Just half an oxy when I got to work and it was fine. Lots of stability ball rocking, regular walking, walking holding kbs, squat work and even got my left leg almost down to half knee on  an airex pad.

BUT I was bone tired when it came time to train and barely made it through:Needed more food, too.

Clean and press
one arm swing warmup 16 kg x 5/5 x 2
C/P
16 kg x 5/5
         x 4/4
20 kg x 3/3
24 kg x 2/2
         x 3/3
         x 4/4 x  2 rounds.



it was freakin hot in there today and I was gassed at the end of this. Strength is good but stamina has a long way to comeback

KB deads
16 kg x 5
20 kg x 5
24 kg x 5
28 kg x 5
32 kg x 5

using these instead of squat to help the knee bend. not ready for anything weighted in the squat. These were good.

Sled drag
25 lb x 100 ft fwd and 100 ft back ( too light)
45 lbs x "              " x 3 trips
600 ft of work

now I'm beat. off to ice, nap and eat.


datsit.
sisu/

Leaving "Mommy Mode"

I used to train. Really train. I mean really, really train. I lived for it. Breathed it, slept it, dreamt it,lived it.Planned my life around it for many many years.
Even after I was injured pretty badly twice in a short amount of time I found something else to train for, something else that I could do to my limit. To my potential. Or at least go down reaching for my potential.
It was the process that I was so enthralled with; the flow state that I lived to immerse myself in as much as possible. It was my preferred state of being.

But in 2000, after my last back injury I gave in, gave up to training and went into survival mode, or what I call "mommy mode". Basically I stopped trying to make progress in my physical training and just 'try not to hurt yourself son" mode. Or mommy mode.

It was a wise choice. The only choice really.Everything was broken in one way or another and had been for  a long time. I was lucky that I could move at all. Especially lucky that I could swing. That saved me.

But it's been a long 13 years of mommy mode and now I'm done with it. I can do all kinds of things I haven't been able to forever and that's empowering on a a huge scale. Especially now that I can walk. That is bringing of sense of freedom and security I hadn't really planned on.But it's realy and it's great.

And now I have a serious goal that I can train for; the two weeks of traveling and teaching coming up in just about 6 weeks from now in Croatia and Italy. I will have to walk and walk and walk alot for that trip and then turn around 4 weeks after that and travel to Israel and walk stand and teach again.

This time only for one week but it's a big trip nonetheless.

And part of me getting ready for it will be my walking training and today I hit the first important goal: One Hour of Continuous walking!  It's a bit hard to believe that is was just a little less that two weeks ago that I was amazed I could walk around my block without stopping with just a cane!

Sunday walk:
4345 steps
1.8 miles
1:02 time
1.8 mph

that seems a little short on distance but I don't really care. I just care that I walked at a decent pace for 60 minute straight with no problem then did these ; my first crawls


wasn't sure I could do them at all and they were very herky jerky but they got done ( 3 sets of 30 feet or so) and I can really feel all the potential this has for my knee rehab and ROM. Very cool.

so the goal has been met, and the first workout of the day is over. Some breakfast and some more squat position mobility/flexibility work!

datsit.
Sisu/

Rebuilding strength and condition

Weird night last night. Slept well until 1:30 then woke with some serious calf and hamstring pain. Tried to find a good position but it was not to be. Tracy  helped me out with a great massage. that really helps but it make the days very long when you get up this early :) Took 1/2 less oxy yesterday and I don't think that caused it but it was not fun.

Can't wait til I sleep through the nights again. No sweats though and that's progress

Warmup: 30 minute walking, easy pace and no mobility work,just kept the solid pace and gait.

8 am
One arm swings
12 kg x 5/5
16 kg x 5/5
20 kg x 5/5
24 kg x 5/5
         x 6/6
         x 7/7
         x 8/8
         x 9/9
         x 10/10
 these went well although it took awhile to adjust to all the new alignments. No pain though just have to conciously BEND the left knee more.Weight felt light

Two hand swings
16 kg x 10
24 kg x 10 x 4 sets


getting tired now. these felt light and easy too.

