Hi Agnieszka,

My name is Ryan Christie and I am a fitness coach in Geneva.  Having experienced a knee injury myself I can totally relate to having to rehab a knee.  I would be happy to talk with you more about your goals regarding your knee rehabilitation and how I can help you get your knee strong and more resistant to future injuries.  Don't hesitate to call me, 076 288 09 22, or email me, [email protected] to schedule a free consultation.  For more info on us go to www.personaltrainergeneva.com.  Hope to speak with you soon.

Yours in Health,
Ryan

Hi

Have you ever heard of the Grinberg Method? There are plenty of practitioners in the Geneva area that may be able to help you.

www.grinbergmethod.com

I am a practitioner but don't have this further training yet, but if you are interested I could recommend someone who deals specifically with injury recovery. It is very effective!

All the best and welcome :)

Jennie

At the end of the day you are the best coach for yourself. If the doctors told you you no longer need therapy then you are fine. Start working out with small weights and pain will tell you if you are overdoing it. If it hurts, you stop what you are doing. Any gym will do, just choose one that is good for you on the long term.

I am talking from my own experience with several injuries. So how did you hurt your knee?

I went skiing in mid November - first time this season, and the last as well :( I guess I should have worked out more before...but at least it was on my last day there :)

catalin, how about you- where did you get yours? did you just work out alone to get better?

I've read that most gyms prepare a personalised training program once you subscribe. is that of any value?

Physport is the gym inside my Physiotherapists' office. As part of the gym package, you have access to the physiotherapists who are excellent.

The website is entirely in French, but everyone who works there speaks English.

Physport

knees!!!! don't tell me about them. I have had surgery in both of them (off-road motorcycle riding to blame). Did a lot of the "classical" rehab and exercise routines with limited results.

Then, squats, and then more squats.... It changed my life. Take a look at crossfit, 

http://journal.crossfit.com/2009/08/the-knees-part-1.tpl

http://journal.crossfit.com/2009/08/the-knees-part-2.tpl

http://journal.crossfit.com/2009/09/the-knees-part-3.tpl

http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/CrossFit_AirSquats.wmv

Agnieska, you're correct - any decent gym will offer you a programme when you join plus ongoing suport ie one session every few months. If you already have perfect technique, a high level of body awareness / biomechanical knowledge and a wide repertoire of exercises so that you can progress your programme - then you'll be fine with this limited support.

If this is not the case then you may need help.This very much depends on a number of factors; your actual injury - the term 'knee injury' is vague, there are many ways to damage this joint; your expectations after rehab - do you want to be able to run marathons, ski, or just to walk in the park at weekends?

It may be the case that you can train alone with small weights as Catalin suggests. But without a full assessment from a qualified professional this is not great advice, with respect. Your physical therapist already advised you to get some coaching in the gym, post therapy, so it is probably worth following this advice.

Let me know if you need any more help, and good look with your training!

Berger's squat links are excellent for more clued-up gymgoers, the one about stretching and myofascial release is especially relevant. Most people do neglect flexibility in favour of strength, resulting in injury.

Thanks guys for all your advice and links! I will check them all out.

I guess Amy's right that self-training is for those who are very confident with their work out. I think that after all I will need a professional to guide me a bit.

And see you on the slopes next season! :)

Great tips in this thread!

One thing I'd like to add that really worked for me to improve my knees was to start using "The Stick" to give my leg muscles regular massages, especially just before and after any workout or run. It works great like a complement to streching and makes the muscles much more flexible which prevents injuries. You can also use it for trigger point treatment.

http://www.thestick.ch

Good luck, and stay healthy! :)

I have had a real serious knee injury 3 years ago while skiing. The physical therapy work was done with the help of this physio institute http://www.espace-physio-sante.ch/physiotherapie.php

They can advise you really well with the type of exercises you specifically need and you will have access to a real fitness gym. Good luck and keep focused in your recovery with your exercices, I have enjoyed being able to skiing even better since then!

I know Kieser training offers Medical Strengthening Therapy which must be recommended by a doctor. After a thorough clinical examination and back test, the doctor will discuss the best course of action with you. If therapy is recommended, the doctor compiles a therapy programme of 12 to 18 sessions with 1 or 2 sessions per week. At each session, you are accompanied on a 1:1 basis by a specially trained therapist. There's one at 28 Boulevard du Pont d'arve : http://www.kieser-training.ch/?srs=1

Hope this helps =)

I can definitely attest to the power of the "stick!"  It is a great, portable self massage tool that helps work out any scar tissue and works on knots in the muscle.  I try to use it before and after workouts to really improve recovery. 

it looks funny (a bit like a magic wand) but if you say it works... :)

I had a couple of serious skydiving accidents (high speed landing). I exercised by myself as soon as it was physicallly possible and I recovered fully. I was able to compete in kickboxing after.

The "personalized" training program has value if you are a complete beginner, but I encourage you to start reading fitness magazines (Joe Weider's "Muscle&Fitness is a great one) and dedicated websites to form your own opinion. There are many training methods and everyone's body is different; only you can feel what works for you. I find that the personal trainers here are poorly prepared (but arogant) and they perpetuate some common misconceptions.

Don't let the "scientific" terms used by some of the people here scare you and  keep in mind that I am probably the only one on this page who's not trying to seel you anything ;)

Interesting I join, and the first subject I see is about a injured knee ;)

I went skiing in Alta (www.alta.com / Salt Lake City, Utah, US) and did a silly move which caused my knee to twist into a position it should not be.

Fortunately it was not too bad, I rested a bit too get also the bloodrush out of my system, put snow on the knee while resting and after a minute or ten very very slowly and carefully skied down the rest of the hill, then went to the cafe and let my friends ski on the next two hours, then took the bus back and the trax to the rental store, returned the rentals and then walked 6 blocks back in the direction of the hotel, got some food and then only rest.

he next day the knee was quite stiff but with slow flexing I was able to use it partially for walking again, thus I went to the Gateway (shopping mall) and bought a pair of hiking sticks there and used those to get to the cinema and watch a movie and the next day to get onto the airplane (oh airport security loves a stiff knee and a single stick with a huge pointy point on it ;).

For these last two weeks I have been doing mostly sitting on the couch, fortunately I can work from home without a problem, keeping the knee high, icing it in the first week once in a while to minimize the little swelling that was there and now it is looking more or less quite okay as I can walk quite well on it with a minimal amount of pain.

I've planned to now got walking slowly in the coming week, at least getting back to the office again, thus getting to the train and down/up the hill to work. Adding on top of that to at least do some excersize do some swimming which I was planning on starting again this year anyway. And then hopefully I will be able to go skiing again maybe in March or so when I feel confident that the knee is okay.

But as said, I was lucky and I tend to heal quick.

The biggest issue btw of this knee thing is not during the day, though not being able to walk/move around as much as I like to (I tend to walk almost everywhere even if it is several clicks) is quite annoying actually; the biggest issue is the sleeping, as then you try to find your sleeping position and you always just bend the leg in a way that it hurts quite hard, oh well, that is fortunately over now as I have been able to sleep much better in the last couple of days and maybe I'll allow myself a nice glass of whisky again then ;)