Time to grow and get strong (PLing w/a little bit of everything)

Lastest visit to the physical therapist was all good news. I’ve maxed out what I can until my surgeon sees me again and gives clearance to let the physical therapist take over completely. That’s a little over a week away. Everything is healing really good. I’m kind of in a hold tight position as of right now. Current limitations are:
Brace locked at zero when walking
When seated I’m allowed to unlock it to 30degrees
Still not allowed to bend my knee by using my quad.
I can bend it to 30 degrees with my hamstring though.

Yesterday was a good push day. Had a good pull day today. Endurance is coming back quick. Haven’t been pushing it on strength yet. Just want to keep as many muscles active as I can
 
View attachment 92582 Muscle atrophy is real.
Eh besides being more tan then me that’s how my scrawny leg looks too. It’s weird it’s tubular from hip to ankle basically cause calf didn’t get any smaller but I still don’t have any activation in my medial quad head or at least it’s not controllable every once in a while it fire randomly. I try never to look at my legs anymore I just close my eyes and hope I get the proper pant leg on in the morning. Glad to hear recovery is going good for you though and smart move sticking on cruise
 
I just close my eyes and hope I get the proper pant leg on in the morning
lol, this made me laugh a bit :D

It gets better, I swear it. I want to say around the 12 month mark was when I could finally put a sock on my right side without having to sit down. I almosr cried when that day came. You'll get there!!
 
Eh besides being more tan then me that’s how my scrawny leg looks too. It’s weird it’s tubular from hip to ankle basically cause calf didn’t get any smaller but I still don’t have any activation in my medial quad head or at least it’s not controllable every once in a while it fire randomly. I try never to look at my legs anymore I just close my eyes and hope I get the proper pant leg on in the morning. Glad to hear recovery is going good for you though and smart move sticking on cruise

Mine has changed even more now. I’ve been back on my diet and a lot of the “jello” is gone. I can actually see slight muscle definition. It’s much smaller but 75% of my PT is firing that muscle. 4 more days and I get my 1 month post surgery evaluation by the surgeon. I’m actually really shocked that I’ve followed the rules and restrictions exact but I know the healing is because of it. I can tell it’s getting more stable which is making me itch to do more but my physical therapist promised me next week if I get full clearance he’ll put me through as much pain as I choose. I’m hoping to having 90 degrees accomplished within two from Monday. That way I can at least start the stationary bike
 
lol, this made me laugh a bit :D

It gets better, I swear it. I want to say around the 12 month mark was when I could finally put a sock on my right side without having to sit down. I almosr cried when that day came. You'll get there!!

Luckily I’ve been putting socks on good. Showering a lot easier. I get around really well considering I’m just a month post surgery. Hell I even 315 on bench the other day for a few easy triples. I don’t want to say it hasn’t been bad but I definitely thought it would have been a lot worse.
 
Luckily I’ve been putting socks on good. Showering a lot easier. I get around really well considering I’m just a month post surgery. Hell I even 315 on bench the other day for a few easy triples. I don’t want to say it hasn’t been bad but I definitely thought it would have been a lot worse.
Glad to hear it man it’s nice to know your healing up good, it’s crazy how little things like getting in and out the shower (I have a tub shower) is a dance with death and possibly falling and reinjuying I installed a shower rail hate it so much lol.
 
Glad to hear it man it’s nice to know your healing up good, it’s crazy how little things like getting in and out the shower (I have a tub shower) is a dance with death and possibly falling and reinjuying I installed a shower rail hate it so much lol.

My shower process to this day. Turn the water let it heat up through the lines. Turn it back off get in the shower with my brace ( I have a tub shower as well) wherever my brace comes off is where I stay in that exact position. Then I have to dry off in the shower and brace back then get out. It’s that kind of stuff that makes this stuff a pain in the ass
 
My shower process to this day. Turn the water let it heat up through the lines. Turn it back off get in the shower with my brace ( I have a tub shower as well) wherever my brace comes off is where I stay in that exact position. Then I have to dry off in the shower and brace back then get out. It’s that kind of stuff that makes this stuff a pain in the ass

That’s smarter then me at first I’d get in sit down take off the brace then turn the shower on (read holy fucking cold for the first 2 mins). Really should have preheated it that is smart but now I got the handle so I’m good. That and trying to get onto the toilet to take a shit were the two most aggravating things to start cause you feel like an invalid if you can’t even do your own bathroom routine
 
Ok so tomorrow is my one month post surgery visit with the surgeon. I should have a decent amount of new “privileges” after tomorrow so I wanted to take the time to make a starting point of my recovery as far as weight measurements and other general things.

-Limitations as of now. Leg is completely immobilized while standing or walking
-when seated I can let my leg bend up to 30 degrees.
-cannot use my quad muscle to straighten my leg but can use my hamstring to bend.

-I haven’t really tested much strength. I hit 315 today for a set of 5 touch and go.

Measurements
Left thigh 21inch
Left calf is 14in
Right thigh 25in
Right calf 16.5in
Waist (at belly button) 32.5in
Left/right bicep 18in
Shoulder (widest point) 54in
Weight 187.8

Gonna add a few pics for reference all from today except the first one. That was yesterday no workout.

