[Transcript starts at 1:20]
What up my podcast people? Thank you for joining me for yet another episode of my favorite podcast. So in today's episode, I am recounting my knee rehab journey with you. Uh, I hurt my knee 14 weeks ago and I am fully back to playing beach volleyball, and I realize I haven't done an episode specifically dedicated to the process, uh, my rehab process, so I figured I'd use this episode for that.
Now, full disclaimer here, this is not a, an episode designed to be like inspiring or anything like that. Next episode will, however, uh, recount or not even recount, detail how to become over a kind of a process-oriented person. Uh, but this episode I literally just wanna let you know what I've been doing, give you some resources, give you some things to think about, uh, and let you know how I have been or how I got back to playing beach volleyball after my knee injury.
So, Just so you know, there are two Instagram highlights, highlights, uh, on my my page. We'll link them in the show notes. Thank you, Courtney. So if you wanna see kind of the, you know, video behind this and kind of, you know, I, I really chronicled my journey and what I was doing. So if you wanna see what things look like, I know that a lot of people listening to this podcast, um, I'm not sure if the people watching it, but a lot of people listening to this podcast are in the movement space. You've got a lot of PTs, chiros, movement professionals, health and wellness professionals, things like that. So you may know what I'm talking about, but if you don't know, or if you just wanna see what I'm talking about, you can use those links. Go to the highlights that are on my page and check out what exactly it looked like, uh, that I was doing.
Like I said, at the time that I'm recording this, not the time that it drops, but at the time that I'm recording this, it is officially 14 weeks out from the injury. So today's January 9th. You're listening to this on, if you're listening to when it drops, January 16th, I believe.
Uh, but I injured my left knee on. October 2nd, 2022. I'm actually currently, I didn't, I didn't say this cuz if you're watching it, you'll see, you'll know this, but if you're listening, you won't know this. But I'm standing up right now. Um, I've been able to stand for quite some time, but I was like, you know what, I'm gonna switch it up today.
I'm gonna stand as I record this because I can. Uh, so injured my knee on October 2nd, 2022, I think that there was some MCL meniscal involve- MCL and meniscal involvement. Um, and possibly like a slight dislocation and kind of gathered information around that after Anna Hartman treated me. And I was like, yeah, that makes sense actually.
Um, I am strategically using the word involvement, not like tear, rupture, whatever, anything like that cause I don't know. I never went and got imaging because didn't need to get imaging. It wouldn't have changed the trajectory of treatment or wouldn't have changed the course of treatment. Um, so there's no need to go and get any kind of imaging. But I do have a history of knee injury on actually both sides, but left knee when I was 15. So I'm 38 now. When I was 15, I tore my, uh, M C L, my ACL and my meniscus. Had surgery had, you know, the whole song and dance. That's actually what got me into physical therapy.
Um, if you're listening to this, and you know me, I am a physical therapist by trade. If you're new to the podcast, welcome, welcome, welcome. Love having you here. I'm a physical therapist by trade. I have not treated since 2018, but I treated for eleventy billion years before that and that shit doesn't go away. Right. I still know what I'm doing. Um, so I did not go and get any imaging. But given the mechanism of injury, which was actually taking off, right?
I wasn't landing, I was literally playing beach volleyball. Very benign movement. Just went to kind of, it's called a pokey, kind of pokey it over the net, help it over the net. And my knee was like pop, pop, but I wasn't landing. So there wasn't as much force as we typically see trying to be attenuated by the joint, uh, when we sustain like a more typical ACL injury, which is how I hurt it the first time, um, which was landing, this was actually just pushing off. And in my knee was just like, pop pop. And I was like, oh, that just, it didn't feel right, but it did not feel like ACL. It wasn't that deep. If you've ever torn your ACL, you know, you know when you do it.
It didn't feel like that, but I was like, something is not good. Um, I couldn't straighten it. I could bend it. I had full flexion. Um, and it was, it was painful, which is also why I was like, mm, this feels like MCL, feels like meniscus because of that, the, the pain that was there.
So what I wanna do in this episode is break down just what I did, what I've been doing.
