A friend of mine on the rugby team asked me to help him develop a weight training routine. He's quick as a bullet, but wants to get stronger and more athletic. A little while ago he had knee surgery and they removed his entire meniscus. He was advised against a weighted squat. Now, making a routine for him, I balk at constructing one without the squat. Then I think, deadlifts would put enormous pressure on his knees as well... Any experiences here doing heavy lifting with a removed meniscus?
My cousin, a former marine now, has had three seperate surgeries on his meniscus. I'm not sure how much is there, but they said if he ever hurt it again that there was not enough left to work with. However, I still remember him going to the gym and doing standard leg exercises, including Squats, Leg Presses, and Hack Squats. (Don't say a thing, I used to do a Max-OT style bodybuilding program when I first started).
You should ask Mark Rippetoe at strengthmill.com. He answers alot of questions like this on there. He even might have already answered this one.
I only have partial meniscus in both knees and haven't had a problem lifting smart because a little meniscus goes a long way. No meniscus means bone on bone friction, which leads to arthritic changes which means fake knee in the not to distant future. New medical advances on cartilage replacements are on the horizon but you have to something to work with when that time comes. This guy needs to think long term.
Are you sure they removed the entire meniscus or just the torn area? Normally they just remove the portion of meniscus that is torn if they feel it's close to the inner circle and it won't heal due to poor blood supply. If they removed the entire thing they probably would have done a transplant which isn't abnormal for complete meniscus removals... but then again, complete removals are pretty rare. I believe there has to be some form of cushioning there or your buddy would be in a lot of pain. EDIT: Out of curiosity I did a quick Google search and found this... It seems as though your buddy must have some meniscus left?? http://www.centrahealth.com/services/meniscus_transplant.aspx
I had a bucket handle tear on my meniscus and they removed part of it. It's been a year and a half and my knee is much stronger then it was. I do ATG squats a lot now and I never have any problems.
I've had 30% of my meniscus removed, but it was because of Judo. I didn't really start squatting or dead lifting until after that injury. I'm convinced the squat and DL are what have stabilized my knee, and at this point it feels bullet proof...better than ever.
my knee used to pop out at will during grappling sessions. Throw in squats/deadlifts = Im no longer afraid of doing triangles
I had a huge bucket-handle tear in my knee, but because of my youth (and probably due to the surgeon knowing me personally), we opted to repair the meniscus instead of take it out. I am 10 weeks removed from surgery and am able to start jogging this week. Within several weeks I will be squatting and training again (hopefully). In the case of your friend, it's extremely unlikely that they would have had to remove his entire meniscus. Even with large bucket-handle tears (worst case), they shave off the cut part, still leaving some of the meniscus inside the knee in place. If you could find out exactly what he had done we might be able to help you more (ask him if he remembers lateral vs medial, posterior vs anterior). Thank you.
My old coach had his removed. He doesn't really lift heavy, so I don't can't really help. Anderson Silva had both of his removed before the Lutter fight.
No. I talked to him this evening. He's not really straight on how precise he has to be with his language when talking about medical things. Even 1/4 of the meniscus is different than "they just ripped it out, bro!" I gather. So, assume he's got a third of it left.
If he has a third of it left, I'm pretty sure he would do okay with squats, as long as his form is good and he takes it slow. Another thing to consider is the background of his doctor, many doctors are over-conservative in their estimates because they may not know the background/training of their patient. However, I'm not a doctor (yet) so he might want to double-check with a doctor (preferably specializing in orthopedics or sports medicine), or at least a physical therapist. Thank you.
I'm just gonna have him go slow. If he's got some, I don't see how going slow would hurt. Umm, you're welcome?
Problem with trying stuff out at this point is that this guy might not know if something is causing harm until it's too late. A professional second opinion from a sports ortho is the smart way to go.
