The pain has only been debilitating once: back in December on day 2 of a hat tourney. I basically couldn’t run, strong limp when walking.

By march (Dream Cup) it was fine, basically no irritation.

But then i kind of tweaked it training for Jeju, and it got worse over the tourney weekend. I played all the way through, but was maybe 70% in our last game. That was five weeks ago, been resting since.

The pain has now subsided significantly. Normal activity is fine, I feel a slight twinge on stairs sometimes, and when I have to run (to catch the train, etc.) it will sometimes hurt a bit. But not debilitating.

I’m determined to heal it properly this time. Would much rather miss a few summer tourneys than risk further damage and chronic pain.

I’ll give the Samson stretch and the other similar one a try — pictures would be great.

Yeah, the “reprogramming” concept makes sense. Think I’ll give it at least another week or two before starting squats/lunges, but I will definitely add that to the regiment before attempting a comeback. I do have pretty skinny and relatively weak legs, and have tended to focus on upper body lifting in the past — it’s time I gave my legs more attention.

Nope, never heard of foam rolling — any resources you have on that would be appreciated.  I’m open to trying anything, as long as it’s not too much too early.

Many thanks for the help.

What about your knee history? Did you get a doc or specialist to diagnose, or did you figure it out yourself? How long did it take to recover? How does it feel now?

I‘ll send you more info, etc when I’m at home and on my computer with its links.

As for my knee, I had troubles that dated back to my sophomore year of high school–as a long/triple jumper I wound up doing a number on them, in terms of high-impact stuff and the like…this resulted in what I’m pretty sure was a strain of my achilles, and compensating for that left me with knee issues–dull, aching pain, generally, usually cropping up after workouts but slowly cropping up during runs too–during the cross-country season fall of my junior year (which would be fall of…’03?). Coach figured it was chondromalacia patella, I got a cho-pat strap (it’s the band that goes under your knee, maybe you’re familiar with it?) and persevered. I didn’t have troubles with it swimming that winter, but then when track season rolled around again it gave me a lot of trouble with my jumping on and off. As I recall I had a solid season, didn’t need to use the strap all that much, but had the occasional week or two where I needed it.

Enter college (I graduated from high school a year early). Freshman year it again bugged me on and off–generally speaking, when I was careless and didn’t warm down properly, etc it would catch up to me. Playing troubles were on and off–I got in the habit of playing with the knee strap, though sometimes it didn’t seem to make much of a difference, but almost every post-tournament/practice ride that involved my knee being still for more than 20 minutes or so would result in a dull ache. I had the occasional bout of tendinitis too, with swelling underneath the kneecap…this all continued through my sophomore year as well, though by this time I had started reading up on it and trying to train to prevent it, and, as I recall, got it under control enough that by Regionals time that year I felt great and could play at 100%, no reservations (and had one of my best/most memorable games there).

Junior year I made some real progress. Or rather, sophomore summer I made a lot of progress–I was on-campus for classes, like most of my classmates (a unique perk of the Dartmouth calendar leaves sophomores more or less in charge of the campus during the summer), but had a lax schedule and a lot of motivation, so I was hitting the gym routinely. Crossfit entered the picture, and combined with a LOT of fitness reading before and during (and after) the summer, and some good nutrition, I made some really great athletic prowess. I discovered deadlifting, started getting into squatting properly, and incorporated things like the samson stretch into my routine, as well as some other stuff specifically for my knee (and ankles, both of which I’d rolled that year, I think), including the other stretch I recommended to you and the shoulder bridges.

Junior year (’06-’07) I had a lot less trouble with the knee–I think there were a couple brief instances where I got lazy with stretching and the like and it bugged me, but I was really proactive about icing and resting at those points. I took ibu at every tourney I played in, a habit I still maintain (though I usually don’t when training anymore, as my workouts aren’t so long as to have inflammation crop up and be an issue). As I recall (and I may be mis-recalling) my real litmus test was playing in Vegas that winter, and after three days of ultimate it was doing pretty darn well as I recall (I started wearing the strap on the third day as I was starting to feel something, but it never got so bad as to make me consider not playing)…it wasn’t 100% but it generally gave me a lot less grief. The strap was still a mainstay, though more as a precaution at that point.

Senior year (’07-’08) I don’t think I ever had any trouble with my knee. Nothing leaps to mind, at least–I played a lot, and played well, and without injury. Really just a spectacular year.

So I’d say a few months of dedicated, hard work got me to the point where I was playing competitively without too much worry about relapse, and another year on top of that put me in the clear. Lately though I’ve been really lazy with my fitness, and I’m starting to see some of the old symptoms crop back up–it’s mostly a flexibility issue for me, with my quads being too tight, though I think my hamstrings are also too weak/tight now too. Planning to keep foam rolling / stretching and bring back some lifting to help with all that–really need to get my ass back in gear, both for playing these last months here and hopefully for latching on with a halfway decent club team when I get back to the states in August.

And my follow-up, later:

Sorry for the delay getting back to you.

You might give this blog a look for information on foam rolling. There’s a crapton of information there (and linked from it–the links can give you some good in-depth stuff): The short is to get a foam roller and start using it on your quads, hips, and hamstrings and calves, focusing on kneading out knotted-up issues and, if you’re up to the task, applying extended pressure to the tight spots until the muscles loosen up a bit.

Regular foam rolling will do wonders for your muscle health and flexibility.

For pictures of the Samson stretch, a quick google image search gives you a good idea there (keep in mind you don’t need to go out THAT far, especially when you’re just starting), but a better idea can be had in this PDF. I <3 Crossfit. The other stretch I mentioned to you is a little more intense; it basically involves using SOMETHING to put your foot up on–whether that’s a bench, or back against a wall, etc–to force your leg into flexion: this emphasizes a different part of your quadriceps when you stretch, and it’s one that tends to be chronically tight in most (it was and, now again, is in me). You might find this helpful for assessing the state of your hips–everything is connected. If you’re going to take the stress off the knees, it needs to be taken in somewhere else–the hips are that place.

Lastly, you might be especially interested in this bit on bulletproof knees.

I think that article might describe the stretch I mentioned above–I’d check it right now, but I’m still at work and the site is full of bodybuilder pics. Can’t start a rumor like THAT.

There’s plenty to sift through there; feel free to hit me with impressions and I can try and give my experience in some more detail.

Hope that’s all helpful! There’s a bit on the “mobility” topic in the bulletproof knees article, but I owe you a better resource than that–unfortunately, a lot of what I’ve learned about that has been in-person, or with DVD’s I’ve bought, so your luck is probably as good as mine trying to dig that info up.

Any readers have good recommendations for resources on mobility work? I know there are bits and pieces scattered about the internets, but anybody know some nice compiled (free) resources? I’m talking mobility drills and the like, not foam rolling.

Related posts:

1. Treating Chronic Knee Issues: An E-Mail Case Study (Part 1)
2. Post #150! 7/19-20: Ow My Knee, or: "Hey. Just so you know. We’re really good at ultimate."
3. Spring Training