Squats and Hill Run Mark New Knee Progress

Date: 25th December
Location: My Dad's Garage

Swiss ball squats with dumbbells @25kg per dumbbell, BBS-style - about 2 minutes.

Total time: 2 minutes

Post-workout nutrition: this, 20 minutes later.

In fact my Dad did not have an inflated Swiss ball available, but since the struts on the power rack in my Dad's garage are smooth, I was able to slide my back up and down that to give the same kind of support.

Date: 26th December
Location: Shuttlisloe

60 minute hike

...during which two semi-sprints up steep sections (30 seconds each.)

Post workout nutrition: none - fasted that day.

The knee is getting better and stronger. I'll post a comparative photo between the left and right quads again soon (their sizes are converging) and compare it to the one I took 3 weeks after the surgery.

The knee was a bit delicate after the superslow session: this is the first weighted squats it has done, but I was happy with the way it coped - the delicacy was the right kind.

I am able to do full squats, but my patella is a little irritated from the sudden onslaught of exercise the leg has had in recent weeks, and half squats enable me to really push the quad without affecting the patella too much.

I reckon in a couple of weeks time I will be able to re-introduce leg press to my BBS routine, albeit perhaps with the seat further away from the press plate initially.

Here is a good photo of the hiking outing - the snow had created a fine wintry scene.


Being able to hike (for the first time since the op) and also do a couple of bursts of uphill running was very pleasing (especially given the additional stability needed in those conditions.) I expect I'll be able to do a proper fell run by mid-January. This is one of the steep sections I ran up.

As an aside, I did this in my new Vibram Five Finger Treks, which gives you and idea of how effective the tread is.