I'm gonna break it down kind of into the two, uh, three main phases, actually, which is more of the acute phase, then I had the strength and function phase, and then the return, return, lordy, the return to sport phase. I'm gonna break it down to those three, those three phases. Uh, I'll let you know what I did during each drop, some links for you. They'll all be in the show notes if you go to themovementmaestro.com/441. Full list of all the things. Um, and you can go and, and use this however you want.
But first phase was the acute phase. And during that acute phase, it's like right when it happened. My main, my main focuses were pain mitigation, swelling reduction or swelling management, tissue healing, and then movement.
So as it relates to the modalities and things that I use, and I love me, some modalities. I think that people that are like so anti-modalities maybe have never had pain and they never got hurt. I'm not, I'm not really sure. So as it relates to pain, uh, pain mitigation, pain management, I used RockTape right away.
So I'm a big fan of kinesiology tape. For those you who don't know, I was a lead instructor for RockTape the company, uh, for about five years. I loved it. It was the glory days of that company. Um, but I actually put RockTape on my knee right away at the beach. I always have some with me. Um, so as soon as I went down, I was like, oh, I'm going to try to manage this.
Uh, and so I used tape. Tape as, as it relates to mitigating pain, it's like the same reason that we touch an area after we like bang it. Ah, I know the pain gate theory can feel, or, you know, some people some would argue it's a little bit outdated, but as it relates to mechanoreceptors and nociceptors and uh, interoceptors that are in the skin, uh, that's what we're looking to tap into when we use tape as, as, as it relates to pain mitigation, right?
We get some decompression on the area, but also we get some pain mitigation, pain management via, it's touching the, the tissue. So use tape right away. Um, my buddies actually, two of the women that I play with, they had to like escort me. They basically carried me up cause I couldn't really weight bear on it. I was like, this doesn't feel right.
And again, it didn't feel like when I tore my ACL, but I was like, I can't fully weightbear on this. So, um, they helped me out, get up back to my Jeep. I was able to drive home cause it was my left knee. Um, I got crutches right away. Ashley went and got crutches for me cuz I was like, I can't walk on this thing. Um, and I did use ice.
Now I do not recommend ice for swelling. It's bullshit. Don't use ice for swelling. In the last episode, uh, that I did, uh, episode four, episode 440, I believe, um, talking about cold showers, I dropped a little resource for you. My guy, Mike Stella, he's an ATC, we'll put that in these notes as well. He has an entire course called The End of the Ice Age, and so I don't believe in using ice, I don't recommend using ice for swelling, but it can be helpful for pain modulation. Uh, it just slows nerve conduction and so you don't get that, uh, pain that, not that pain sensation. You don't get that danger, um, message going to the brain as quickly and so we can feel less pain. So that's like a very rough, uh, explanation there.
But I did use ice for pain very sparsely, is that the word I wanna say? So no more than 10 minutes at a time. And it was very localized to that area. Like my, the me, it was the medial aspect of my knee. I could kind of almost touch and pinpoint where it was hurting. Uh, I used RockTape, excuse me, RockTape Rock Blades, uh, the Mohawk tool for pain mitigation as well.
So that's an instrument assisted soft tissue, neuro, neuro, we call it intra assistive soft tissue neuro neuromodulation. I A N S M. Um, but colloquially is kind of referred to as scraping, um, or IASTM. So I used that for pain mitigation. We're not breaking up anything in the tissue or anything like that. I used a very light stroke.
If you're watching the video, you can see super light stroke and all that's designed to do is communicate with interoceptors or interoceptors,, however you pronounce it, um, that are in the tissue, and they send their projections to a part of the brain called the insular cortex. It looks to mediate and modulate a sense of wellbeing.
It's why, like having your hair stroked feels so nice. So looking to replicate that, again, I'm just helping out with pain. I'm in that very acute phase. I'm like, I don't want this thing to hurt. Let's calm it down. Uh, and then I used vibration. I love using vibration for pain. Um, I love using it when there's like a neuro component to things.