Clubbell arm casts
15 x 10/10
25 x 5/5
    x 8/8
    x 10/10

Barbell Curls
45 x 5
55 x 5 x 3 sets

Now this felt like a real workout, sweating and everything,lol. SO nice to be able to start with a mile long walk and have it be nothing. bodes well.

have a lot of work to do to get my endurance and stamina back to where they were; I think my strength will come back faster than that but we'll see.

The goal is my walking ability in Croatia and Italy. not the Beast yet. Soon enough

datsit
Sisu

" The legs are the first to go"

So says the old adage about how to tell when people start getting old  and I think it's true.People's legs get weak very quickly as they age through disuse, injury or a combination of both.Keeping one's legs strong is neither fun nor easy.They are big, tough muscles and demand a lot of work to maintain much less improve strength and endurance.

It's a stereotype and running joke in most gyms about how busy it is on chest and arm day and how deadly quiet it is on leg day.That was always the hallmark for me if someone was going to be a good training partner or now as to whether he always made it to 'leg day'. G-d forbid he skip it without calling. If they did miss it someone better be bleeding and or in the emergency room.

Leaving me without a spot on squat day was a terminal offense. Meaning your ass got terminated as  "training partner" immediately. Legs are hard but they also have a big payback. Injury your knee or your ankle and see how complicated, hard and heavy life gets. And how quickly.

I've been living, and operating on basically one leg for most of my life and now that I have two working legs it's pretty eye opening just how imbalanced and out of square I was. Didn't really have much choice when one side of the body won't hold you up but it was a revelation.

I immediately felt a strong sense of security and freedom, of all things.When you only have one working leg you literally can't " stand on your own two feet", or run away from danger, hell I couldn't even WALK away. " Carry your own weight" or "stand your ground"." He doesn't have a leg to stand on" describes weakness at it's worst.

I could barely stand up at all,really. Now I know I will be able to walk as far as I need to to accomplish whatever goal that occurs. I will be able to run to, or from a situation that requires speed of action. And, most importantly,  I will be able to stand up On my own two feet, for whatever life throws at me :)

So many of our elders are too weak to get out of chair, or get off the floor if they fall. That is tragic but it will never be me .

Light day today walking, focus on technique, multiple terrains, speeds, some marching, backwards walking and high steps

3842 steps
1.636 mile
44 min
2.2 ave speed

Sleep was good, up at 3 am with tight leg but slept mostly through the night. Foam roll and floor work started the day

Deload walk and some stairs, first walk no cane.

Took it easier today and walked 2864 steps about two miles in about 40 minutes Went slower worked on technique and de loaded a bit.But I did it with NO CANE at all. Didn't even put it in the car.I felt I was ready.
 At the end did these stairs twice



Man, I have literally FORGOTTEN how to walk down stairs correctly. I haven't done it in so long I have completely lost the pattern! This was good start to re learning.

afterwards ice, foam roller, stretching and knee rocks on the stability ball.

Morning surprise. I could hang my left leg completely down to the floor, to 90 degrees with no pain first thing,which I couldn't do yesterday.

Not a great nights sleep, calf cramps, Diana suggested compression stockings so I wrapped my calf slightly with an ace bandage ( lightly) to create some compression and see if it helps tonight. the stockings are coming saturday


weight up a bit to 151.5 appetite much better. feel more normal than sick. No night sweats last night thank G-d, those suck.

lots of little work all day long today. a good deload day. tomorrow to the studio to play on the recumbent bike, elliptical and treadmill. this should be interesting.

Two week anniversary workout

 

After yesterdays smaller volume I decided that I would try to do a longer walk today to celebrate my two week post TKR anniversary. I was pretty knackered all afternoon though, don't know why, but I was just tired. Knee was ok and calf was less tight but I took more than a few naps.:)

I DID manage to get through the night with just one oxy which is HUGE! Woke up at 1:30 am and used the roller, stick and lacrosse ball to open things up rather than take another pill and this time it worked! Back up at 3 and that was enough time to wait.

