building up leg muscles

[Trems]

I've had loads of ligament/cartilage probs mate, two ops so far and possibly a third on its way!

After the big one (anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction and removal of damaged cartilage (this is what mikey owen will be having done in the next few months!) I had alot of work to do to get the muscles back...and then following that i'd recommend joining a gym and doing regular strengthening exercises to maintain strong quads and hamstrings mainly (the other associated muscles will strengthen too) and you'd be a amazed at how much more stable your knee will be if you build these up.

careful what you do if its recent injury tho, stick to what the physio says until the swelling is gone and stability has returned as swelling means the knee wont protect itself as effectively against hyperextension etc

But yeah once its sorted squats (crouching with weights on your shoulders), hamstring curls (need a machine for this really) and lunges (similar to squats but you "lunge" one leg forward at a time.

Cycling is good, i try and do 30 mins a day on the bike in the gym, "random" style workout at as higher level as i can trying to maintain 100rpm so it really burns, good for all round leg strength!

Also get yourself a decent knee support cos in my experience anyway, once you have knee troubles they tend to haunt you.

 

[Rosie]

I'm scared I'm gonna damage my knees when I'm playing...they've been really dodgy lately

I've got a knee support I can borrow. -Do they prevent injury; Should I wear one when I play?

 

[cookie_834]

naaahhh live life in the fast lane better to burn out then to fade away!

 

[Buddha 3]

I'm scared I'm gonna damage my knees when I'm playing...they've been really dodgy lately

I've got a knee support I can borrow. -Do they prevent injury; Should I wear one when I play?

Supports and braces do not prevent injury as in stop them from happening all together. They lessen the risk. However, with one of them rigid braces, if something does go wrong, it is spectacular. So use one of those wrap-around supports if you can.

 

[Buddha 3]

hmm, well i can think of a few:
1/ lie on your back, with your legs at right angles in the air. Then get someone to stand with one foot either side of your head and gently push your legs away. obviously you resist the push and bring your legs back to the origional position.... that ones damn hardcore

That one's okay, shame it does f*ck all for your legs though... That one trains the lower abdomen, or if you do them sideways, your hip and butt.

 

[robof9]

when i did my knee, i used this one plus alot of gym time.

lay face down, a friend with you(standing), legs on the floor. get the mate to offer resistance to the affected leg, and push against until you get as far as you can. start with low resistance and work up, also do it from right angles down, depending on bend(mine was about 15degrees when i started now i have full movement, no pain)

if you have problems getting bend, spend time pulling your angle towards your backside slowly, but push the pain barrier, it is worth it.

 

[Whitt8211]

im thinking about joining the gym, dunna know yet

Think my sides just split

 

[Trems]

I'm scared I'm gonna damage my knees when I'm playing...they've been really dodgy lately

I've got a knee support I can borrow. -Do they prevent injury; Should I wear one when I play?

yeah if you have healthy knee but would like extra support get something like this:

http://www.physioroom.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=106_114&products_id=531&zenid=2bb888f8aeab174505fb735b195e33a7

good support for week knees and keeps them nice and warm esp on a cold days balling...problematic joints are often aggrevated by cold.

i wear one on each knee when i have no problems but at he mo my right is fecked so i have a wrap-around brakce with ally hinges to keep everyting in line....havent tried it out yet properly but will let you know after the masters!

 

[NorthIrish]

Yeah, knee injuries are nasty. I got carted off a field at the end of 2004 with a leg bent 90 degrees the wrong way and a knee cap on the side of my leg.

After surgery i started with walking (girlfriend at the time owned a farm, used to take the alpacas for a walk over the hills) and using a cross trainer in the gym (low impact)

since moved back to cycling, but do it uphill, (where possible) to build up those legs. I love trials riding, flat land and jumps. An hour or 2 at the bmx track or jumping rocks will leave you sore (even without falling off) and gives a tremendous full body workout. Still not back to my peak, but am getting there

 

[chrismrgn]

I really would start it slow mate, dont propperly push it until its 100% healed as you dont want recuring damage.

I would recomend cycling aswell to start as that duilds up a lot of leg muscle without putting your knees under undue stress. Then try squats for endurance not power, so lighter weights a load of times.

Hope it gets better m8 as there is nothing worse than some gay recuring injury.