So first I use the Hyperice Hypervolt. That's actually more of a percussion tool, just so we we can be clear cause it leaves the skin and comes back. Right. So that's, that's percussion. So you can't really necessarily go directly over the area. I think maybe they have some softer heads out now. I don't know.
I have a very old model. Um, but actually two days after I injured it, I actually, after I injured my knee, I had to go to, I didn't have to, but I got to go to Vegas, uh, to teach. And so I, RockTape was there. I wasn't teaching for RockTape, but RockTape was there. I'm still like, you know, great in with that company.
Um, and I got a Rock Wave, a RockTape, Rock Wave Pro, which is actually more like vibration. It's more like a, um, like a buffer machine. So you kinda have this like circular reciprocating vibration. Um, and I actually really like that and I could put that directly over the area because it wasn't percussion, right?
It wasn't, wasn't leaving the skin and kind of pounding in that area. So that, again, we're just looking to tap into the nervous system with that. Um, it can really help with neural tension as well. So I got some like reflexive guarding of the hamstrings, things like that. So just to calm that area down. Vibration. So that is what I used for pain mitigation, pain modulation.
As it relates to swelling, right, cuz that's the second part of this kind of acute phase that I was really focused on, my go-to, my bread and butter is the lymphatic work that Anna Hartman, she's MovementRev on Instagram, we'll link all the things, that she teaches.
She has a course. I have plugged it a million times and I will continue to plug it a million times. It's called the Swelling Reduction Protocol. Absolutely phenomenal. Just absolutely phenomenal. So I resorted to that. I actually had very minimal swelling during this whole entire thing. Uh, and I love to attribute that to what all the work that I had been doing beforehand. Like I had, had some major swelling, uh, and then I had bought Anna's protocol and used it maybe a year before, something like that. And I was like, holy shit, this is amazing. And I would use it whenever I would have any kind of mild swelling. And so I really had almost no swelling during this whole thing.
It was very, very minimal, very, very, very minimal. Um, but we will link that pro that, uh, swelling reduction protocol course in the show notes. You should definitely check that out. It is just an absolute game changer. I also used Rock Floss, again by RockTape. It's just compression, right? So it's a voodoo band, RockTape made their own version.
Um, I love to put like a menthol inside of that. Just feels nice. I like icy hot. Um, so I use Rock Sauce cuz that is just, in my opinion, the best. I don't even know what they still make this stuff, but, um, that is what I use. So as it relates to swelling, yes, compression is great. Um, so is decompression, but the lymphatic work is gonna be your gold standard, which is why I started with that.
And then for more of the localized approach, I use the Rock Floss.
Next part here was just general tissue healing, right? We're concerned with making sure that that shit is okay. So if you follow my Stories, you follow me on Instagram, you know that I just, I really bought into the red light movement. Um, and what actually, what made me buy into this was I got a cut on my hand from my cat, Rupert. He very, he never scratches me. There was an in altercation with him and Ashley's dog, Miss faye, if you follow Instagram, follow me on Instagram, you have seen Miss faye. Uh, I was holding Rupert like a baby in my chair, and Ms. Faye jumped on top of him. She didn't like, she didn't see that he was there.
And so of course I was the one who got scritched. Uh, and I got a, a pretty good cut on my finger. And no joke, I used the red light on it. I just put my hand like very close to the red light and I felt like I was wolverine. Like the next day. I was like, but also how is this healed? And that moment made me a believer.
I was like, this, there's something to this. Um, also I had used red light, uh, a few months ago, like last year, uh, after I got Covid and I had some lingering sinus pressure and one of my Instahomies, my Mafiosos was like, yo, I used red light on my wife's sinus. So I actually went, I didn't have a red light at the time.
I went and, uh, went to like a red light bed. There's like a, a spa by me and it knocked it right out. Like I literally left the place and was like, I feel better. Wow. Uh, so I, day one, as soon as I in got injured, I came home, that night I was using the red light. Um, full disclosure, I am, uh, involved with a company called Fringe.
I've brought Alyson on. She's the, uh, founder of thecompany. And they are in the red light production space. They started off in the CBD space, but they're a general kind of wellness company and they have moved into the red light space. So Alyson had sent me a unit, and that's the one that I was using. Um, they have since started producing them.
