Back To ARP

Back To ARP

Today was my first ARPwave (Accelerated Recovery Performance) session in the better part of a year. The fluid in both knees is already receding again and I was able to get into a full squat despite the aggravated injury in the right knee. I even managed to get up to 8.3 on regular polarity and 7 on reverse polarity. My therapist, Chad, was happy that my foot strength and control is still way better than it was when we first started nearly two years ago.

It's amazing how important foot strength and muscle control are. I mean, maybe that should be obvious.  Everything was weak below my knees. This meant my knee joints were taking the brunt of forces that should have been borne by my muscles. Hence the two years of extreme effusion with any sort of use (even just walking).

I am working hard on regaining my ability to control my toes, spread them out, move the big toe independent of the rest, to keep my arches up as I squat all the way down, etc.

There's no way I can train after an ARPwave session, however. So I'm reducing barbell training to just once per week on my Sunday, my other day off from work (which can be very draining physically). On Wednesday I'll still go to the gym to train with Michelle, but it will be just supplementary back work: DB rows and chin-ups.

My training is very basic and my training for bench and squat is...bench and squat. But for my back I rely mostly on rows with chins thrown in every now and then. And I always do them after bench and squat. So the rows and chins probably won't be hurt by going after the ARPwave therapy and they may even benefit.

I have to work Sunday and Wednesday, but I have Memorial Day off and will be training then. Hope the knee is ready by then. It will be Sundays from there out. That's a dozen bench and squat sessions till the mid-August meet. Linear progression with lots of calories.