Arthritic knee and twisting squats

Have an arthritic knee (ACL and meniscus tear over twenty years ago, 4 surgeries over time, but now remaining meniscus is chronically torn, and arthitis present particularly in medial compartment: doc says can't take out any more meniscus, little option short of replacement) which is limiting my progression.

I can do SLS PE1 and iM>1 (though they did irritate it a bit), and can sort of do SLS PE2 (going ass to grass on right irritates it) but twisting squats below about 3/4 of the way down are a no-go. I have been doing them gently for a bit and don't seem to be making progress (7th week of doing them).

Since it seems unlikely I will be able to pass this iM, and even the priors were a bit irritating, I am suspicious that I will not be able to progress in the SLS movement. I am suspect there are some things that can not be un-zombified.

Should I give up the SLS progressions and just go back to bulgarian split squats and lunges? Other alternatives?

have you tried sitting on blocks to reduce the range of motion?

Yes, well, more like a low bench.

Doesn't really matter. I can easily go just  to the point of pain with no assistance, but further, doesn't matter if there is bench or holding on to a support.

If you can't go through the full range of motion, then don't. You gradually increase the range over time.

Whatever range of motion you can do without pain and without assistance is what your current level of mobility is at

Right. After 8 weeks I've seen no change. Not confident this week change.

Dzosh said:

Right. After 8 weeks I've seen no change. Not confident this week change.

Around here change/progress is usually measured in months...and usually at least 6. Now, considering you have a previous injury, I would definitely recommend upping that measurement to potential year(s).

You could also find a good physio/sports medicine/etc. person to help you possibly get more ROM, or at least tell you it probably won't be possible. Hopefully someone else on the boards here will have some more light to shed as well.

Mark Collins would be a good person to speak to since he's a physio and also familiar with the movements we do here in F1.

Doc is surprised I can do as much as I can now. Not looking for complete ROM, but I would hope for at least the beginnings of change by this point.

In not sure I'm up for a few years on the same pe.

Not sure who to talk to exactly, but it has been mentioned elsewhere on the forum that there are some exceptions for mastery when chronic injuries are present.

TANSTAAFL said:

Not sure who to talk to exactly, but it has been mentioned elsewhere on the forum that there are some exceptions for mastery when chronic injuries are present.

Thanks. Guidance on this would be great. Hopefully someone with further knowledge will chime in.

Saw Doc again. He says "not with that knee."

Oh well. Looks like I'm doing F6 now.

Dzosh said:

Thanks. Guidance on this would be great. Hopefully someone with further knowledge will chime in.

Dzosh, I have a somewhat related experience. I've had reconstructive shoulder surgery following several dislocations. I don't even notice that my shoulder has  been operated in daily use and strength training, becouse my recovery has been very good, but wide grip L-pullups, russian L-dips and dislocates all aggravate my shoulder, especially when done in parallel. For now, I have skipped russian L-dips and wide grip L-pullups, because they were simply too painful. I don't believe in doing them just for the sake of doing them - Joint pain is always bad when it comes to exercise. The word from Cole Dano was that if there was a medical prehistory that justified skipping an exercise, then that's ok. He even hinted that you could still be certified, if desired, although I'd like to hear it from Coach personally. Anyway, I don't really have in interest in certification, I'm in this for longevity, injury prevention and just seing how far I can go.

So now I'm working slowly on the dislocates, and once I'm comfortable with those (which may never happen), I might go back and review the russian L-dip and wide grip L-pullup, starting with bent knees, but if the pain persists, I'll just drop them entirely.

With your history of structural damage it is unlikely you will be able to do exercises that involve rotation of the knee joint as it will irritate a torn meniscus. You will find Hawaiian squats difficult as well. You should be able to do other SLS exercises in F2.

You would need to check with Coach if you can skip exercises for certification.

Tanks for replies. I'm not interested in certification, so no problem there. Doc says to avoid full loaded flexion as well. He says going past 90 is fine, but not to close the angle fully, so I will give up deck squats too. I understand the problem is not just the meniscus but the articular cartilage too.

He also said with my history of spinal disc issues to give up Jefferson curls.