Sept 8 my knee tried to bend the other way, I tried to turn.

Everyone hear the snap, crackle and pop, followed by my screams, not from the pain but the realisation of what I had just done.

I was playing football for fun, this was NOT part of the plan.
I calmed myself down and reassured myself it would be okay. I woke the next morning to what I thought was a normal looking knee with some restricted movement.

I moved it through the limited range I had. I took a picture of it, sent it to a physiotherapist friend.
Up first I was going to try to walk, using crutches to unload my injured leg similarly to what I think an alter G treadmill would.

I trained my upper body that day, and continued to move the knee. I finished just shy of my 10k & #39;step& #39; target.
A day or two later I squatted.

It was partial range, and assisted but it was a squat non the less.

A few days later and I squatted below parallel, and loaded it.. Guess what happened?
Nothing. My experience improved. I then put together the first template for my rehab, exercises were categorised by goal.
1. Range - increase range of motion. E.g. assisted heel elevated squat.
2. Strength - increase load. E.g. 1/4 front squats
3. L sit (max iso contract quad)
Over a few weeks this changed to three distinct days.

This quickly began to look like training.

Every session was productive. I didn& #39;t & #39;need& #39; my crutches after the first few days, but I continued to use them to unload the injured leg, just in case.
It took 4 weeks but I had my MRI, and I needed another MRI.
"Subchondral impaction fracture of the anterior peripheral medial tibial plateau.."
"Intermediate grade partial tear ACL"
"complete tear of the fibular collateral ligament, intermediate grade partial tendon..."

Fuck
I was worried that I had messed up. Big time. But after some more reassurance it was clear I didn& #39;t.

I did not once go into pain. I only worked through available ranges of motion, and while the loading might look heavy to an untrained individual it was incredibly light for me.
At my surgical consult I had only one question - & #39;can I have my surgery that week?& #39;.

But I didn& #39;t get to ask that question. You are not your diagnosis.

First my surgeon asked me what happened, how I was, and what I was doing for it.
I explained the injury etc. before explaining how I approached it with my 10k & #39;steps& #39; on my crutches, he looked up from his clipboard.

I then explained that I had two & #39;traditional& #39; days focused on increasing strength and range of motion, and finally the piece de resistance..
The L sit.

I explained how I was looking to load the quad, and work on terminal knee extension without having to put force through my foot.

He smiled.

I went on to explain my plan for progression and he examined my knee
My knee was stable.

It wasn& #39;t the same knee he saw in the images, and he told me I was in the wrong office, that he has no use for me.

And I avoided surgery. When leaving he remarked that he wasn& #39;t sending me for physiotherapy because it didn& #39;t make sense from a cost:benefit
I celebrated with a slightly more aggressive progression on my training session for the day.

I continued this template for almost 3 months. By December I was lunging 100 kilos. January looked a lot like & #39;real training& #39;, and by February I had PR& #39;d by Deadlift and Front Squat
By April I PR& #39;d my FS a few more times adding 17.5 kilos to it. PR& #39;d my clean by 6kg , my back squat by 10 kilos and Snatched my old max without really training them.

Yesterday I got the all clear in my first physiotherapy session since my knee exploded.
This would not have been possible had it not been for people like @GregLehman @AdamMeakins @BarbellMedicine @larsavemarie Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart.
A quick apology to physiotherapy. I know what I did essentially was physiotherapy, albeit in the absence of a physiotherapist.

I did want the thread to reach more, and a lot of people I know have the wrong expectations/beliefs of what physio is - hence click bait title.
This is what I think of when I think of physiotherapy now. I refer my coaching clients to physiotherapists who take a similar approach and provide resources too.

I was once afraid of certain exercises/movements, I relied on physio& #39;s elbows and needles to fix me.
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