Grappling Workout with Injuried Knee

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Luther

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Guys, a few hours ago I trained bjj and fucked up my knee. I don't know how badly, but it feels loose and I can barely walk. I will see my doctor soon, but from my experience I'm sure something is wrong, and probably tomorrow my knee will feel tight and it will need one or more weeks of rest. (I've taken a nonsteroidal anti-inflamatory and iced the knee.)

All this because I should compete in 10 days in the Bjj European Championship and if I'm lucky (with the injury) I can make it. In the meantime I don't want to get out of shape, and work my cardio during the resting days.

Is it possible to do a grappling workout with an injuried knee? What do you suggest?


Hope you can help me.


Note: this thread is similar to Cardio with Injuried Knee, in the conditioning forum, by me as well. However the scope of the threads is different and if you have generic conditioning suggestions, please post them too! (in the other thread)
 
I usually run to keep in good cardio shape when i am not training, but i am sure that will not feel good on your knee. I'm not an expert, but I would suggest getting into a pool and doing some swimming.
 
Yeah, running would kill my knee, right now I can barely walk. Unfortunately swimming is not an option, at least not for keeping my cardio up, because I'm not a good swimmer. You need time to use swimming as an effective cardio workout. Maybe I'll do that in future, but I don't have the time, just ten days :icon_sad:
 
Honestly, that kind of injury is nothing to laugh at. I would take some time off if it is feeling "loose." Did you just bang it real hard during training, or did it make a *pop*? If it's the latter, you've probably done some permanent damage--take it from someone who knows (had this happen with both knees in grappling--no, I wasn't heelhooked, just had my legs in awkward positions and overestimated the strength of my knee joints).

If it did pop out of joint for a second, the first thing you should have done is put ice on it, because when it swells up--which it does (though it may not be that obvious from the outside)--it expands the joint socket, and when the swelling goes down the knee doesn't fit as snugly in the enlarged socket; hence, it feels "loose."

Maybe you iced it after your injury and it still feels loose. But say you failed to: if nothing else you can remember to do it if such an accident occurrs again--I noticed the difference considerably when icing versus my first injury when I didn't ice.

Anyhow, the knee joint is a bitch. You shouldn't fool around with it. It's more complex than say, your elbow joint. There's little doctors can do to correct it once it's been fucked up. I honestly think that at this point, surgery is a bad idea too. They just don't have any very good procedures. I know a guy who has gone under the knife 7 times to "fix" his knee. I also know a guy who has just done exercises to strengthen the supporting muscles around his knee, and been watchful of it in training. Neither seems better off than the other, and if anything, the guy who had surgery may be in the worse situation, because it's possible that some of his surgeries are to fix previous surgeries.

Well, I'll end my rant now. But, I'll summarize by saying again: knee injuries are nothing to fool around with. I highly recommend that you rest it until it is 100%, and ice it now even if you failed to do it immediately after the injury--it can't hurt. There will always be another tournament, but you aren't getting another knee.
 
Honestly hurting your knee takes out so much. Its is going to be extremely tough to keep your cardio and strength.

Two work outs i suggest are Swimming, and Biking.. If possible. Dont push the knee to hard even for the tournament. When the tournament is over and you cant hardly walk on your knee youll wish you had chilled out. Just take it easy, other tournaments will come..

I injured my knee a couple weeks ago and i had to completely change how i fought. For two weeks i couldnt keep my guard closed. So as soon as i would get there i would just open my guard back up and wrap a bicep, or go to a half guard with your injured knee on the bottom. Start tryign to work your half guard like that, using your uninjured knee as a hook to stuff inside and get some good sweeps going.

Try not to use your injured knee for hooks, and dont train much as far as running, takedowns, anything that is going to be impacting it. If you take it easy.. the knee might actualy heal up alot. Mine is feeling much better but still not 100%.. I am certain had i not taken it easy over the first couple of weeks i would still be in pain now.. and my knee would be next to useless.

Take care of your body - you only get one.
 
do cardio work with a rowing machine or something, you can often leave on leg on the ground and don't use that leg for pushing yourself backwards, it is good for your back and abs aswell
 
I'd wear a brace and try to ride a stationary bicycle. This will give your some cardio and loosen the knee joint in a controlled manner. If this is too difficult for you then forget about running or grappling for a while.

Not to drop bad news on you, but your standing grappling might be effected for a few weeks or months. If it's similar to what I've had in the past the last things you'll be able to do are to shoot a single/double with your bad leg as the lead and bend and pivot for a judo-type throw.
 
Luther said:
Guys, a few hours ago I trained bjj and fucked up my knee. I don't know how badly, but it feels loose and I can barely walk. I will see my doctor soon, but from my experience I'm sure something is wrong, and probably tomorrow my knee will feel tight and it will need one or more weeks of rest. (I've taken a nonsteroidal anti-inflamatory and iced the knee.)

All this because I should compete in 10 days in the Bjj European Championship and if I'm lucky (with the injury) I can make it. In the meantime I don't want to get out of shape, and work my cardio during the resting days.

Is it possible to do a grappling workout with an injuried knee? What do you suggest?


Hope you can help me.


Note: this thread is similar to Cardio with Injuried Knee, in the conditioning forum, by me as well. However the scope of the threads is different and if you have generic conditioning suggestions, please post them too! (in the other thread)
Click to expand...