They are selling them, and they're, at the time of this podcast being recorded, they are, uh, for sale. You can get either a unit or you can get a wrap. Um, they have presale going on, right now. I will drop the, the link to that in the show notes. It is an affiliate link, meaning I will get a kickback. I don't have a discount code for you because pre-sale already has the de the discount wrapped into it.
So if you go use it now, you'll get that discount for pre-sale and if you register as a medical provider, you get an Even bigger discount. So do the thing. That will be in the show notes. I don't have like a shortened link for you cuz it's like a, a weird link. Um, but hop on the red light train. Uh, basically with that we're looking at mitochondria, helping out with mitochondrial activity, helping out collagen synthesis, helping out with blood flow to that area.
Um, I should also note that Fringe, given that it has, you know, Alyson and all, and a lot of people that are still on, that are on board with it, were involved with RockTape at one point. We all have that education philosophy and we believe in teaching the consumer. So you can go to that website, or Fringe's website, and you can follow 'em on Instagram as well, we'll link that.
Um, and they have a ton of education out there about this product, about how red Light works, about how light in general, red light in general works, not just this particular unit. So we'll say that. Um, continuing with the tissue, he tissue healing realm here, uh, looking from the inside out, AKA what I'm ingesting what I'm eating.
So I started taking collagen, I paired that with, uh, OJ and vitamin C. As per Dr. Tyna's recommendation. Uh, I've taken pineapple, right? That's, not taken, eating pineapple. It's a general anti-inflammatory. I was reduced. I don't really eat a lot of sugar as it is. Um, but I also have typically don't have like a problem with sugar or carbs or anything like that.
But I definitely reduced any kind of like added sugars. Um, I was taking LMNT. I do have an affiliate link for that as well. LMNT is just an electrolyte drink. I love it. So Good. And I was taking CBD. So taking Fringe CBD as well, help with that endo endocannabinoid system. And then lastly, THC gummies.
I aint, I ain't opposed to it. Um, the whole goal was to help me sleep. So I actually really wasn't having any issues sleeping, but I wanted to make sure that I could knock out and, cause we know that's when the tissue is going to heal, going to recover. So I wanted to make sure that I could sleep.
Moving into the last phase of this last part of this first phase, right? We have pain management, pain, pain reduction, pain mitigation, swelling, management reduction, tissue healing, and then movement.
So as it relates to movement in this acute phase, I wasn't trying to do anything crazy. I wasn't like, ah, immediately you gotta go to PAILS and RAILS and do isometrics. It was like, Let's protect the area, give it a rest.
It's like literally been less than 24 hours. Um, let's offload that area. So I, like I said earlier, Ashley went and got me crutches from the local, like RiteAid, something like that. Um, I did get a brace. I went, uh, she took me to, where was it? Dick's Sporting Goods. And I got one of those little, like driving carts.
I think that's in the stories as well. Uh, and I got a brace and I took, it had a medial and a lateral posting. For it. Um, if you're gonna get a brace, I recommend one that, that wraps on, not that you have to slide on. It's very difficult with ones that you slide on. And if your leg is swollen or changing sizes, then the wrap, uh, will make it more adjustable.
So, I took out the lateral posting and just had the medial posting in there just giving myself some extra support because also, like I said a little bit earlier in the episode, I did have to fly, um, I didn't have to, I got to fly and go to Vegas and teach, and so I was like, I'm not trying to make anything worse here.
I was able to, put weight on it. Right. So I started off with just like a toe touch weight bearing, still moving around, being active and then was working on just standing weight shifting, things like that. General PT things. Um, I used a stim unit. I love stim. Can help with pain, but I really used it to help get that quad firing cuz that thing, you know, folks, it just shut off.
It was like, Nope, we're going to sleep. You get some of that, like arthrogenic inhibition there. A little bit of swelling in there and it was like, we done. So I started off using the Power Dot, um, because Jill had my, uh, Compex unit. If you are in the, the, uh, CrossFit Space, you remember Compex. That's an old, you know, dealer of, sounds like a dealer of drugs, an old dealer of, uh, electrical stim units.
