cartilage tear.....

[joneseyboy]

hi there, i am currently awaiting an operation on torn cartilage in my right knee and wondered if anyone has any tips on how i can try to maintain my fitness whilst i am awaiting this operation.

any help is greately appreciated.
Thanks!

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[morwenna]

Presumably your injury would prevent you from doing activities such as running and cycling, but you can continue with upper body gym work, and also swimming for general Cardio fitness.

In the pool avoid the whip-kick (breast-stroke) and if all kicking actions upset the knee, try using just your arms. You can get one of those shaped floats and hold between your thighs to give bouyancy to the lower body while you swim and also limit movement. Swimmers train this way.

You can do one-legged squats/dips on your good leg and possibly weights on that side. You should maintain your range on your affected side, and also practise static and inner range quads to help prevent muscle atrophy on that side. The real thing you'll want to avoid is flexion/rotation movements in weight-bearing stances on that leg.