Stiff Left Knee

January 17th, 2009 kNuke

My left knee and upper back were pretty stiff on Thursday and Friday.  I guess all the swinging and running had an impact.  Even though my knee was stiff, I took it as a good sign, because that meant I worked it out, but yet it wasn’t sore.  I wore my Nikken Kenkotherm knee wrap on both days.  Whenever I wear it, it seems to help the healing process.  Another good thing was that I was able to complete my workout without feeling any pain.

I took actual batting practice today and my knee feels fine.  I didn’t hit very well, but this is another step in my healing process.  We’ll see what happens tomorrow if I have to hit in an actual game, run the bases, and field.

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Ready for Hitting/Fielding

January 15th, 2009 kNuke

I had another game tonight, but I didn’t fare so well; 1 IP, 1 ER.  I feel that my legs are getting stronger with each outing, which is helping me throw harder.  Hopefully that will translate into better performances later on in the year.

I ran a bunch of sprints and my legs were burning, but I thnk that’s a good sign.  I believe I’m ready for the next step; I’m scheduled to take some batting practice on Saturday.  I was swinging on the side during the game and felt my left knee tweak a couple times,but it wasn’t anything major so I feel good to go!

Interesting note: My left ankle had weird tweaks three times today.  Once was while swinging and twice while walking around in the office.  I stopped and tested the ankle, but nothing else happened so I’m going to chalk it up to normal aches and pains?  Anyone have any ideas?

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Getting back my wind

January 14th, 2009 kNuke

Another buddy of mine wants to get in shape so my P90X buddy took him for a workout yesterday.  Today was my turn to help out, so I took him to the gym.  This guy has a bad knee, bad back, crap diet, and is overweight.  I figure a circuit routine would be a great way for him to get back into shape.

He gave a decent effort, but he didn’t complete one circuit correctly.  He didn’t finish any of the exercises with the required reps.  I think that’s okay, because it’s his second time working out in a while so I’ll cut him a little slack.  One good thing about him working out with me was that it pushed me to give maximum effort.  I felt really good after completing circuit two; I feel my wind coming back and it feels great!  I’m pretty confident that I’ll be able to complete the third circuit come Friday.

Side note: I skipped the cardio portion of the routine.  Instead, I ran after my baseball game.  I ran 4 50-yard sprints and 12 50-yard jogs for a total of 8 poles.  I think that’s an equal substitute huh?

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Another Day, Another Game

January 13th, 2009 kNuke

Pitched another inning yesterday.  Final line: 1 IP, 0 R, 1 BB.

Overall, my body felt tired and tight during the game.  That’s the second game in a row that my body has felt that way. My knee feels fine as I was able to move off of the mound to field a dribbler and throw the guy out at first, but I’m wondering if it’s affecting my throwing motion, because my pitches were all over the place.

My next hurdle will be hitting and playing in the field.  I’m a little hesistant to do anything where there may be contact like running, fielding, or sliding.  I’m not sure how to test it out before going full speed in a game since we don’t practice?

On a side note, I was thinking of sky diving…  Does this sound like a bad idea?  Is it too early for my knee to take a landing like that?

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Feeling Strong

January 12th, 2009 kNuke

I took measurements on Sunday and nothing spectacular to report.  Almost every measurement was identical, except one; I lost about 1/2 an inch around my belly button area.  The results are a little disappointing, but it’s still early and I did have two bad meals, so I’ll push on as planned.

I felt strong today during my workout.  The last pushup-lunge combo exercise really exhausts me.  That one exercise is the reason that I can’t complete 3 circuits.  Today was no different as I was only able to finish 2 circuits, but they were both solid.  Overall, I feel pretty good about today’s workout.

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It’s a New Year

January 6th, 2009 kNuke

I don’t make New Year Resolutions, but I am starting a new diet and workout regimen on January 5, 2009.  My buddy, Boomer, and I have a friendly competition going.  You can check out his P90X workout plan at Project Exercise.