Big walk! 
6:30 am
7,361 steps
3.13 miles
53 minutes
3.5 mph

PLUS most of it was without the cane. Just carried it. Did use it the last 12 minutes or so as I was fatiguing and didn't want to let my gait get too wonky.
some fun on the pbars:


Then stair practice:
UP 15 steps- no problem 
DOWN 15 VERY slowly letting the rear leg stretch on each rep. not too bad, but man have I forgotten how to do this :)


 11 am
One arm swings
12 kg x 10/10 x 5 sets
100 reps!!



Olympic bar curls
4 x 7 

easy :) should have added weight

Gripper
Trainer x 3
#1 x 3 singles
# 1.5 x 3 almost singles
#1 x 3 singles
#1.5 x 2 almosts

great stuff.like a real workout.

what a blessing. what a privilege it is to be able to move and work and suffer with the effort of good work. I am very lucky to have this chance to start over again. very lucky. and I will not male a mess of it or ever take it for granted. This, I swear.

datsit
Sisu

An odd vacation

Seemed to have figured something out last night, or I am just healing,but I actually slept very well, with only one night sweat tshirt change and pretty much pain free until 2 am when the left calf wanted to get up. that was 6 hours of decent rest. Took an oxy right before bed at 8, seemed to have worked well but I had 4 overall yesterday.

Not going to worry about it this week. I'm on vacation.

I never take vacations. I have nothing against them but I just never have. It seems only when I get hurt do I get a chance to take time out and take care of myself. It's an odd way to get to 'relax' but it's something.
I have 6 days, including today  until I have to go back to work and then won't be able to focus on myself from the start , when I am most rested and have the best energy.So I am going to enjiy every day of this week. and if the calf pain would let go it bit it would make it easier.

The calf pain feels 'nervy', very much like sciatica, and it very well may be sciatica. I got up, got on the floor and rolled out, did some up and down dogs and stretched out the hammies. got to sleep for another hour.

as per usual once up I felt much better

Walk
6:15 am sun just coming up, so beautiful and fresh air.

2748 steps
1.17 mile
1.8 mph
39 min total

This was exactly what I needed, a down day, stepping back but still challenging the walk in different ways.
started off purposely slow , concentrating on toe off. Stop at a Church a couple blocks in and practiced some stair work  5 stairs x 3 times. then back into the walk

at the part used the bleacher stair to do  lunge type stretch.plant the foot and lean in. good knee and calf stretch.

as per Pavel's advice I did a one foot static calf stretch off the bleacher. hold for about a minute. need to do this one lots more. a long static calf stretch.

varied the terrain I was walking on. From dirt path to wet grass, to dry grass, tan bark,back to dirt,etc, Also played with walking on the curb as if it were a balance beam. excellent for everything especially balance and stability training. one the way home did 3 blocks of walking backwards!

Now this is really felt was important. TONS of quad work as well as ankle and calf. Once I got back to the house did two more 200 ft sections backwards. Love it.

So this one was slower, shorter and less intense but incorporated all kinds of great rehab and PT movements. Oh, also did my first supported squats, holding onto a tree, with a medium width stance. Not much depth but it didn't hurt much either.

Took the cane with but didn't use it much at all except on the varied terrain and at the end of the walk, when I felt the leg fatigue.


Afterwards, ice and LOTS of myo ball and rollering and thumping. This was great and it's just the start of the day.

More walking and still no sleep

Even with more oxy sleep is poor. I get no more than a few hours( if i'm lucky) before  tightening calf, hammy and IT band wake me up. Searching for a leg position that doesn't do this ( and believe me I've tried everything twice) and it's a bit frustrating.

It's one thing to deal with pain, another to deal with pain in the night, and quite another to ( try) to deal with pain in the night when you're exhausted from no sleep and tons of day pain and no solution in sight.

Ack.

But as exhausted as I may be as soon as I actually get up, instead of trying to eke out a few more minutes of "sleep" , have a coffee I start to feel pretty good.

