[kaebaka]

At my highest weight (245) 6.5 years ago, I tore my ACL in a really stupid accident. I had already been pretty lazy and inactive for several years at this point, and having a bad knee after that incident certainly didn't change that much. Fast forward several more years through the accumulation of more injuries, and through a failed surgery attempt in January 2009 to June 2010, when my surgeon re-did both parts of my surgery (realigning the bones and reconstructing the ACL). Recovery from surgery #2 has been going much more smoothly than surgery #1, and over the last few months I have been working really hard to improve my muscle strength, which is a vital component to rehabilitation after knee surgery.

Well, I went in for my 8 month check-up on Monday. Orthopedic surgeons have a collection of tests they will run your knee through to check the stability of your joint. I was there 4 months ago, and we knew at the time my knee was a little wobbly, but my leg passed all the tests. Monday, it failed. Every single one.

So my heavy working out has made my leg a lot stronger, so the instability doesn't bother me nearly as much now on a day to day basis as it has in the past. But it also means that even as I lose weight and get more fit, I am still going to have a lot of activity limitations.

I know that specific fitness activities are fine: I am able to do weight lifting, although I avoid a few moves that look stressful on the knees, jogging and hiking haven't bothered my knee at all, walking sometimes make my knee wobble a bit, but cycling and rowing have also been mostly okay. So I know that I have a lot of solo activities that I can do to help be more active, but as part of a lifestyle change I want to be more active with my friends as well. I've been inactive for so long that I'm not even really sure what all people do with their friends that is active, anyway! I used to play tennis before the first injury, but that's not possible anymore because of my knee.

Basically, to help protect my knee from further damage, I need to avoid activities that involve rapid changes in direction (tennis, soccer, etc.) as well as activities that involve a lot of jumping like basketball. I am sure that there are a lot of fun non-sedentary activities out there that I can do, I'm just not familiar with what! So far some of my friends have suggested canoeing / kayaking, because of the lack of leg involvement whatsoever, and badminton, because it is a racket sport like tennis but rather more laid-back and slow-paced. I would love any other suggestions you guys can come up with.

[MonicaM]

Try water aerobics that are held in the deep end of the pool. You wear a bouyancy belt.

[kaplods]

I second the water exercises. It's about the only way I can get an aerobic workout. Even with walking, I get tired and sore long before I can get my heart-rate up.

If there's a warm-water pool in your area even better (ask your doctor, or call your nearest Arthritis Office, Department on Aging and Disability ServicesUnited Way or United Way). Some require a doctor's referral, but you don't have to be disabled, you just have to have a condition that would be improved by water exercises (some insurances even cover all or part of the cost).