Last Tuesday I partially dislocated and sprained my knee at
crossfit. I’ve been reluctant to discuss this because I know that people’s
minds will jump to “crossfit is dangerous; it isn’t safe.” But the reality is,
I’ve hurt myself running, I’ve hurt myself dancing, I hurt myself in 4th
grade at the skating rink when someone ran into me. Accidents happen and they are a byproduct of
living. At the end of the day, what happened to my knee was a freak occurrence
and it hasn’t swayed my love of crossfit in the least… so moving on:
Last Wednesday, like a good little patient, I went to the
doctor to get my knee checked out. It was swollen, but not terribly, the pain
had subsided a great deal but, I just wanted to make sure that I was okay. I
guess, what I had really been hoping I would hear is “go home, rest, ice and
elevate and you’ll be better in no time.” However, that wasn’t my reality.
Instead, because my knee is partially dislocated, my patella
isn’t in the correct spot, I mean, it practically is, but not fully. So, the
doctor gave me a brace to wear for the next 4-6 weeks and hopefully the next
time I get x-rays done, my patella will be back in line.
When the doctor first told me that I’d be in a brace for 6
weeks, I was extremely bummed. I mean, I love crossfit and he just told me no
running, jumping, squatting. Really, no intense motion or activity for my knee
for a month and a half. Crossfit is mainly comprised of all those movements.
Half of our lifts involve a squat of some kind, and running? That’s a main kind
of cardio. And all I could think of was all the ways in which I wasn’t allowed
to use my knee for the next 4-6 weeks. I was bummed, beyond bummed. I was,
honestly, trying not to start crying.
It took a couple of days. Really, it took until my next
crossfit workout (that following Friday) for my attitude to get a shift. While
there was a portion of the workout I couldn’t do, I scaled it to the ability of
my injury and I still got a really great workout. Duh, one of the best things
about crossfit is that it is scalable for anyone. It is a fully inclusive
sport, after all. And then I realized that sure, there is a lot I cannot do at
the moment… But, imagine for a minute if I had torn a ligament and had needed
surgery. That would have been a financial burden that would have weighed
heavily on me. I definitely wouldn’t be looking at a 4-6 week healing time
frame and I wouldn’t have been back at crossfit a mere 3 days later.
And, it’s only been a week so I have no doubt that there
will be many times I will feel major frustration for not being able to
participate normally, or getting to work on some of my favorite lifts. But, I
could have needed surgery, I could have needed to stop crossfitting altogether
for a while, and I didn’t. And for that I need to be ecstatic.
For the record there is still a lot you can do with one leg
out of commission:
Rowing one legged
Pistols on your good side
Muscle hang cleans
Pull ups
L sits
Dips
Ring Rows
Dumbbell Rows
Jumping Rope on one foot
Bench Press
Strict Press
Sit Ups
Push Ups
Planks
Pistols on your good side
Muscle hang cleans
Pull ups
L sits
Dips
Ring Rows
Dumbbell Rows
Jumping Rope on one foot
Bench Press
Strict Press
Sit Ups
Push Ups
Planks
So, now I’m just praying that the brace does its job, the
swelling goes down and in a month, or so, I’m cleared to go back to life
normally. And crossfitting, all the while, because what crossfit has done for
my life has so magnificently over shadowed one accident.
