After Knee Injury My Flexibility is Gone

[PJ Sisco]

I screwed something up in my left knee a while back and it made my game very limited... Now, it's healed up to the point that I'm able to effectively grapple but I lost my flexibility in that leg and if I try to stretch it... it feels as though I'm gonna hurt it again. But, a large portion of my game depended on that leg's mobility. Now, I'm having to reinvent myself as a grappler to a top game player... but I really loved having the flexibility to be a dangerous rubber guard player... I can play my right side but I'm total shit over there... even though I'm getting better... that side is still in it's major infancy. I just want my left leg back!!! Any Suggestions on how to get the flexibility back while preventing any reoccurring damage???

[Kyle Spalla]

I usually go with the dynamic warm system which you can tailor to help loosen the muscles and help strengthen your joints. Also another way you could instead of hard ball do up hill treadmill walks or elliptical and light stretching afterwards and should slowly get you flexibility back with little impact to the knee. Also putting a warm compress at night and tiger balm should reduce any inflamation of the knee while you retrain it. Hope this helped a little

[ohio2berlin]

Not sure what you did to your knee, but after the first patellar subluxation I had (partial dislocation of knee cap) I had the same issue. I lost so much flexibility in my right leg. I have issues with the IT band and the inner thigh. What works for me is just doing some light stretching and taking the time to feel where my body tells me I am having difficulty. Then I looked into some stretches that target those areas. If you want to try that and you have fear that you might re-injure yourself talk with your physiotherapist or doctor.

And, if you are like me, you will get frustrated because it seems to take forever to get that flexibility back, but it will come back. Take your time listen to your knee, be patient and positive.

Good luck man and I hope that working a new game help you improve even more and that you are able to get that flexibility back so you can be even more of a force.

[Jason 'J-Faz' Farren]

I tore my mcl in my left leg about a year back.
The initial Doctor was the worst I've ever seen and the public health in my area is to the point where I'm still on the waiting list to see a specialist so it never really got the treatment it needed.
Like you my right leg had the shittiest flexibilty but now it's developed to good not great (I've always had flexibility issues) rubber guard on that side, it's just a matter of reps as it always is.
But dude it's hard I want to play on my natural side still now but that leg doesn't work right so I'm constantly correcting myself, in the game of bjj time like that costs you.
Your best bet is to see good specialists (I'm working with a great Osteo now) and get it sorted even if you have to miss mat time, trust me I'd go back and do it if I could.
Plus a specialist can tell you what's what with your leg issues and let you know if it's just tender or worse bro.

[JimPerkerson]

Hey guys, let me tell you a little about myself, as I hope it will garner enough credibility that every athlete out there will heed my wisdom: I'm 32 and I'm in great physical shape (5'8" 173 lbs @ 8%bf). I wasn't always, though (used to be 245 @ 38% body fat). I'm a personal trainer, also. I was born with a left leg that is deformed. Two inches shorter than my right, only four toes, a foot only 85% the size of the right, and a ball-and-socket jointed ankle. Wicked, right? You should see how we lengthened it when I was 13! I've also torn my acl and underwent the reconstruction. A piece of my hamstring was harvested to replace the acl and my medial meniscus was torn and consequently removed. The right leg? It makes up for the left--Most guy at the gym wish they had two legs like my right--But then again, so do I! So, you can see that I'm predisposed to a lot of imbalances. My hips aren't straight when I stand, my left arch doesn't exist, etc. This all causes chronic issues with my ankle, knee, hips, low back, and mid-back, and shoulders. I've uncovered plenty of tricks to keep my body in prime shape and free of injury while living a very active lifestyle.

I'm very flexible and I work very hard to train my body very holistically and with attention to fitness, not just weight, strength, etc. I can tell you that the acl reconstruction took me a year to work on my mobility, the rest of it all came before I decided to develop my flexibility (thanks to reading Eddie's first book a few years ago). At any rate, I recommend a number of things, so here goes:

First, get a good Sports Chiropractor who uses Applied Kinesiology and does extremity adjustments. get referrals from other athletes in your are who are please with their practitioner. I have an awesome guy in the n. atlanta area, if anyone needs him.

Make sure that your joints are lined up correctly. If they are not, you need to address structural and muscular imbalances causing that. This is where I find 90% of flexibility and mobility problems!

Train with stability exercises. Do resistance training. Strengthen muscles around weak joints. Yoga is great. If you're a beginner, go find Diamond Dallas Page's YRG (yoga for the regular guy) dvd or book. Awesome program. It'll kick your butt, too.

Myofascial release using a foam roller is critical, too.

Make sure your feet are correct--get orthotics if you need them--a weak foundation will make a weak structure.

Ice the joints when you have used them, even when they don't hurt. It's today's inflammation you don't feel that will be tomorrow's injury!

Practice proper [deep] breathing when stretching. Never stretch cold muscles or joints.

Finally, make sure that you control inflammation in your body by controlling your body's pH. Keeping alkaline by consuming lots of green leafy veggies on a regular basis (I prefer the juice thereof so that I don't bloat from the quantity) is the best way I've found.


If you can offer more information about what is tight (quads, hams, calf, glute, etc), I might be able to offer more specific advice/stretches/exercises. Can you be more specific about your injury? Good luck and I hope some of this helps.

And never forget....train with the gi on. Just kidding...

Jim