Knee sprain - looking for modifications for stretch series, F1, HS, etc.

Aloha Forum and Coach!

I joined GB about 2.5 years ago to help rehab from a neck injury (caused by years of prone paddleboard racing + computer work). I've also been to two GB workshops. It's been fabulous and has helped me rehab and prehab other parts of my body — parts I never thought would move freely again (like my dislocated/repaired shoulders, 2005, and ACL/MCL repaired knee, 2007). My knees have gotten so much stronger than they ever were post-PT, and I had almost forgotten I'd ever had surgery.

Then, last week, I ignored my body and a bunch of signs (I was very tired muscularly and mentally from bodyboard surfing, preparing for the Pipeline competition in march + I hit my head). I went to a tumbling class I've been doing 2x per week. The class is great, but I train with my daughters' group (5-13 year olds, and I'm 43), and there is not a lot of structure, so I usually scale things as I need to (I am a huge, huge, huge, fan of foundation 1 and its progression structure as it has allowed me to grow in strength and mobility following coaches program and strategies). But this time, I think I had a slight concussion from earlier in the day, and I was not thinking straight. We did some box jumps off soft gymnastics boxes, which have given me problems before, but these were very short, so I went ahead... on the third series, I landed on my knee and heard it pop (but it sounded more like a joint release than an ACL pop). Needless to say, my knee has swollen up, I'm out of bodyboarding comps for a while, and I'm waiting on my surgen/MRI results. The injury is not as bad as my 2007 one, in part because my leg (and the rest of me) is so much stronger in body-weight work that I can move around without too many issues, and I can already put some weight on my leg.

My biggest frustration is not being able to do maintenance work, particularly stretching work. If I can come out of this injury with more mobility in the rest of my body, that would be a benefit... but so much of the programs require legs (even the stretch series, handstand, etc).

Any recommendations for exercises/stretches and/or modifications to the basic stretch series, handstand, mobility, F1 into beginning F2 greatly appreciated.

Mahalo,
Kanesa

Hi Kanesa,

I'm sorry to hear about your knee. I definitely understand how frustrating and how much of a bummer it can be to be held back by your own body.

I recommend that you avoid doing your lower body stretching sessions until after you have gotten approval from your doctor. Your Number one priority right now is making sure that your body is able to rest and recover. Now, like you said, that doesn't mean you can't work on other things. This is a great opportunity to work on your other joint's mobility, thoracic flexibility, core and upper body strength. I especially recommend taking this time to revisit core and upper body progression that you have already mastered. Spending some time refining older progressions will help you to maintain your current level of strength and will reinforce good habits moving forward. For your Thoracic course, I suggest only doing as much as you are able without bothering your knee. It is ok to skip certain stretches during your TB session, especially the bridge variations towards the end. As far as handstand goes, I recommend being careful on any of your PE's as you could fall and hurt the leg more, however, mobility exercises are fair game. Any standing mobility variations can be done seated.

Once you have been cleared by your doctor we can reevaluate and come up with a new plan to help you get back to your normal routine!