Here's how I'm avoiding knee surgery

If i was going to try to avoid knee surgery, this is what i would do

Actually I did hurt my knee so this is what I am doing.

I started jiu jitsu a couple months ago, and (of course) tweaked my knee 3 weeks in. That specific class I was learning knee shields, did about 50 with my 200 pound plus partner.

knee shields maximally flex AND load the knee

To note, this is not a NEW injury - my right knee has meniscus and joint issues. And if you know anything about the meniscus, you’ll know that a knee shield (forced knee flexion) is a great way to irritate it.

How do I know it’s meniscus? I had the following symptoms:

• Pain with fully bending and straightening

• Pain with twisting

• Clicking and popping

This was the most painful episode I’ve ever had. The popping (new to me) was the most concerning. Walking was painful. I even texted Kobra, and that smart ass sends me a link to his meniscus tweet thread…

One day I may need to get surgery, but that day is not today. Here’s the routine I’m using that’s gotten me back to where I am right now.

#1 “Rehab” stuff

• knee extension

• knee flexion

Knee extension

Priority #1 is restore knee extension and quad function. My knee was slightly limited compared to the other side.

My go-to for anything knee is quad smash. 5-10 seconds of flexing the quad, 5 seconds of resting. 20 reps.

Click the pic above for the video

I also like banded knee extension and have had success with it.

If i’m being honest this did NOTHING for me.

Knee Flexion

Initially I started with wall heel slides

The foot on the wall gives support and reduces pain. 50 reps all day long

As I could tolerate more I progressed to Repeated knee flexion with my foot elevated

#2 Strength work

Split squats. I wanted to keep my weights relatively heavy to not lose a lot of strength, so I went with split squats.

I’m able to keep a vertical shin, and this stance has less knee rotation versus regular squatting. All of this means

split squats hurt less

I did these on my “volume” day.

vertical shin = knee pain friendly

I continued to squat, deadlift, and power clean, but dropped the weights ~ 25%.

Progress at 2 months

After some actual time off and trial and error the first couple weeks, these are the numbers I hit last week:

• Squat 335# x5 (last 350# x 5)

• Deadlift 365# x5 (390# x 3)

• Power cleans 205# x3x5

I can also sprint and jump.

Expect to be below your numbers after an injury since you 1) took time off and 2) have pain.

It’ll take me 2-3 more weeks to get to my old #s

but I think for the most part i’m out of the woods.

From a rehab perspective, all I did was

• relative rest

• treated the joint issues

• continued to train as normal just reduced the intensity so I could ramp back up