Getting Back to Activities You Love After Your Knee Injury

Coming back from a knee injury can feel like an uphill battle. It’s brutal and frustrating when you’re forced to take a break from activities you love, especially when you can't start back up from where you left off. 

But don’t lose hope. While it may be disheartening, you need to be patient to give your body time to heal and recover. It sucks but staying consistent with a recovery regiment and recognizing that progress doesn't happen overnight can go a long way. 

To help you through it, we’ve put together a few tips that can guide you and get you back from a knee injury to where you want to be: 

1. Proper Knee Brace Support 

First things first, before diving into strengthening and rehabilitative exercises, make sure you have a proper knee brace that can support your joints. Stoko K1 are tights with knee support integrated directly in the fabric that provide the same support as a conventional knee brace, but with significantly more comfort. We call it supportive apparel and it's a game changer.

We used 3D body mapping to create anatomically correct support that inspires movement throughout your full range of motion. Completely adjustable using tension dials on the waistband, the K1 provides support for both your knees and it's machine washable. Whether it’s ACL, PCL, MCL or LCL instabilities, mild sprains or strains, the K1 gives you confidence in your movements. 

2. Right Exercises to Improve Your Form

When jumping back into exercise, start by talking to your physiotherapist who can give you recommendations and help you develop the right rehabilitative program. Strengthening exercises are often encouraged to train your muscles which can help speed up your recovery.

An important thing to keep in mind is that you would be doing these exercises and workout post-injury. Try to take your exercises down a notch to be safe. We know that it can be pretty disheartening to see your form downgrade but it's better to be safe than sorry.

Choose exercises that are less challenging than the ones you did before. This can be done by limiting the weight and the range of motion. For example, if you are doing weighted squats, decrease the weight and squat down only as far as you can without feeling pain. You might even have to consider removing weights altogether. Over time you can gradually add in weights and motions until you get back into form.

There are many exercises that can safely promote strengthening and rehabilitation. This includes straight leg raises and step-ups on a staircase. 

3. Active Recovery and Consistency

Make sure that you are working on rehabilitation every day because consistency is key. Other things to consider are:

• Don’t forget to stretch before and after your workout to make sure that your body is properly warmed up and your muscles are recovering faster. Once again, it should be pain-free for your body. 
• Use a foam roller around the injured area to give some deep-tissue massage to your muscles. 
• Stay hydrated, eat well, and don’t forget to let your body rest. Your body should have enough nutrients and be ready for your workout.

The most important thing is to listen to your body. It can tell you when something is not right. If your knee starts to act up, take a break.

The rehabilitation process can be slow and frustrating. We’ve been there and we know what it's like. Remember to trust the process and don’t forget to take your time because the most rewarding things don’t come that easily.