So, started off with Power Dot and then switched over to the Compex unit. Just was a bit stronger and just working on getting that quad firing again, uh, and getting you know, terminal knee extension, getting that thing to do what it's supposed to do. Cause like I said earlier, I was unable to fully straighten it right when it happened that, that like five seconds later.
And so my goal was restore range of motion. So went and did that. Uh, and then lastly, as it relates to, to movement, like I just alluded to or said, my focus in general was just maintaining range of motion. We know that as it relates to progressing things and rehabbing things, we're looking at range of motion first, then strength, and then speed.
So I was very much in that range of motion phase, looking to help with pain, looking to help with swelling, looking to help with healing, and then introduce movement that would allow me to maintain range of motion.
So the second phase of my rehab focused on regaining strength and function. Initial was just that acute phase, and then we moved into strength and function.
Uh, I did have Anna, I'm so fortunate to have Anna in my life. She came up and she treated me twice, I believe. Um, and the first time was actually after our in-person event, uh, for BossUp. And I was moving around really well but I was like, it's, it's not right. It just doesn't feel right. And Anna, you know, she has that osteopathic, um, visceral approach to things.
And so it's just, she's just phenomenal at what she does. So she came and treated me and that was also when we kind of was like, yes, kinda feels like maybe you had like a slight dislocation there. Like, it just, it didn't feel in the correct alignment, so she helped out with that. Um, again, during this second phase, I'm looking at gaining strength and function.
So, had Anna treat me. I used my home gym and was just doing basic physical therapy and doing basic progressions of things. Uh, and everything was to tolerance. I have a leg extension, leg curl machine. I have a leg press machine. It's actually called a linear hack. I couldn't do that initially, so I didn't do that.
I was doing more just closed chain on the ground and, you know, progressing into from bilateral to unilateral. I was doing calf raises, I was doing RDLs, uh, I do have a story Highlight, we will link that, that shows my home gym, so if you wanna see all the stuff I have, cause I have a shit ton of equipment.
Um, and I was using all of it. So just, you know, as an aside, majority of my, my, um, stuff that I have, my equipment is either from Titan Fitness, all the machines is from Titan Fitness. All the machines are from Titan Fitness. And then the kind of free standing racks and things like that. Uh, this is from a company called Iron Gritt.
So you can check out all the things that are in there. But that was the second phase, which is, I don't know, it can be to some people kind of fun. Some people find it to be kind of boring, but this was just regaining strength cuz my, my quad just atrophied in a second. My hamstring was like, we got you. My glutes were like, don't worry.
But my quad was like, I'm was invisible to start off with and now I'm double invisible. Same thing from my calf. So was really focusing on that. Um, towards the later portion of that second phase, and this is kind of like as we head into, closer to eight weeks out, I started walking on sand. Like I was able to walk around.
I didn't have crutches, I was off the crutches and things like that. After Anna helped me, I largely got rid of them that weekend. Uh, I did get rid of them and I was just like going slower. Um, but sand is unstable and that was a very different experience. I'm trying to get back to beach volleyball. So the first part of that is just going to the beach.
Uh, so introduced walking on the sand and then again, I still continued with the recovery work. So it wasn't just like, okay, get strong and then go to sleep. It was get strong, work on strength, work on function, but make sure that you're recovering and allowing this thing to heal cuz there was absolutely trauma to that area.
So I was continuing with the red light, continuing with the dietary things, doing lymphatic work as needed. But again, I wasn't needing it a ton. Just the work that had gone in before the injury really helped out and my system was, was doing well.
The third phase, and this is where I'm at right now, which is the kind of speed, dynamic activity, plyometric activity, and return to sport.
At eight weeks, I started semi-private lessons with volleyball. So at first I just went out there and walked and I was like, can I do this? Um, I Halloween came in, uh, right around that same time, and we all dressed up as my volleyball coach. So that got me out on the beach. I was like, I'm not gonna miss this.
