Olavatoba’s BodyBlog

So today i decided to try out legs and surprisingly my knees did not buckle, hurt, or have any spasms as i assumed would happen. I was able to have a decent leg workout which i’ve been craving for over a year now. Unfortunately i cannot do leg extensions or squats which leaves me limited to the following: vertical leg press, hamstring curls and straight leg deadlifts (with not a lot of weight.. well my regular weight anyways).

 So it’s good because now i can work on my symmetry. I’m still continuing to work on my abs and cardio is coming up pretty decent. Rollerblading and using the stationary bike are my most prefered form of getting that good heart rate without aggravating my knee.

So today i decided to try out legs and surprisingly my knees did not buckle, hurt, or have any spasms as i assumed would happen. I was able to have a decent leg workout which i’ve been craving for over a year now. Unfortunately i cannot do leg extensions or squats which leaves me limited to the following: vertical leg press, hamstring curls and straight leg deadlifts (with not a lot of weight.. well my regular weight anyways).

 So it’s good because now i can work on my symmetry. I’m still continuing to work on my abs and cardio is coming up pretty decent. Rollerblading and using the stationary bike are my most prefered form of getting that good heart rate without aggravating my knee.

So today i decided to try out legs and surprisingly my knees did not buckle, hurt, or have any spasms as i assumed would happen. I was able to have a decent leg workout which i’ve been craving for over a year now. Unfortunately i cannot do leg extensions or squats which leaves me limited to the following: vertical leg press, hamstring curls and straight leg deadlifts (with not a lot of weight.. well my regular weight anyways).

 So it’s good because now i can work on my symmetry. I’m still continuing to work on my abs and cardio is coming up pretty decent. Rollerblading and using the stationary bike are my most prefered form of getting that good heart rate without aggravating my knee.

So i went for a run this morning around 7:40am till about 8:15am.. i’m not much of a long distance runner. Anyways, at the end of my run and stretching sesh, it turns out that my knees didnt ache as bad as they did before. This means that my athletic career is not in so much jeopardy. I will refrain from running again as i could put further stress on the ligaments but i’ll stick to biking as my way of doing cardio.

 A recent look at my earlier pics show that i was always toned and always had good abs.. Even when i slacked off i still had some sort of abdominal thing to look at. From  my gatherings, i’ve come to the conclusion that the most serious gain that i’ve made is a muscle gain. I’m still about as toned as I was before i started working out but i’ve gained about 40lbs of muscle in the past 3 years and did all of this by still being able to maintain my definition. I weighed about 125-130lbs before i started lifting weights and now i weigh between 170-174lbs and still "ripped".. I’m quite impressed wit the effort i’ve mad. A lot of sweat and hard work went into it. As i’m on my way to weigh and average 185lbs, i also plan on being able to maintain my definition as well and maybe compete in an amateur competition (if my knee heals up quick so i can bulk up on my quads and hams).

This is the first blog i’ve ever written. Due to a knee injury that occurred in a game of basketball in October 2006, my knees have been rendered semi-useless. I use that term because that’s really the situation. It has taken quite a toll on my athletic activities and bodybuilding goals. For example i can not run (i’m a sprinter) at the moment because i risk tearing or completely rending my knees useless and have to go for surgery. I cannot workout my legs (thank God i did a lot of work on my legs before the injury!). The only parts of my body i can workout is upper body and calves. And for calves, sometimes my knee limits me, especially when i’m doing calf raises because it puts some "unnecessary" stress on my knee.

 An MRI supported my guess that i’d hurt something. Apparently I have a couple radial, medial and a little lateral tears in my knee (right knee). At first I used my left knee to overcompensate for my weak right knee till it got better. This resulted in my left knee getting weak as well. To good dieting (and occasional cheating :p ) i am still able to maintain a low body fat percentage (12%) and an average physique. Good genetics and high metabolism are the only things working to help maintain my definition (thank God).

 Until July this year, my doctor has advised that I do not do any intense physical activity that involves repetitive movements of my knee. This includes: skipping, running/jogging, and playing sports (especially basketball). I hope this helps the whole healing process.

 Nate