You tell me..

Hey,

I am new here and have yet to buy any program, though I am looking forward to doing so. I spent the spare time of my last few days reading through numerous post that have answered the majority of my questions regarding what the foundation programs entails. I really appreciate the community you guys have created here, putting knowledge before the dollar.

Background:

I know nothing about gymnastics and really my strength is currently mediocre. I used to play football and Olympic lift and because of improper training/technique I have torn my ACL, MCL, Meniscus, and Hip Labrum. This all took place back in 2005 (the last year I competed). I had a LARS ligament put in my knee at that time, played 8 weeks after my LARS ACL reconstruction (yeah, insane!), finished the season, won CIF and was named MVP. After the season, I hung it all up. Have never competed or played again. My body has been torn to pieces because of my juvenile impatience. I went on suffering the pain of the torn hip labrum and debilitating knee issues that have progressively gotten worse. Therefore, in September 2013 I went under the knife and had my hip reconstructed (they removed my labrum and constructed a new one out of my TFL/ITBand). Next week I am having another surgery where they will remove the LARS ligament and hardware in my knee and bone graft a piece of my hip bone to fill the tunnels (holes where titanium screws are now). Then, I will let that heal for 4 months and have an ACL reconstruction, probably using a hamstring graft.

First off, I would like to begin my foundation 1 training while I am letting my "tunnels" heal. The doc says I will be fine to participate in low impact training after a few weeks. Though, I am sure there will be times where I will have to stop training and too regress.

Question:

The reason for my post is that I am sick of dealing with physical therapist. Firstly, I don't have insurance and Second, I have lost much faith in the profession of physical therapy. I am an avid life long student of both nutrition and kinesiology. With that said, I would like to rehab myself using primarily bodyweight exercises. Physical therapy does strengthen me, but tends to leave me more "taut" than anything. I notice that much of bodyweight training is a practice of both flexibility and strength as one. I feel this is essential for proper balance amongst the body as a system functioning as a whole. I am a huge admirer of both Kit Laughlin and Christopher Sommer, they really are some of the elites who hold the secrets and share them openly for the better of others. Furthermore, I was hoping that someone would have some incite about who to look into in terms of bodyweight rehabilitation. Someone that is on the same wavelength as Coach Sommer and Kit Laughlin. I know there is some material out there waiting to unveil itself to me and was hoping someone here could point me in the right direction. If not, I may just have to make it my life long pursuit in creating such a thing

Thanks,

Ryan

My recommendation is to contact Mark Collins here on the forum.  He is a PT out of Australia and has had quite a bit of success utilizing GB with his patients.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Coach Sommer,

First off, thank you for sharing all of your knowledge. I look forward to being humbled by your program. And too, thanks for the advice.

Ryan

TautLikeTiger said:

First off, I would like to begin my foundation 1 training while I am letting my "tunnels" heal. The doc says I will be fine to participate in low impact training after a few weeks. Though, I am sure there will be times where I will have to stop training and too regress.

First off I need to say I don't have any experience with your kind of injuries.  That being said, if you do follow the program you may need to take it easy on the leg work.  There's a lot of direct joint preparation, and it sound like you've basically destroyed that one knee so....

Any straddle work might give you trouble as well.  As it is I sometimes get a wicked cramp in my ITB so if you've had yours moved/reconstructed it might cause you problems.

This kind of training takes patience.  It's very much a 'check your ego at the door, take care of today and tomorrow will take care of itself' kind of thing. 

However, it sounds like you've got your head on straight now.  As long as you're willing to listen to your body, and back off whenever anything causes the wrong type of pain, I'd say the program would be a good investment of your time/money.

Just so you know, I've heard of people who've had hip replacements still squatting, so don't let your injury hold you back.  It just means you need to be smart, and a little more careful than everyone else...

Thanks for sharing your opinion. My health is a continuous and daily practice. I am not looking for the 8 weeks to 6 pack abs. I appreciate your concerns too, yet I am confident of my bodies ability to heal.  however, I'd appreciate if you'd reassure my wife about my head being on straight, cause I'm not sure she believes the same.

How do I go about contacting Mark Collins?

Hi Ryan

My gosh, it sounds like you underwent the full Robocop transformative surgery. I haven't got injuries to your extent, but I have had labrum repair done to my shoulder following multiple dislocations. For some of the pulling/pushing exercises in the foundation series, I have to be vigilant not to screw myself up any further, but as long as that's kept in mind and one refrains from full on no-pain-no-gain meathead mentality, it really is a most excellent program.

Good luck with your recovery journey.

Ravn,

Haha, ya bionic-man, right? thanks, I appreciate at it.

TautLikeTiger said:

How do I go about contacting Mark Collins?

He's on the forum.  Send him a PM.

https://www.gymnasticbodies.com/forum/user/4880-mark-collins/

Dear friends, can anyone tell how to get rid of ugly posture of walking because of hip movement while walking of my daughter (10 yr). Pl. Advice me. Ujjwal Biswas. ujjbis@gmail.com

Good luck with the injuries.

I have just started F1 and H1 and have a few injuries myself.

GST is different from lifting. It is like learning how to walk all over again. But not in a discouraging way. Instead of lifting as much as you can, you do movements as 'well' as you can. At least for me, the strain is more concentration and 'technical' instead of just trying to move something heavy.

Hope this helps,

Gabe

Totally appreciate all of your guys' comments, but my post was wondering if anyone new of body weight type physical therapy for ACL reconstruction. I am not worried about how my body will respond to this program. Coach pointed me in the right direction. Thanks

SLS series in F1 is ideal. The rehab will depend on your goals. If you need to get back to running with changes of direction then you will need running specific drills.

Apart from a balance board/mat there is no reason for you to do anything other than bodyweight. You will need great hamstrings post ACL repair. I have not seen anything as brutal and effective as Coach's hamstring/glute exercises. And no they are not prone leg curls in a hamstring machine .