I couldn't practice, but I was like, I can still go. And we surprised him and it was just amazing. So I got to walk around then too, and I was like, okay, I'm definitely not close to coming back, but like, let me get out there. Uh, and then a few weeks later, two weeks later maybe I started doing semi-private lessons with, uh, Diana.
She's one of the women I play with, and I took that with typical progressions where in the beginning I wasn't jumping, I wasn't running, I was literally just kind of standing there and, and setting. And I was like, you have to hit it right directly to me. And I was like basically looking down at my feet while I was moving around.
Like it was very much, um, eye-opening as to how much. About, it was very eye-opening as to how of the, wow. It was very eye-opening as to the role that unconscious competence plays as it relates to proficiency with sport. When you're just running around, you're not thinking about, where are my legs? Where's my foot? Where's everything? How's my knee bending? But when you have an injury, and you go back, you're like, yeah, I was looking like, where's my knee? Where's my foot? And then I was also realizing that the importance of using your legs with volleyball. Um, so I got to progress that and we did semi privates every Friday and went from, you know, me not hitting, not jumping, anything like that, just standing there kind of passing and not passing very well, to then, okay, I can actually like move to the ball now and pass. And then, okay, I can go to the ball and I can hit, but I'm not gonna jump. And then lastly, okay, I'm gonna go to the ball. I can pass, I can bend my legs, I can start jumping.
Uh, I will say that from the exercise piece of this and bringing in dynamic things and plyometrics, I think that PTs really need to check their ego and either refer out or go and up level their education here.
I think that there's a, people will say like, yeah, I'm an ortho PT and we have a sports PT clinic, but patients can't actually load appropriately. And with this, within this phase, we're looking at not just loading, but rate of loading. And if you don't have the facility that's designed to do that or the knowledge to be able to help people with that refer out. Yes, you can go and learn it, but if you're like, I don't care about this, then go and refer out so this person can actually get back to sport and not hurt themselves again.
So, the number one resource that I was using actually, um, besides my own education with this, cuz I have gone on that rabbit hole, but I was like, hey, maybe I'm, you know, I'm gonna make sure I'm not missing anything. Is David Grey. I was on his podcast. We'll link that episode. I really enjoy this guy. And it's g r e y, not a y.
Um, his hamstring isometric work. Like, he's like kind of like a PRI approach to things, but he hasn't like on like necessarily all the way down the rabbit hole. Like he's like both and, and brings and other things. Um, but working on that left hamstring isometric work has been very helpful for me. And I will say that I believe that yes, we could go down the PR PRI rabbit hole with that, that's Postural Restoration Institute. Uh, and they kind of have a big left hamstring thing, um, but for me, an issue with that was that I tore my left ACL and could it be because of the, that the role of the body and the, not the role of the body, the role of the kind of asymmetries, inherent asymmetries in the body?
Sure. But either way, coming out of that injury when I was 15, I definitely never regained active knee flexion back, full, active knee flexion on the left side and so, you don't have full activity flexion it's tough to get that quad to do what it's supposed to do, you know, opposition or opposing, um, muscle groups here.
So working on that has been incredibly helpful. So his Instagram is @davidgreyrehab. We will link that. Um, I'm gonna bring him on the podcast, but he's a tremendous resource and if I was still treating, I would definitely be going down the David Grey rabbit hole and learning about lower body mechanics and things like that and how to progress people and introduce plyometrics. He's just, so, so good with that.
I also went and bought a Rogue slice slide. I don't have a discount code or anything like that, but um, if you follow me on Instagram, I had kind of jerry rigged a sled that Forrest gave me, and I put, um, sliders on the bottom, just like a high density, uh, plastic on the bottom so I could slide in the driveway.
But it's for pulling. It's not for pushing. And, I went and tried to push it, cause I have to like bend down towards the ground to push it cause there's no uprights on it. And so I got in that position, I was like, I actually can't do this. Like this reproduces some of my pain, which means I need to do this, but I have to find a way to regress this. And then also a way to continue to load this and then increase the rate of loading.
