From ACL Surgery To Back On The Pitch

Today’s story is all about how Muiris went through pre and post ACL surgery training here in Stronglife Gym and how he is now back on the pitch playing matches less than 9 months after surgery.

Not only that, but he has regained all his strength gains from over a year ago while banishing the fear.

He underwent his surgey in December 2015 and has made serious progress in his recovery since then.

Pre surgery, we worked on developing his strength and muscle in his legs, because unfortunately with surgery you get a lot of muscle wastage on the operated limb.

So our main aim was to build as good of a foundation as we could in order to make recovery smoother for after surgery.

(Before I go any further, I want to make clear that all training was done in consultation with his physio and surgeon.)

We also looked at stabilising the knee as much as we could in order to prevent further damage, all while managing load and the amount of volume we put onto it.

It ensured surgery went well and most of all recovery afterwards was made so much easier.

Now don’t get me wrong, he had to religiously do his rehab work to get back to his best. (Once again, his training was developed around recommendations and advice from his physio – very important for rehab work. I’ll never coach people on anything I don’t know well enough)

And it has all paid off for him now.

He’s back playing matches for his local GAA club and not only that, but he’s growing in confidence week after week with his knee.

(Anyone who has had an injury will know the voices you have in the back of your head)

Not only that, but he’s back killing it in the gym.

On Tuesday evening he had his first test day since surgery and he smashed his lifts:

Squat – 110kg

Bench – 85kg

Deadlift – 135kg

It’s a long road back from injury both mentally and physically. There’s plenty of weeks when you’d rather give up as it feels like you’re getting nowhere.

All I can advise is to keep going. It takes time but it definitely pays off.

Muiris has worked hard but it has been worth it.

He’s going to enjoy the last few weeks of his season and then hit some S&C work for the winter to be even better come next season.

We don’t just work on weight loss.

We develop strong people both mentally and physically too.

Muiris is one of many who has benefited.

Roll on the winter training.