Weekend Workout

It has been about three weeks since I sprained my knee and although it is getting better I am still VERY limited with what I can do as far as training goes. Karate, Running, C2 Rower, Jumping Rope, and any lower body resistance training is not happening for at least 10 more days. So without being able to do any cardio or lifting heavy legs my training has been sub-par to say the least. Although I am looking forward to being able to do anything I want soon, I realize the importance of resting my knee to allow it to recover 100%.
Not having much use of my left leg has not only effected cardio and leg days but also my upper body routines have been altered slightly. I have not been able to do any heavy standing presses since my knee support is not where it should be. Being a trainer and needing to motivate people everyday I feel it is important for me to be positive. So with all these negatives listed above I had to think of something positive to take out of this. I have been toying with many new upper body exercises as well as workout routines. For example I have been doing a lot of handstand pushups, something in the past I could never really do. Not being able to press heavy pushed me out of my comfort zone and forced me to learn how to perform handstand pushups, and guess what? My core strength and overall upper body strength has improved greatly. I have also been playing with different styles of Metabolic Resistance Training through upper body movements only. Needing to get some form of cardio in I have been pushing the tempo on many of my workouts to elevate my Heart Rate and burn extra calories. Below is an example of the workout I performed while at my parents over the weekend. It is a blend of Metabolic Resistance Training with Interval Style Training.

Perform 5 rounds of the Circuit below with 1 min rest between each round;

10 Ring Dips
10 Pull Ups
25 Pull Aways
5 Handstand Pushup
10 Recline Rows
The idea of this workout was to push through each round elevating my heart rate greatly (Peak HR was 187), yet only allowing short periods of recovery time. The workout was killer and I put minimal pressure on my bad knee.
I followed up the workout with foam rolling, stretching, and some rehab work. Knee injuries can be tricky for a couple of reason. First there is very little blood flow going throughout are knee ligaments, which is the reason for such long recovery. Something as simple as a light walk on the treadmill will help with blood flow to the knee and speed up the recovery time. The second part of knee injuries is to make sure to keep your quadricep active. I have been playing around with some different ways to do this. Check out this 3-D version of Terminal Knee Extensions for rehab from Smitty of Diesel Crew(thanks Master Cunnen). Got to go, it’s been about 30 minutes since I put this ice on my knee, see you next time!