For today's walk Tracy and I went to the Campbell Park and walked around the parcourse.
And, of course, since she was with me I went too far and too fast. Not drastically just a  bit too much

6004 steps
2.56 mile
45 min
3.4 mile mph

this is more than what the mile markers said at the park but I'm going with the data from the pedometer. This is a solid pr and perhaps the most I've walked continuously in 20+ years :)
Tracy helped me a lot in my gait pattern, she is developing a very good coaches eye.

Worked on getting my ankles to actually bend as I go through the ROM. Cues were to lift the heel instead of toe off and lift the foot in swing phase instead of lift the knee. All good although I had to ice and stretch as soon as I got home

Bodyweight: 150 lbs  ouch. not sleeping ,eating or training will do that to a guy. No worries it will come back soon enough.

11am Grip work
Trainer
x 3,4,5 x 3 rounds

#1 ordered.

back to sitting on the stability ball and doing tons of knee rocks to get the knee to bend more. a very easy way to get LOTS of flexion reps in without even  thinking about it.

Also, can tolerate the foam roller ( blue only) now and that helps.

datsit.
Sisu/

Walking practice

6:30 am walking practice:

4,968 steps
2.15 mile
ave speed 3.0
total time 42:12

this free pedometer app is great. really working on all parts of gait mechanics: full extension at contact point, straight leg in support phase,full stretch into toe off in rear phase, bend then lift the knee in swing phase. Rinse and repeat.

Very interesting what muscles are actually working on their own ( glutes, calves) now that the unstable wonky knee is gone.

Also did block long marching drills focusing on high ( as possible without losing back position) knees and cross body pattern.

9 more days left of my 'vacation' and I'm going to make the most of it 

Not a great nights sleep. tried to minimize the meds and it didn't work well. got some sleep but achy leg muscles made the rest of the night miserable. Todays strategy: take the oxy RIGHT before I go to bed and work backwards on the rest of the day, splitting pills as necessary now.

Otherwise than that great day yesterday. The walk got slower at the end and I could feel fatigue but not pain. make great point NOT to change gait mechanics to compensate for fatigue. This is great. So love being out before the sun comes up and the world starts to get noisy, smelly and hot :)

Just the first workout; have stretching, mobility, cpm machine and myofascial work to do later
Now ice.

Air swings and 1.5 mile walk

 Got the best nights sleep I've had in the last 10 days and what I difference it made.It wasn't even the full night but it was wonderful. Felt so much better waking up. Plus NO headache upon awakening.
only took 3 oxy's yesterday so perhaps that helped. But I also stopped the adaptogens as well so I'm not sure which it was. a couple more days like this then add back in some adaptogens. Figured out how to jerry rig a jump stretch band to keep my ankle in dorsi flexion during sleep and that helped a lot too. much less calf tightness in the AM.

Walked with Tracy this morning and that was awesome. 1.5 miles in the cool morning fresh air. man it was brilliant! This is going to be my mobility work,my leg strength work as well as re patterning work for quite awhile. Can't wait to add stair work in too but today I went up all the curbs left leg first on the up and left leg first on the down.
My  progressions to walking DOWN real stairs.

Air swings
4 x 5
1 x 6
1 x 8
1 x 10
3 x 5

Barbell curls
4 x 5 with 45 lbs

Pbar Dips
3x5

Gripper
Trainer x 8 total reps done in singles, alternating hands.
( just purchased the #1- this will really help maintain my strength until I can go heavier for real.)


Nice! I actually feel closer to being myself again than I have since the surgery! Went out to breakfast and hung out and Bs'dwith the  boys for hour plus so energy is much better too.

Now, however, I need a nap :)

datsit
Sisu

Pedestrian

 Last night was much better than the night before although still had a decent sized headache in the AM. It's probably the meds. I took 4 yesterday and will try to get down to 3 today. Ditching the ice machine helped too as far as keep the knee less stiff. Still have to ice, just going to use ice bags.

Did that twice last nice and worked well. As soon as I get up and moving the head feels better. It's probably this head forward position I am in more than ever sitting in bed and chairs so much. I can take the knee pain better than I can headache. Hate headache.:)

Sweated twice last night as well but less than before, another fun side effect of Oxy. Yea!

