muscle weakness

[lyn]

Im 8 mnths post op and having difficulty getting up on my own leg power when I do deep knee bends like a catcher would do. Has anyone else experienced this. I checked with Lee at Dr. Gross office, she advised me to do some eliptical, lower leg weight excersizes, squats. Sounds like common sense, just curious if anyone else has encountered this. Thanks, lyn

[John C]

Yes, this has been one of the hardest things for me to get back, and I am still working at doing exercises for it at five years out. I can ski hard all day, play tennis for hours, and do twenty minutes of sprinting up and down 6 flights of stairs, but pressing up from a deep squat is one that has been challenging for me. I don't notice it in any other activity, but in deep one legged squats, my operated leg is still only about 70% of my other leg.
There was a post on here a month or two ago that discussed a theory on how the cutting of the soft tissue may have a permanent affect on the potential muscle strength, but it was just a theory that we were discussing. Since that discussion, I have added a lot more squat variations to my routine, and there does seem to be some progress.
I will add that at eight months, you are still only about half way through the healing process, so you still have lots of progress ahead of you if you work at it.

[hernanu]

It took me a while to get back to doing those as well. I've found yoga (started at about 1.4 years) helpful. Just keep doing them, maybe with a chair or some other support to help you up until they are easy to do on your own.