This diet and workout regimen is tailored to help me get back in athletic shape while being easier on my knee with a lot of bodyweight exercises or lighter weights.

Workout: Seize Your Six-Pack with 15-20 minutes of Treadmill walking on a 15-incline at 3.5-4 MPH on 2 Off-Days.

Diet: It’s high protein and low-carb with around 20g of Fiber as seen below.

1. Morning: Protein Shake, Flameout (2)
2. Pre-Workout: IDS Whey Protein Shot 42g, Almonds (handful)
3. Post-Workout: Surge / Post-Cardio: BCAA Extend
4. Lunch: Spinach (1/2 bag), Boiled Eggs (1.5), Fish/Meat
5. Afternoon Snack: Same as above
6. Dinner: ISS Oh Yeah Milkshake, Flameout (2)

Along with this Diet I’ll be drinking Green Tea and 64 ounces of water minimum daily.

Any encouragement, suggestions, etc are welcome!  Wish me luck!!!

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Back on the Diamond

January 5th, 2009 kNuke

Things are going pretty well.  I started my new diet and restarted the Seize Your Six-Pack workout after a week break.  If you’re interested, you can check out my Workout blog!

My spirits are up after I was able return to the playing field yesterday.  I threw 2/3 of an inning and felt no pain.  When I woke up this morning I was a little tight, but there was no soreness.  I pitched another inning today and feel pretty good.  I don’t think about the knee when I’m playing, but I still do think about it during my downtime.  Hopefully I won’t be thinking about my knee after a few more outings.  Right now, I’m just glad I was able to get back to playing in a live game without pain!

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Golf

December 29th, 2008 kNuke

I played 9 holes of golf today and my surgically repaired left knee held up extremely well.  I was able to swing fully without any hesitation.  At the end of the day, I was thinking more about my tired back than anything else.  My right knee was a little achy afterwards, but that’s about it.  We’ll see how I feel tomorrow, but this is a great sign!

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First Full Sprint

December 26th, 2008 kNuke

Yesterday, I decided to give my knee a full test; I ran full out sprints, shuffles, backpedals, grapevines, side-to-sides, and jumps.  After all of those drills, I am happy to report that my left knee feels great!  Now that I’m starting to get my wind back, I hoping to be able to sprint about twice a week.

I still can’t go into a full squat position, but other than that, I feel really good.  I’ve been wearing a sleeve-brace on my right knee and it has helped alleviate the pain I was having in that knee.  I was unconscioucly compensating for my left knee, which caused my right knee to take a brunt of the force and become sore.  By wearing a sleeve-brace on my right knee, I think my brain doesn’t know which knee to favor so both are now taking equal force.  I’m going to keep wearing the sleeve-brace on my right knee for another couple of weeks until I feel that I’m ready to exercise without it.

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Return to the field… Sort of

December 21st, 2008 kNuke

On Wednesday, I got back on the baseball field for the first time since my injury, but I didn’t suit up to play.  I just threw on the side and ran around a little bit.  I did the same thing today.  It feels good to be out on the field.

After throwing my surgically repaired left knee feels fine, but my right knee becomes sore.  My right knee has been acting up more than my left knee in the past couple months.  Everyone I talk to says that I’m compensating, but nobody can tell me if that’s normal or not.  Nobody can tell me if I should be worried either.  I’m a little hesitant to keep doing more, because I think that I might injure my right knee!  At this point I’m going to keep plowing forward with hopes that both of my knees will be able to handle the increased stress.  Did anyone else experience the same thing?

As far as running goes, I feel okay.  Nothing hurts or feels weird, but it is hard to stop on a dime.  I’m assuming that will get easier over time.  I think most of my issues are mental at this point, minus the out of shape issue.  I’m eyeing a return to the pitching rubber in a live game in about a week.  I’m not in full playing shape yet, but I should be able to throw one inning.  This will be a big mental hurdle for me.

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