Formula for Success: Knee update

Even though I haven’t said much about it online, I have still been getting emails from people ascing about my knee. Thank you for the concern.

In mid- November I had my yearly physical and the MD asked if there was anything I wanted him to look at. I told him I had some stiffness in my right knee that had been there for several months. The short version of the story is that he sent me to an ortho doc and the diagnosis was torn meniscus, the treatment was physical therapy.

Interestingly, I wound up being a patient of Mark Snow, an athletic trainer who is in my AM Nashville Kettlebell Bootcamp class with his wife Nikki. In addition to our work with kettlebells, Mark also has trained with Gray Cook and the Functional Movement Screen. Short version again- Mark “gets it” regarding what I do and how we train.

We focused on improving knee extension and correcting the firing pattern of my glute and leg on the right side. Mark watched me do a set of snatches that mimics the RKC snatch test and spotted some imbalances in my movement pattern and recommended that I avoid snatches or swings until we correct the problem.

You know the old Cinderella song “You Don’t Know What You’ve Got Until It’s Gone”? (Yeah, I went there. 1988 rocked!) Tell a guy like me that he is prohibited from snatching? I literally felt the physical pain of disappointment and denial.

I had my follow-up appointment with the ortho doc to see what kind of progress I have made. In a little over 3 weeks of physical therapy my extension went from a being about 7 degrees short of full extension to completely straight. (the left knee naturally hyper extends about 5 degrees, so they still aren’t exactly even) I have no pain in flexion squatting) until I get REALLY deep. The doc was “surprised” at how rapidly I have improved. I was surprised at the quickness of improvement, but not at the improvement itself.

Here’s how it all it all fits together: Action A plus action B yields result C. The process is the same, regardless of the desired outcome. Consistent action that moves you in the direction of the goal results in success. It is a mathematical certainty.

Mark gave me specific things to do at home to improve extension and the firing pattern. And I did them. That is all there is to it.

Say you want to press a heavier kettlebell: Go to the Right of Passage program in Enter the Kettlebell. And DO it.

Formula for success: Intelligent plan + Consistent action = Desired result.