About two months ago I posted a fitness update and shared that I had sustained my first real injury that impacted my workouts. I hurt my knee, or so I thought my knee, picking up something from my living room floor. For the first two weeks after my injury, I dealt with the pain and discomfort before finally taking action and going to physical therapy. It was a game changer. I honestly did not think PT was gong to be helpful at all, however the two therapists I’m seeing showed that my knee injury was not actually from my knee and have helped me to correct my lifting forms. I’m so happy that I took the time (and invested the money) in physical therapy and wanted to share an injury update.
The root of my injury came from a hip imbalance which was pulling through my quad to the inside of my knee. My therapists also said that it’s going to be helpful to have a strong core in order to hold my form during heavy lifts. Now, I’ve always known that a strong core is important for squats and dead lifts, the problem is that I’ve never taken the time to do my core exercises. Some of the PT exercises I’ve been doing to strengthen my knee and hip include the supine heel slide, prone femoral nerve mobilization, lunges, hip mobilizations including stretching out my hip before all of my lifts, single leg balance and marching bridges. For my core, I’ve been doing lifting leg bridges and planks for pure strengthening and I they’re working for both strength and a little aesthetics, which is a plus.
I’ve been continuing with my split since I’ve been in therapy and I’m finally able to do all my lifts again, though not at the same strength that I was. My guess is that I will spend the rest of August and July working back to my full strength at dead lifts and heavy squats again. I’ve only recently starting squatting with the bar again and I’ve gotten back up to is 95 pounds.
I’m also training squats with a hip circle resistance band, which I can’t believe I didn’t do sooner. I’ve already noticed a huge improvement in my knee stability which allows me to focus more on my form overall. If you’re in the market for some resistance bands, which are great to have for quick at home workouts or traveling, I purchased this set from Amazon and I’ve very happy with the variety in the pack. One of my therapists, who is also a powerlifter, recommended that I squat at a lower weight with the bands for a few weeks while I focus on my form. She also recommended that I do my squats with a wider stance to accommodate for my body shape.
For now, I am sticking to my gym split as close to my routine as possible. If I’m having a day where my knee is hurting more I lower the weight or I do not perform the exercise at all. It’s important more me to keep mindful of the exercises I’m performing and to not push myself further my body wants to go to prevent the injury from occurring again.
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