236D2F41-A89B-4F07-9149-44C7CE10ABCC.jpeg 56A35DC2-6A9E-44CE-A911-4F8D865B3BFB.jpeg AC0D546F-3E0E-4BCE-9633-A53E2CC4C322.jpeg 14AECC29-AB07-4EE0-BDCD-4C45BF679212.jpeg DBAEB656-2F6C-49FF-83BD-CF9A96B2FC16.jpeg
 
Ok so tomorrow is my one month post surgery visit with the surgeon. I should have a decent amount of new “privileges” after tomorrow so I wanted to take the time to make a starting point of my recovery as far as weight measurements and other general things.

-Limitations as of now. Leg is completely immobilized while standing or walking
-when seated I can let my leg bend up to 30 degrees.
-cannot use my quad muscle to straighten my leg but can use my hamstring to bend.

-I haven’t really tested much strength. I hit 315 today for a set of 5 touch and go.

Measurements
Left thigh 21inch
Left calf is 14in
Right thigh 25in
Right calf 16.5in
Waist (at belly button) 32.5in
Left/right bicep 18in
Shoulder (widest point) 54in
Weight 187.8

Gonna add a few pics for reference all from today except the first one. That was yesterday no workout.

View attachment 93128 View attachment 93129 View attachment 93130 View attachment 93131 View attachment 93132
You brave soul having picture evidence of the smaller leg. Also very odd might be coincidence but at the 4 week mark I was 23” right leg and 19” left leg so also 4” in a month for me. My calf didnt atrophy at all though they both remained 15.5” maybe right is slightly larger but always had been by about 0.25”. Don’t know if you’ve looked into it but there is evidence of muscle sparing effects using a BFR for 10mins 3-4x a day on the injured leg, just holding the addition blood volume for that bit of time helps it become more nutritiant rich. My surgeon suggested it to me and just evenly space it throughout the day, don’t have to do anything just sit or lay down and let it fill with blood to help the healing then take off.
 
Damn, it's crazy how fast I forgot about all of the little things I had to do as I healed and rehabbed. Still hoping you guys heal fast and well!!
 
Okay so I am 13-14 weeks post surgery. I have matching range of motion in both knees. I’ve been brace free for 2 weeks and cleared from the surgeon and physical therapy for 1.5 weeks. I still have another month before I can even consider attempting any sort of impact ie running jumping plyo. Accomplishments to date. Weighted lunges. 10 sets of 10 with 135 squats. 185 for 5 on squats. I can press 120lbs with my “bad” leg for 20. Also the hardest thing to date is leg extensions. I can do sets of 15 with 20lbs. Managed a few high intensity biking cardio sessions for about 30mins. Biking and rowing are my go to for cardio. Quad muscle is gaining size. Tbh it feels like it’s growing rather quickly but I have so much ground to make up I know I still have a long road ahead.

As far as what I’m doing...
I’m in the gym 5-6 days a week. Monday Wednesday Saturday Sunday are full gym days with 2-3 hours of availability. Tuesday Thursday I have about 45mins to pull something off. The short days are 20mins of cardio and 20-25 mins of strict work to rehabilitate my left leg. The other days I still do the 20-40 mins of cardio. At a minimum 2-3 exercises for legs plus push pull upper body. So I am doing legs more a less every day.

Diet...
Monday Wednesday Saturday Sunday I am carb cycling to an extent. I take in a min of 200g of protein min. Carbs are less than 100g (60g are 2-3 hours preworkout). Fats are generally 125-150g. Tuesday Thursday Friday are 200g of protein or more. Less than 20g of carbs 180g of fats or more. Typically one day a week I re-feed my body and eat everything known to mankind.

What I’m doing as far as recovery for my knee....
Everyday I do the following religiously. 20min session of tens unit on my knee with ice. 25 mins of using a muscle stim with heat on my quad. 20-30 mins of static stretches to keep my knee from getting “tight”. When I get the change I also soak my leg in epsom salt for 30-40 mins. Sometimes ice water sometimes as hot as I can take.

Current supps.
Due to the general low carb intake I live breath and eat pre workout. It was different when I was full keto. My energy levels seemed higher. I take a slew of vitamins. If the list is needed for what I am asking next I can provide. I drink a ton of aminos as well. Throughout the day and intra workout. As far as gear it’s a simple Cruz at 300mg test e a week.

Stats.
5’9
191lbs
Lean as I’ve ever been
Early 30s

Goals.
Primarily want to focus on building muscle. Preferably lean muscle as I enjoy my physic at the moment. Most of all I want my legs back to tree trunks. I’m not overly concerned about my powerlifting strength until I’m happy with the size of my legs again.

What I would like some suggestions with.
-I’m ready to do a blast so suggested cycle to match my goals.
-If my diet needs tweaking (keep in mind I’m trying to stay as lean as possible)
-workout split with a major leg focus (limited strength still due to the knee surgery)

Any and all suggestions are welcome. I’ve become friends with a handful of guys on this board. There’s been a lot the past year or two in life that’s limited my activity here but any help would be greatly appreciated. I am pretty stacked as far as gear and have just about everything imaginable at hand. I plan to start my cycle in the next few days. Just want to hear some suggestions. Thanks in advance to anyone and everyone willing to take the time to lend some help.
 
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