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I'm Sidelined For The Next Couple Of Months. What Do You Think About Swimming?

post #1 of 16
4/19/10 at 12:30pm
Thread Starter 
So, after my first Muay Thai fight I decided to keep training to continue to lose weight and stay in good shape. I was working out at the gym and really hurt my knee. It turns out that I have a torn meniscus and an "abnormality" in my knee. The torn Meniscus is probably from another time / injury as it really doesn't hurt but the abnormality (worn cartilage) is causing a lot of pain and I've been limping for the last 6 weeks. I'm supposed to get 3 shots of Synvisc to help with the healing and create some scar tissue. If it doesn't help or my knee doesn't heal properly I may be a candidate for early knee replacement farther down the road. In the meantime, I thought about swimming. I can't swim to save my life but I understand that it's very easy on the joints and will keep one in shape. I'm wondering how good of shape? I'm thinking of taking some swimming lessons and seeing what it's like as I'm not sure how much more pounding my knees can take. Anyone have any experience with Synvisc shots and/or swimming in general? I've seen a couple of other threads about swimming, maybe someone can weigh in on getting started and what to do?
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post #2 of 16
4/19/10 at 12:38pm
Take lessons from a good coach, like a triathlete or masters swimmer. I'm a swim instructor myself, and have been teaching for 7 years, and I can safely say that you need more than what your local YMCA will dish out to you. Swimming is very technique-heavy. It's excellent for general fitness, but you will flop around and agitate your knee further without proper instruction. Alternately, you could try water-jogging. Looks stupid, but it's a great low-impact cardio exercise. Edit: on that note, there should be therapy aquafit classes at your local pool. Again, the instructors will probably suck, but water is excellent for rehabilitation. Where I work there is a hydro-therapy program run by a physiotherapist and everyone I talk to swears by it - see if you can look into that.
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post #3 of 16
4/19/10 at 12:38pm
You can do tons of resistance exercises in water as well. running in water, for example, is apparently great for you, though you may get some strange looks at your local pool.
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post #4 of 16
4/19/10 at 1:01pm
Get an MRI...talk to an ortho surgeon...take care of the ligament damage.
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post #5 of 16
4/19/10 at 1:10pm
Aside from your injuries, swimming is excellent exercise. It's basically a very low impact form of cardio that also incorporates your muscles infinitely more than parking yourself on an elliptical or treadmill for 30 minutes.
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post #6 of 16
4/19/10 at 2:43pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by CBRYDR View Post
Get an MRI...talk to an ortho surgeon...take care of the ligament damage.

I had an MRI which is how I found out that I have a torn Meniscus and an abnormality in my cartilage and I'm seeing an Ortho to get shots. Why should I get surgery for something that doesn't bother me?

Quote:
Originally Posted by suited View Post
Aside from your injuries, swimming is excellent exercise. It's basically a very low impact form of cardio that also incorporates your muscles infinitely more than parking yourself on an elliptical or treadmill for 30 minutes.

How much swimming do I have to do compared to an eliptical or treadmill. I'm worried that I have to swim several hours compared to an hour in the gym just to get some results (weight loss, tone, etc...) I know nothing about swimming except that it involves water. Or something like that...
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post #7 of 16
4/19/10 at 2:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tck13 View Post
I had an MRI which is how I found out that I have a torn Meniscus and an abnormality in my cartilage and I'm seeing an Ortho to get shots. Why should I get surgery for something that doesn't bother me?



How much swimming do I have to do compared to an eliptical or treadmill. I'm worried that I have to swim several hours compared to an hour in the gym just to get some results (weight loss, tone, etc...) I know nothing about swimming except that it involves water. Or something like that...

Swimming is an awesome exercise and much better than a treadmill. It would probably take 20 minutes of swimming a good pace, in a decent sized pool to feel the same affects as an hour of just running on a treadmill. Try some breaststroke getting out either end for some pushups.

Also it's a great upper body workout, indeed whole body. Look at the swimmers to see how toned and how low their BF is to get an idea of what swimming and a healthy diet does.
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post #8 of 16
4/19/10 at 3:22pm
When I hurt my knee playing basketball, my doctor suggested swimming. Get goggles, speedos and a good coach and you'll be set.
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post #9 of 16
4/19/10 at 11:13pm
Get one of those buoys (floats) that you squeeze between your legs so you can swim doing upper body only. Kicking may still aggravate your knee. I love to swim but can't stand the chlorine anymore (way too intense at my gym).
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post #10 of 16
4/20/10 at 1:03am
When you take into account how your heart rate goes up, and how many muscles are incorporated, you could probably swim for less time than you could spend on an elliptical and burn more calories. Running may be a different story, but running is, IMO, a terrible way to do cardio. Some people love to run, I don't. I think there are many other options that are much less boring and will get you into better shape. Just start swimming laps, different strokes. Start out swimming for 20 minutes, take a break if you need to. Build up to it and try to gauge your progress somehow. When I swim, my entire upper body feels like I just did biceps, triceps, shoulders and back. Everything is tight, it's a great feeling and you just can't get that sort of workout from a treadmill.
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post #11 of 16
4/20/10 at 10:00pm
+1 for deep water jogging. Your knee may not be ready for it yet. I will cross my fingers for you for an easy recovery and many years before you need a new knee.
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post #12 of 16
4/21/10 at 9:53am
[quote=Tck13;3153343]I had an MRI which is how I found out that I have a torn Meniscus and an abnormality in my cartilage and I'm seeing an Ortho to get shots. Why should I get surgery for something that doesn't bother me?
QUOTE]

Because if you plan on getting involved with ANY sports/activities that requires intensive lateral movement, it's not going to be pretty...plus, it's more precise and the recovery process isnt too bad.
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post #13 of 16
4/29/10 at 2:46am
Thread Starter 
[quote=CBRYDR;3158805]
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tck13 View Post
I had an MRI which is how I found out that I have a torn Meniscus and an abnormality in my cartilage and I'm seeing an Ortho to get shots. Why should I get surgery for something that doesn't bother me?
QUOTE]

Because if you plan on getting involved with ANY sports/activities that requires intensive lateral movement, it's not going to be pretty...plus, it's more precise and the recovery process isnt too bad.

I'm not sure that you're clear on what I'm talking about. My torn meniscus isn't and hasn't given me any problems. I'm not going to get surgery on something that isn't affecting me or anything I do. That's pointless.

Surgery on Focal Arthritis is hardly very successful. Hence the shots of Synvisc to hopefully repair and stop the cartilage damage.
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post #14 of 16
4/29/10 at 5:10pm
If you can, try to get an appointment with a good physical therapist, and ask them to about what activities they would recommend and what they would stay away from. After a couple kneecap dislocations and a torn MCL, I've found their advice to be invaluable. One of the local sports therapy places will be a free "screening" appointment where you can have the therapist look at your knee and give you some recommendations. Not sure if a place near you has that, but that's what I'd go for.
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post #15 of 16
5/1/10 at 4:01pm
I picked up swimming when I broke my foot last summer. I ended up in much better shape once my foot was healed.

It's great, just get in a pool and start going. It took awhile for my body to adapt to distance swimming, but after about 1-2 weeks it was all good. Just start by alternating one lap freestyle, one lap easy breast stroke. Then move to 2 laps freestyle etc, one lap breast etc..

Eventually you'll get the 45 minutes to an hour of freestyle.
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