Ive injured my knee, but it was very mild. it healed in like 3 days but i thought it was much worse than it actually was.

Dont do any training with any busted knee.....

kinda a stupid thread you know.
 
Some great replies here, thank you, I'll try to break down mine.

Aftermath

I still don't know how I hurted myself, I think it was repeated stress on the joint. A couple hours after practice the knee begin to hurt, to the point I could not stand with my weight on it. So I iced (and still are) and took anti-inflamatory drugs. I didn't heard a pop or crack, but this knee has given me problems in the past: external lateral ligament one year ago, and medial lateral ligament 8 years ago. In the last months the right knee was less flexible than the left, and it felt a bit rigid and painful at times. I should have done better rehab and play less guard/hooks and more half-guard (thanks Gsoares), and I will, but now the damage is done.

Carpe Diem

It's better to completely rest my knee. Like wildcard_seven wrote, you have to respect your knees. So for the following days and until my joint feels better, I'm not going to walk, let alone run or grapple. I'm looking for something to do while sitting or lying down, without bending or extending my knee.

The Day After

If the knee will feel better, I'll begin to walk and row (great suggestion, thanks YeahBee), then cycle, then light weight lifting, and lastly grappling drills. No more sparring for 2 or more weeks. Yes, my stand up will suffer, I will pull guard for a while (thanks fullerene) If I feel really great in 10 days I hope to compete in the European Championship. With my age and work schedule, this is one of the last opportunity for me to join an international event. However I'm not a fool, better to jog for the rest of your life, than sprint now and just walk after... That's why I'm going to see a doctor and ask for a MRI.

I'll keep you updated. Thank you again, and keep up the suggestions.
 
hope it goes well Luther, maybe i should take up my own advice because i have f'd up knee myselfbut with anti-inflammatory meds it has gotten better, but OMG the really mess with your stomach and nr2's
 
Honestly. this is a time for your body to fully recuperate before throwing yourself in harm's way. I usually take a swim after a day or two of rest if my legs are killing me. Grappling without the full use of your knees is like playing football with injured ankles.
 
I sprained my MCL and I was sidelined for 3 weeks, and that was "the best knee injury I could have had" as my doctor put it.

After three weeks I started working my guard but I still can't base out in someone's guard.
 
I feel you, I hurt my ribs practicing throws (landed on my own wrist). Tried to roll last night, but once someone got side control and put weight on me I was done. I couldn't do much and it sucks because you pay to train and I need all the mat time I can get! Good luck to you!
 
Your knee injury could be any number of things. There is no smart advice that anyone on the internet can give you, because they don't know the extent of the injury. Go to a doctor and get an MRI. When I tore my ACL skiing, it was perfectly clear to the doctor that the ligament was completely torn from pulling on the lower leg. The MRI confirmed this. I had surgery to reconstruct the ACL and did not do any risky activities for almost a year. If you have a fully torn ligament ice and rest for a few days is not going to cut it. Good luck with the doctors appointment.
 
this will be controversial i know, but i'll share a story about my cousin.

he used to play semi-pro football and wrecked his ankle in practice a little over a week out from his championship game. his doc told him he'd need minor surgery and would be good to go in a month.

he told the doc that he HAD to play in the championship game, and then the doc said, "Alright, i'm only going to do this this one time." So he gave my cousin a dose of HGH (first time he'd even seen it, said they inject it into your fat, only about a drop's worth). he didn't feel any different for the first few days, but after day 3 he would sleep for like 3-4 hours and wake up completely refreshed and after a week his ankle was good to go and he played in the game.

i know most people see hgh and steroids as cheating, which they are, but they only harm your body when you abuse them. ask your doc what's up.
 
Is this tournament really a big deal to you or can you sit it out?

Honestly, I've torn cartilage in one knee and sprained the LCL in the other knee. Both required extensive therapy and large knee braces (albeit, this was years ago and there is better technology now as far as braces go).

I recently lost a lot of weight by running, but it has really bothered my knees. My left knee (former LCL sprain) was so tight it got twisted a couple weeks ago in class and, though there isn't any inflammation, it still bothers me. I now have to take a day off after 4 days straight of training (a day off from EVERYTHING but upper body weights). After that day of rest, I can usually get back to cardio.

My wife even makes fun of me for how slowly I go up the stairs after my Sat-Tues training.

My point is, as I ramble like my grandfather, take care of your knees now. Sit out the tourney and take some time off training and get what you need to get done on your knee. You will thank yourself in the future.
 
Tore my MCL, too, & I got the same "it's the best knee injury you could have had" from the doc.
It was a bad one- just shy of total tear/ needing surgery.
I'm just back on the mat after 3 months or serious rehab & quad rebuilding.

It aint nuthin to fool with. Listen to the old guys-- protect those knees when you're young!

I'm still not right by any means. Good luck & listen to the doc.

btw I'd put sprinkle HGH on every meal, mix it w/ my OJ & shoot it 5x/day under my toenails if I had access to it. Getting old is hell.

God, it's official; I've become my old man.
 
Thanks for the replies. This was an old thread for last year's European Champ. With the suggestion in this thread (summarized by me in a previous post) I was able to recover partially my knee.

I competed in BJJ Euro 2007 with two braces (one over the other) and didn't worsen my status. I lost both my fights by points (6-0 in open class, 2-0 because of a throw in my division) but had a lot of fun and was happy with the experience.

:-)
 
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