Post Knee Replacement Rehab

[Paddlinhal]

So I had my knee joint replaced and went through the namby pamby physical therapy that they prescribe. Two and a half months later I'm done with that and can walk around just fine. Can I toss a royalex boat on my shoulders and scamper a couple miles through the woods? No.

So it's time for more advanced rehab, and I have chosen a "Power-Pilates" class. Of course every guy wants giant arms and massive quads but I figure a strong core will get that canoe off the ground and encourage me to paddle the way they always say - with your torso, not your arms. Dang! Monday night was my first rodeo and I'm almost recovered enough to go again three days later. But I gotta go if I'm going to do that 2 month trip from Yellowknife to Great Bear lake and down the MacKenzie next summer.

Does anybody have a favorite exercise routine to get in shape for the rugged trips?

 

[gumpus]

Congrats on your new knee Hal. I think you have plenty of time to get ready for your big trip. I think the most important thing is to establish some sort of exercise schedule for yourself and to experiment with different things until you find stuff that you like that also works for you. Your Pilates class sounds like a great start. You may need to exercise first thing in the morning to make sure you get on a schedule that you can maintain.

I'm a guy with no interest in huge arms and huge quads since I'm not trying to impress anyone and I'd rather work on being in good shape overall like swimmers or soccer players. My routine is to go to the YMCA on weekdays and do a cardio workout on their machines. I started at 30 minutes (about 300 calories) and now I do between 45 and 60 minutes. Then I go home and do core exercises which are not difficult. Three days a week I do some exercises with light free weights. I think you need,to do stuff at least three,times a week to make progress. With the weights you are supposed to wait 48 hours between workouts so I love the idea of taking days off and still making progress. Finally I paddle a lot...around 5 days a week except in winter. Seems like paddling needs to be part of your prep if you are going to do a lot of paddling! If you are going to portage then it would be logical for you to do regular hikes with a pack but otherwise if I was going to do your trip I would not alter my current routine.

just my two cents

 

[PaddlingPitt]

That's a heck of a trip Hal! What route are you planning from Yellowknife to Great Bear? Is Inuvik your take-out. Is this a solo trip?

 

[frozentripper]

I had a hip replacement so maybe not the same as for knees... but two and a half months wasn't enough recovery time to get back to normal and my doctor thought so as well. Six months later things were better... I got back into it by biking instead of driving... groceries, scenery, etc. Much more interesting than workouts and the new joint's AOK. Pretty miraculous, really, considering how much was taken out and replaced... anyway, good luck, better days ahead.

 

[yellowcanoe]

I think you are not talking post knee rehab. Just conditioning.. The two are very different. But the knee replacement may affect conditioning.. I was told not to kneel on my appliance.. I do but it feels weird. Two years later still feels like a bowling ball and sitting for periods longer than 30 minutes leads to stiffness.. The long canoe trips we have taken since replacement show I have to get out and walk at least every hour. Portaging eight months after replacement was not an issue for the knee. It loved it.. The rest of me was not so much loving it.

Of course I also am shopping for a hip..

Biking and swimming are my friends.. My hip is so screwed up that my back goes into spasms while walking.. I do yoga to improve posture..

That power pilates looks very interesting

 

[snapper]

Hal - Congrats on your new knee. I had total replacement of my right knee 9 years ago and understand your comments about the namby pamby rehab routine. I finally asked my doctor to get me into something more oriented to getting back outdoors and he was willing to help me with that. Once rehab was over I went back to my usual physical routine. Essentially this has me swimming 4 days a week along with a lot of walking. I don't go to the gym other than to swim so I try to get my continual rehab in with my daily routine. This keeps me walking and doing stairs at all times, parking further from my office here on campus to lengthen my walks, manually cutting/splitting/stacking all my firewood, using a walk behind lawn mower instead of a riding one; I think you get the picture. I also do a fair share of backpacking and day hiking so by having weight on my shoulders & back I'm getting into portaging shape as well. From my experience, the more you can be physically active, the better off you'll be.

I had my replacement in April and was back to limited canoeing by July; no portages but day trips were fair game. I was back to cross country skiing the following winter as well as snowshoeing and even the occasional time on the ice doing some skating. If I were you, I'd do what feels best for your own conditioning and listen to your body; especially the knee. It will tell you if you're on the right path.

That's all for now. Best of luck with your continual rehab; and believe me...it will be continual. Take care and until next time....be well.

snapper

 

[gumpus]

Hey Paddlinhal, just FYI in case my personal messages didn't get through.

 

[Paddlinhal]

That's a heck of a trip Hal! What route are you planning from Yellowknife to Great Bear? Is Inuvik your take-out. Is this a solo trip?

From Yellowknife 6 of us go north, up river, following what is known as the Idaa Trail, which go over the height of land into the Camsell River down to Great Bear Lake. 41 named portages. Then we go west, and take the Bear (Great Bear?) River down to the Mackenzie at Fort Norman. If we get that far, I'll be happy, but the Mackenzie is a natural finale. I'll know more after November 17 when we have our planning meeting.

 

[Iskweo]

I do training three mornings a week right now...nothing major, mostly core stuff and flexibility. I find the all day sitting in the canoe seizes my hips up and the flex exercises help with that. It can be pretty funny watching me roll out of a boat. I am still quite strong for a woman of my age but the lack of stamina is where I run into problems. Bad heart eh. My portaging is very slow business these days. I also stay home on very hot days.
The biggest problem is getting in somewhere and not having enough left to get out again.

Christy

 

[PaddlingPitt]

From Yellowknife 6 of us go north, up river, following what is known as the Idaa Trail, which go over the height of land into the Camsell River down to Great Bear Lake. 41 named portages. Then we go west, and take the Bear (Great Bear?) River down to the Mackenzie at Fort Norman. If we get that far, I'll be happy, but the Mackenzie is a natural finale. I'll know more after November 17 when we have our planning meeting.

That is a spectacular trip, Hal. Lots of lake paddling from Yellowknife to Rae, to connect with the Idea trail. Then lots of overland to get to the Camsell. Then lots of lake paddling on Great Bear Lake itself! The Bear River is swift, and will take you quickly to Fort Norman (Tulita) on the Mackenzie. From there it is only two days down the Mackenzie to Norman Wells, which has scheduled commercial flights back to Yellowknife. That might be less expensive than flying back from Fort Norman.

How many days are you planning for this trip? I am envious!

 

[Paddlinhal]

Well, like I said before, we haven't nailed down the itinerary but I'm wrangling 8 weeks off for the trip. Which includes getting there and back from New England. I seem to recall it would be 3 weeks for the Idaa Trail alone. I'm glad I'm going with an experienced group of folks, since I've never tripped so far north.

 

[yellowcanoe]

Well, like I said before, we haven't nailed down the itinerary but I'm wrangling 8 weeks off for the trip. Which includes getting there and back from New England. I seem to recall it would be 3 weeks for the Idaa Trail alone. I'm glad I'm going with an experienced group of folks, since I've never tripped so far north.

Be ready to be frozen and baked. Perhaps on the same day.. Take a close knit cotton twill shirt like an old dress shirt( not a t shirt and should be your only cotton item save for maybe a beat up Tilley).. It will come in handy on hot portage days when you can soak it. We have baked and frozen the same day on the Yukon and Snake RIvers in YT.