Since my last knee injury, I’ve lost a lot of weight, mainly because of my loss of movement. This has turned me from a kind of athletic guy with a VERY active and occupied life, to a sedentary guy. The result is that I, being at 1.73m (5.66ft) have gone from 72Kg (158.7lbs) to 65Kg (143.3lbs), meaning that I’ve already lost about 7Kg (15.5lbs) mainly of lean body mass, that is, muscle. As I had a long-time project of building a home GYM, this is the opportunity to do it.

To start, I have some spare rooms in my parents’ home (which I’m also living), I have some friends willing to help and the materials to get the construction/preparation works are either cheap, free or I already have them. So… what was in fact holding me from getting the home gym started? First, to be able to get and stand on my feet! (Don’t you think this is in fact a crucial point?) And second, to be able to stand on my feet for some time without feeling a lot of pain. As I am now capable to do this for a moderate period of time, my friends came over, and with the help of my father, gave me a very big helping hand, as I almost watched them work to get this done for me.

My Home GYM project:

Mainly, I’m going to use this GYM to workout my legs (to help me with my knee problems), to correct some joint and posture stabilization problems and to work my upper body, because as I work my legs a lot, I have a lot more muscle on my legs than on my torso, arms and the rest of the upper body. I also have a sedentary work, as I almost remain on a chair for the whole day, in front of a computer, and with the GYM, I can make some cardio workout to stay fit and healthy.

What I’m planning to put inside the room:

• A cheap MP3 Stereo and a Cambridge four point surround system;
• A small piece of furniture, to put the stereo, punching gloves, speed rope and some magazines;
• A punching bag, hanging from the ceiling;
• Adjustable Bench with included Rack, barbell, dumbbells and disk weights;
• Exercise Bike;
• A Multi GYM Machine with 80kg (176.37lbs) total weight capacity;
• Short and wide straight cable bars and a one-hand cable handle;
• An 85cm Swiss Ball;

The Construction of the Room:

We’re talking about a room with an estimate size of 4m (13,12ft) x 6m (19.69ft). At first, we started to work on one of the walls, which had some serious cracks, so we had to break the superficial cement and cover it up again. Also, there was an all-around edge made in plaster that was stuck between the walls and the ceiling. It had to be removed, as it was falling apart, and then flatten the wall, because removing the plaster also removed some of the superficial cement. After that, we passed sandpaper on the walls and installed a hook to hang the punching bag. Next, we had to paint it all, with one of the walls in a different color (I chose a nice blue tone), to add some sense of depth, as the room is not very big, but enough for what I need. After the painting was all done, we proceeded to the clean up process. Also, we installed the lighting on the ceiling, because the existing lamp was purely a light bulb hanging from the cap.

I’m excited about the project, as it is going pretty well. Next step will be installing the sound speakers and verifying the electrical installation. Later, it will be to cover the floor with some kind of shock resistant material, organize the layout where the GYM equipment is going, and put it on its place.  I’ll update the info as I have some more development!

Track In My Head: F.L.G. & Funkerman – 3 Minutes To Explain

Back in November, I had an accident which caused an injured knee. Not a normal injury, but one of the worse things that can happen to a knee: a joint dislocation. This injury was caused by a really big hyper extension, which made the knee bend just too much (to the opposite side it is supposed to bend) completely breaking the Posterior Cruciate Ligament (PCL), the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL), and partially tearing the Lateral Collateral Ligament (LCL). This also caused the Common Peroneal Nerve (CPN) to get injured, leaving me with a partially paralyzed foot, due to CPN Palsy. It was all diagnosed through MRI’s, clinical exams, an electromyogram (EMG) and damn.. this whole process hurts a lot.

Accident and Diagnosis:

The injury happened in 8th of November 2008. It was a Saturday, and I was participating in a rally paper, an university event. My team was doing really good, until I slipped, one of my team mates slipped too, falling over me, and the knee broke. As simple and stupid as that. I sat down on the floor and stood still, with my leg all twisted. I tried to put the leg straight, but I just couldn’t. First, because of the ligaments that were broken, and second, because my leg just didn’t respond from the knee to the foot. You may seem surprised, but I didn’t had a lot of pain in the moment. Me and my mates waited for the ambulance, I then entered the emergency room in my local hospital, and waited for 3 hours until something was done. (It’s more important to save a life than a broken knee, and believe me, I do care about that, by experience.)  Then, I stayed for a week in the hospital, for observation. In spite of thinking that I was going to surgery after a week, the doctors sent me home for a full month of immobilization and rest, because the knee was so swollen and full of edemas that would complicate the surgery. These sure were some hard time, as I could not bend my leg for anything, and I was always under the effect of painkillers. After the first month, I returned to Hospital for the surgery. Another week in an Hospital bed, and some more nice room mates.

Surgery and Recovery:

The knee reconstruction surgery procedure consisted of an allograft for the ACL and PCL,  that is, the transplantation of ligaments from a cadaver source. The ligaments are fixed though the use of screws. It was a surgery of about 6 hours, with lots of recovery pain. (For you to have an idea, I was on morphine for two days, after the surgery, and with heavy painkillers for about a month and a half.) After another week in the hospital for observation, I finally went home. Started physiotherapy in January, doing things like Electrical Muscle Stimulation (EMS), Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS),  Cryotherapy nerve stimulation, Isometric and weight exercises for muscular reinforcement, Hydrotherapy, and lots more. By the way, the nerve regeneration process causes a lot of tingling, and sometimes can even become painful, because the sensation is so strong that it feels like burning.

Current State:

I’m still dealing with this, as the recovery time for the knee is about 6 to 8 months, because of the almost two months of immobilization, which caused a lot of muscle loss (in all I lost 6Kg, or 12,3 pounds), and the recovery of the nerve can take up to two years. I’m not fine, but I feel much better, since my knee is giving its first signs of strength and although I can’t still move my foot, I begin to feel sensations as touch and temperature. To help me with the palsy situation, I use an Ankle-Foot-Orthosis (AFO) which helps to stabilize the drop foot situation. It consists on an L-shaped piece of plastic, that runs along the sole of your foot and wraps to the back of your leg, on the upper calf, by the peroneal head. My actual Orthosis is from Otto Bock, and I’m very very satisfied with it, since it is much better than the first one. With this AFO I can put on normal shoes, and with the knee getting stronger, I can now even drive. I’m still recovering, and hope to recover the most that I can, but only time will tell. By the way, I’ve been taking pictures of my recovery since the accident. Get a look at some of them on my Flickr Gallery.

Track In My Head: Slipknot – Psichosocial