I’m Back!

 About 5 years ago I was working out one day, working on my legs and I noticed that my right knee started to hurt. I backed off, iced, rested, it continued to hurt. After a few weeks I sought medical advice.  MRIs, X-Rays, specialists, physical therapy for years followed. Nobody could tell me what was wrong with my knee aside from the fact that my patella moved diagonally instead of up and down and that motion had eroded the cartilage and bone in some areas. As a result my patella had a tendency to get out of joint and would hurt until it snapped itself back into joint and the cycle would repeat itself.  I was told bike riding, the stair master and everything else that required repetitive knee motions were off limits and I’d probably never do them again. I was specifically told no kickboxing. I was also asked when I first noticed the pain and it was when I was squatting with 35 lb dumbbells. I was told to not do that ever again.  Up to that point kickboxing was a staple in my fitness arsenal and how could I skip leg day?

I stopped kickboxing but I didn’t skip leg day.  Instead I started out doing leg day with no weights.  Just body weight.  It hurt at first. But over time it stopped hurting and when it consistently stopped hurting I added weight. It was a slow process and I had setbacks. There were times I’d be off of leg day for weeks at a time or down in weight or back to no weight.  Slowly but surely I was able to add weight.  I also added kickboxing back into the mix. Not every day, just once or twice a week but it’s something. Some days it isn’t pretty. I can’t do the basic leg turning motion because of the way my patella moves but I adjust the moves for me. Any movement is better than no movement. 

 My knee still hurts some days but that’s just part of the process and along the way I got stronger.  I built strength in areas of my body that weren’t my legs.  I also gained weight which sent me on cycles of eating less. But, that never worked because you can’t do more with less.  I learned the hard way. Last week I was listening to a podcast and it stated that when you grow muscle you will gain weight because muscle weighs more than fat. The light went on. I’ve been building muscle so of course the number on the scale will go up.  I’m done with dieting. I’m going to fuel my body with nutritious foods that it needs but also eat foods that make my body feel good. Screw the scale!

Last week I finished up an 8 week program and I finished strong. On leg day guess who was squatting with 35 lb dumbbells?  That’s right, this girl!  It was a long road but I made it back. What’s next?  I’ve already started a 9 week program that will help me continue to build strength. Will my knee hurt again at some point?  Guaranteed. But the key is to keep moving forward, no matter what that looks like.