In September of last year (2022) I twisted my knee… pretty badly. I was on crutches for a couple weeks initially.
Injuries in general and knee injuries specifically are nothing new for me. Several times a year I’ll injure a knee (or some other body part).😀
Typically, I rest it for a week or two and gradually increase my activity. I would prefer not to go through this but I call it an ‘occupational hazard’ of living an active lifestyle… and maintaining my zest for LIVING!
So when I injured my knee in September I didn’t think much about it, I mentioned it only to a few people, but for over two months I went through repeated cycles of rest and reinjury, rest and reinjury… making no real, sustained progress.
The times I’d re-injure the knee wasn’t due to excessive exercise … it was simple, easy, mundane tasks… tasks like walking a dog, grocery shopping or snow shoveling.
Snow shoveling here in Canada where we live is usually a minor exercise… it’s light and fluffy snow. I mention this so you won’t think I was “REALLY” working my knee when snow shoveling… I wasn’t.
After each re-injury I’d be back to icing and heating the knee… and using crutches or cane for a week or two.
Results of Resting My Knee
Note: At my age, anytime I tweak a joint and it requires resting, the first thought in my mind…
“Could this be the injury that prevents me from ever playing again??? (sprinting, hiking, jumping, or exercising)
By the first of December it had been almost 3 months since I originally injured my knee… with no real, lasting progress!!
I was really getting discouraged. At 61, I wanted Kelly and I to live our remaining years to our fullest, but without my knees … I couldn’t do that.
Kelly Tee (my partner) did some digging and found an alternative theory to knee rehab… it blew me away and has made a HUGE difference in my recovery. I’ll go into more detail in the next section. For now I want to catch everyone up to my current status.
Using the ‘rest’ method of rehab has ALWAYS bothered me. Why?
I work out almost every day but with resting my knees… that means resting my legs, you really can’t do much leg work resting your knees… or so I thought. All the while I’m working the rest of my body… for the better part of 3 months my legs had been ‘resting’. I hated it.
AND because I thought I had ‘bad knees’ I ‘babied’ my knees, thinking I was protecting them. When I did work my knees, I rarely went ‘knees over toes’, as I had been taught.
Then I discovered a better way … a better way to rehab my knees.
Ben Patrick’s Knee Rehab Protocol
Ben Patrick and ATG promote exercises that people can start today to strengthen their knees… most are simple, low intensity exercises that can be scaled to meet your needs. Due to my specific knee injury, I had to start at the least intense, very basic exercises. I truly started at ground ZERO.
When following the protocol, if you experience pain— stop. Back up and either reduce the range of motion, or lighten the weight on the joint by using assistance.
Results from Two Months of ATG’s Knee Rehab
For the first time in 5 months I can jog lightly, hop lightly, perform lunges… and even perform weighted squats. See the video below for an update, weighted squats aren’t on the video.
I’m still not 100% … I have a ways to go before I can *JUMP* like I did last summer (31 inches flat-footed high jump) … but without question progress is being made!
THANK YOU BEN PATRICK!
Ben Patrick and ATG
Conventional wisdom states that leg exercises, especially squats and lunges should be done with the knees not going over the toes. Why? Because it puts too much stress on the knee.
Since my meniscus tear in 2009, I was very strict about NEVER having my knees go over my toes.
I thought I was doing the right thing…
Enter Ben Patrick.
At first I was very skeptical, here is a guy ‘bragging’ about promoting knees over toes… which flies in the face of everything I thought I knew. Ben suggests that by NEVER going knees over toes, we are weakening out knees… not improving them.
Hmmm … that actually kind of makes sense. I read more.
Ben had a long history of knee problems himself, and even after surgeries he still did not have the knee abilities that he needed to live an active lifestyle… so he began to seek ‘a better way’ to self-treat his knee issues.
Does that sound familiar? I make the same statement about finding a ‘better way’ to self-treat diabetes. 💪 If you or someone you care about has diabetes, here’s a good place to start… my meal plan.
I Begin the Knee Ability Zero Program
I ended up signing up for his knee rehabilitation program called “Knee Ability Zero”.
According to the Athletic Truth Group (ATG) mobile app, the Knee Ability Zero requires:
* Zero weights or equipment
* Zero need to work through pain (if a movement hurts, stop)
* Zero special abilities needed
Just what I needed!
Prior to starting this program:
* I could not bend my knee without pain.
* I could not jump.
* I could not jog or run.
* Straightening my leg was painful, I could not even do a full standard push up.
* I could walk but if too much, I’d require a heating pad or ice pack and I’d be on crutches or a cane.
Bad Knees or Weak Knees?
After decades of joint tweaks, twists and sprains … I’d learned to accept the fact that my knee joints were “bad”.
Over the years I’ve done my share of leg exercises to attempt to strengthen my legs … squats, lunges, plyometrics (jump training), hiking etc… I thought I had done everything I could do to strengthen my joints.
There was nothing more I could do, or so I thought.
I’d resigned myself to a life of ‘dealing with’ … bad joints especially my knees.
Thanks to the ATG Knee Rehab protocol, I now believe my knees are just ‘weak’ … and I will continue to strengthen them.
*** I have NOT used a crutch or a cane in several weeks!
My improvement is slow and gradual, but almost every day I notice a wider range of motion, either pain free or with less pain than before.
NOTE: My knee is progressing, but my knee is NOT 100%. It is still unstable, but thanks to the ATG protocol I’m not passively ‘resting’ my knee… I’m strengthening it.
I’m a big fan of ‘positive action’.
When challenges get you down, take positive action to remedy or at least improve the situation. Positive action reinforces the hope for a better tomorrow.
Thanks to Kelly for introducing me to Ben Patrick and ATG … I have hope for a better (and more active) tomorrow.
Ways to Find Ben Patrick and ATG
Luckily, they aren’t hard to find. 😀 Check out these links below, they offer plenty of free content to get you started.
Note: They offer a wide variety of programs for many different needs … not just knees.
Ben Patrick on Instagram: kneesovertoesguy
ATG on Instagram: ATG / Athletic Truth Group
ATG on Facebook: ATG / Athletic Truth Group
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