 Got up stretched out the hamstring and foot and go into the CPM machine. Didn't use it yesterday and might as  well get as much out of it as I can while it's here. Started at 87 and went up a degree each rotation til I got to 100 and then did 10 reps there. It was not easy. Need to push this up to 115 asap. Then right into the walk.

Nice overcast morning and I took another route. One of the things I remember well about my running walking days is that I always ran by time, not distance, so I could go anywhere I wanted which was very 'freeing'.

In fact today reminded me very much of my old days as a runner/ walker.Just as I am student of physical culture now I was then as well and the 'old guys' in the endurance world were called "pedestrians". Basically long distance movers who ran, walked, jogged and sprinted huge distances on foot.

There was a freedom attached to that ability that I found mesmerizing.The ability to just walk out your door under your own power and GO. For almost as far and long as you wanted to. I used to  run/walk twice a day, seven days a week for more than a few years training for ultra distance racers, which I never competed in but didn't matter. The training was the thing; the freedom was the thing. Getting into the flow and getting lost there for hours was the thing. Nothing made me feel more at peace than that.

And even my little walk this morning brought that back to me full force.

I walked 1.12 miles this morning 2641 steps and they were all glorious. I finished, as is my habit, faster than I started and it was smoother than I have walked in eons. I made a habit of going up and down each curb to work the steps and that was way easier already too. Even going down.

Plus, lets not forget NO PAIN while walking. I can't hardly believe it. Just 13 days ago the same walk would have seriously hurt and I would have had to spend a few hours untangling the knots it created. Now I feel just fine.Tired overall but fine.

Next up will be some high steps, heel slides stability ball knee slides and some other stuff. Super happy. Now, if I can really sleep at night.....

EDIT

11 am work
on the floor with lacrosse ball under piriformis and all i can say is  YEOOOWWWW!!! Man those are tight! doing in the bed with the supernova ball isnt the same. they lit up like the fourth of July. notice as I was trying to get to the floor ( frog squat) that there was lots of tension in external rotation- usually NOT the problem. so I went to the hip rotators. good idea lots of work to be done there. as well as the lower hammies with the lacrosse ball as well, on the floor :)

also, doing toe point pike sit now is completely different for the same reason. left leg used to externally rotate SO much couldn't internally rotate much at all. now it's basically even.and straight, as are my knees :)
my L sit will look much better now

couple bouts of ice bags, foam roller and LOTS of thumper on calves and hammies and IT. TFL and top quads still too sensitive for it yet. but helping a lot

The long day of the night.

Night time is the worst. It seems pain increases 10 fold in the dark and the hours seem like  days when you can't sleep. It's hard enough to deal with pain when you are awake and have energy. when you're exhausted and you are supposed to be resting and sleeping it's just that much harder.

Compared to the night before, when I awoke at midnight with when was tantamount to a migraine( which I never have had before) last night was pretty easy. But an hour after coming to bed my leg got 'achy' and I couldn't find  a comfortable spot to rest it. Which meant; no sleeping. Ice on, ice off. Massage ball under: calf, hamstring, IT band, glutes, calf ,etc., etc., etc.

Sleep came in fits and starts and had to wake up to take meds at midnight. Helped a little. When you get into this recovery mode there really is no day or night. Just times when you are awake and times when you are asleep. When I'm awake I try to work on something;rarely is there just rest and relax but it's getting better.

Plus the night sweats. Opiates do that and this is no exception. Finally get some sleep only to wake up drenched in sweat. Nice. ;) At least last night was just once, not the three times the previous night.

I'm amazed Tracy gets any rest at all with all my tossing and turning but she's a champ and hasn't complained at all :)

Mornings, by contrast are my best time. Lots of energy( even after a bad night sleep) coffee, meds, stretching, mobilizing moving; all things that make me feel better.

Started doing pranayama breating in the AM to help open up my lungs, which the meds surpress.Very helpful.

AM EDIT:
First full lap around the block with just the cane. 1322 steps,.57 mile 22 min, 1.7 mph ( lol @ pedometer) NO PAIN! Nice.
Great way to start first day of Week Two.

