If you have recently undergone knee surgery, you are likely more than ready to start exercising again. You might feel bored not moving, worry about gaining weight, or worry about losing your muscle tone. Here are some tips for exercising again after going through knee surgery.

1. Focus on Your Arms

The first thing that you want to do is get used to doing a lot of arm exercises that don't put any strain on your knees. First, you will need two benches for any arm presses that you do. One is for your regular amount of support, such as supporting your back when you are doing bench presses. The second is to get your legs off the ground so that you won't be relying on them and therefore putting too much pressure on your knees while you are doing the exercise. If you don't think you are putting pressure on your knees while you are doing the exercise, then don't worry about the second bench. If you are using the second bench, you might need to lift a smaller amount of weight in the beginning to get used to the reduced amount of stability that you might have.

2. Exercise Your Knee

The best thing that you can do in order to make it easier for you to go back to doing squats and leg presses is to strengthen your knee. You will likely be in physical therapy and will be given a set of exercises to do there. However, you can beef out this exercise routine everyday with ankle pumps and circles, which is where you move your ankle up and down or in a circle, as well as thigh squeezes, which is where you, while lying down, squeeze your thigh as tight as you can, hold it for ten to fifteen seconds, and then release. Talk to your doctor before doing any other exercises with your legs.

3. Walk

Talk to your doctor about the maximum amount of walking you can do in a day and try to hit that each day. This will allow you to build up your endurance again as well as gain strength in your knee. Start by walking around your home and then increase your distance so that you can walk around the block and around your town. 

For more information, talk to your doctor or physical therapist about more exercises that you can do. Contact a company like Tedder Sports Medicine & Orthopaedic Center to learn more.

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