Uh, so I went and bought a Rogue slice slide. It was actually a phenomenal, uh, investment. A little trick here, a little tip here. The shipping is a million dollars, but the slice lead is part of the three ships free. So I bought two bands for like $7 each, and then it was free shipping cuz the sled itself is like two, almost 200 bucks. But that slice sled also allows me to recreate that positive shin angle, which is so important for acceleration. And that's what I could feel when I was on the beach. So I was like, that first step feels weird.
Uh, and that's kind of the, the position I was in when I hurt my knee. I was taking off. It's that, that, um, positive shin angle there and loading that and, and jumping. So wanted to reproduce that. And the sl, the slice sled has been integral for that.
At 13 weeks out, I started playing my first match. So I told you I went from the semi-private station, semi-private sessions, and I'm still doing all my rehab and my loading and my plyometric work on my own jumping rope. things like that. First time playing again was at 13 weeks and I felt comfortable going in. I wasn't like, oh my God, maybe I'm gonna hurt again. Cuz I had done all the step work, all the work and the step-wise progressions leading up to it.
Uh, I did however, do shorter matches, so we only played to 15. We didn't play to the full 21. I didn't go all out. Certain things I wasn't doing still and I alternated matches. I wasn't playing every game back to back to back. And I was playing with people I knew that increased the predictability. So there wasn't like any sudden jarring movements.
I then played again on Friday. I didn't play the next day. I gave myself time in between. Played again on Friday. Again, short matches people I know, and did it, looked to do a little bit more. This past Sunday was the first time back in class, which was amazing to be with all of my, my homies again. Um, and then I played some games afterwards, but we also still only played to 15.
I was playing people I knew, I was taking breaks as needed, and just continuing to ease into this. Like I said, for the second phase as well, I'm still concerned with recovery. Yes, I wanna work hard, but I also wanna make sure that I'm recovering just as hard. So I'm continuing with the red light work, continuing with the lymphatic work as needed, which has been very minimal. Um, and just a general focus on recovery. I used, I actually used my Normatec boots the other day yesterday for like the first time. I didn't really use it during the whole entire rehab process, just cuz in the beginning it kind of felt sensitive and I just didn't feel like I needed it.
I really tend to use them more as like kind of the massage aspect. Uh, and I, I was tired after playing yesterday, so I went and used that.
Moving forward, I'm gonna continue, continue on this trajectory and just continue to add in more plyometric training, more strength training. I don't think that I did anything wrong, and that's why I hurt my knee, right?
Actually, the, the morning that I walked, the morning that I, I hurt my knee. I was walking down the stairs and I was like, my knees have never felt better because I have literally been working on my knees for the past three, four years, starting with all the knees over toes stuff, @kneesovertoesguy, he's my boy. I, I got big love for him, uh, I, I think shit happens, right? I have a history of, of knee injuries, and I think it just got to a point where load exceeded capacity, and it happens. I think that I was greatly prepared for the injury, right? Spina, Andreo Spina and the FRC world, they say you cannot prevent injury, you can only prepare for it.
I think actually Hunter Cook might have been the one that really kind of made that popular and I believe it. You can't prevent all the injury, but you can prepare for it and I think I was tremendously prepared for it. I told you I didn't have much swelling cuz I went into it largely very healthy, very strong, very mobile, and just got to a point where load exceeded capacity.
So we take that break, we go through all the steps and all the things that I have just laid out and now I continue on with more preparations.
Alright, that is it. I know I spoke incredibly fast during this episode, but I love this stuff. Kind of nerding out twice in a row cuz last week we did the cold showers, this week we're doing the knee rehab. Um, but next episode we'll take it back a step. Um, we'll go kinda more on the mindset side of things and how to become someone that, I don't wanna say more in love with the process, but someone that really appreciates the process more.
I do believe, otherwise, that is it.
Uh, as always, endlessly appreciative for every single one of you. If you got questions, comments, concerns, suggestions, requests, anything, hit me up. Dms are the @themovementmaestro, my text line, 3 1 0 7 3 7 2 3 4 5. I promise it is me.
All right. Until next time, friends Maestro out.
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