My Knee replacement, One week in.

Say hello to my new left knee . It's been a week to the day since I had the operation and I can safely say that everything has gone very very well. Nothing's perfect and there have been some bumps in the road but one week out I am doing better than expected and have high high hopes for the coming weeks and months.
The operation took 3.5 hours, 1.5 more than usual as my old knee, as my Dr said, "was just not normal". It was so deformed that had to use other procedures to place the cutting devices and make the implant fit. One part of the medial tibial component ended up being 3 mm shorter than the other as that was how much bone needed to be removed and the tibial component shimmed up!
You even see it on the X ray above- looking straight ahead the left side with bone is lower than the right side( with the fibula). Either way, they made it work.

With that much cutting and sawing Mark is a very sore puppy! Most of the pain the next days was from that.The knee itself, being cobalt and polyethylene are perfect with no nerve endings.:)
Bending or holding it was very painful, even with the super drugs I got.
Didn't get to walk the first day as blood pressure was too high for some reason but settled down the next and I did my first walk and 'pseudo' stair negotiations.


I was very happy that I could put full weight on my left leg and that I could actually stand up straight on it for the first time in forever. This all however, will take some getting used to.

I can get into a swing stance and have done some air swings that feel perfectly safe! But the real priority will be getting knee range of motion into the 110+ area. That HAS to come first, before everything else.
(-5 degrees extension on the goniometer in the hospital, day two the day before the op=  -15 deg)

I got a nice curvy scar to balance out my other one

Saw Dr Blatz yesterday and he was very pleased with everything, how the knee looked, how I looked and moved  and my health. He said it was fine if I handled my own physical therapy. I did one session yesterday with the PT that was prescribed and it was less than a joke. I did more productive work in the morning before I went there than at the session. And since I have to pay for it out of pocket I don't want to waste my money or time.

Most of my updates about this will be via my facebook page until my energy turns around. I'm pretty tired and my 'perfect' daily routine is completely blown to bits so it will take some time to ge things sorted out.

I am napping alot and nights are very long and tough. Mornings, however are great :)

My facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/mark.reifkind

If you are not a FB friend and want to follow this just send a friend request.

This is what I've been training for all this time. This is strength for real life.This is when it really counts. THIS is SISU.

datsit for now!

Long cycle press 28 kg, one arm swings , belt squat and bar curls. the real last workout.

Well last Saturday was the last real HEAVY day but today's workout is officially the last workout before surgery.Good to report I'm feeling very strong and fit, a good thing going into what I am headed for!

Missed this Saturday's training so I was just a bit fresher than of late and felt it. Presses felt solid and swings were strong. Not huge volume but I didn't want to push it too hard and have a bunch of excess metabolites in the system right before surgery.It felt great. Started strong and finished fresh. Just what my head needed;every bit as much as my body :)

One arm swing warmup: 16 kg  x 5/5 x 3 sets

Long Cycle Clean and Press
16 kg x 3/3
20 kg x 3/3
24 kg x 2/2
28 kg x 2/2 x 3 sets
         x 3/3 x 3 sets

Felt like I could have done 5's. Definitely not strict. I am essentially doing the clean and press equivalent of a touch and go bench press but that's fine. Shoulders feel great and the weight's moving strongly. I can always dead stop pause one if I have to.Now that the cleans don't jack up my shoulder I much prefer this style to short cycle presses. much more.
If I had to pick up one exercise to do and nothing else this might be it.

One arm swings
24 kg x 5/5
28 kg x 5/5
32 kg x 5/5
36 kg x 5/5
40 kg x 5/5

this was strong and solid as well! Just wanted to touch a big(er) weight, not do any volume and this worked perfectly.

Belt squat
40 kg x 20 x 4 sets

Now this will really change after the surgery! It will be great and weird at the same time to be able squat on both legs again!

Barbell curls
45 x 5
65 x 5
75 x 5
80 x 5~!

sweet. this was the perfect finisher. Time to eat, rest, stretch and focus. :)

Datsit.
Sisu.