Pete And Renard Talk About Knee Replacement

Knee Replacement

Posted on Posted in Exercises, Golf Fitness, Tennis Fitness, Update Content

Nobody wants to have to have a knee replaced.  And unless the pain pre-surgery is so crippling, no one really looks forward to it.  The post-op pain and rehab can be very tough.  Thankfully, I have not had to have one, at least not yet.  But, I know that Rita and TeamRPC will be there should I have to get a knee replacement to make it all go as smoothly and painlessly as possible.

Scott Graison here.  I’m an occasional guest blogger for RPCoaching.  I’ve partaken in several of the fitness programs, having enjoyed them all.  Since I haven’t had the opportunity to work on knee replacement rehab with Rita, I decided to talk to a couple clients who have.  The discussions were entertaining and enlightening.

First, I spoke with Pete Biscardi.  Pete had played a lot of different sports when he was younger.  All the years of athletics pounded on his knees and took a toll.  He has actually had both knees replaced, the most recent surgery coming on his left knee in February of 2016.  He came to work with Rita pre-op, and has been with her for two years.  Pete says, “One thing I really liked at the outset was that, unlike physical therapists that I worked with, she realized I wasn’t a cookie cutter patient.  She began really emphasizing on my quad, as it had atrophied quite a bit.  In subsequent sessions, we worked the whole body, built up range of motion and strength in the pool, plus we did lots of balance drills using the BOSU because both knees need to be stable cohesively.”  Pete works out with Rita three times a week.  What he likes most about his time with her is that he forgets about the knee for a bit, because the whole body feels better.  He mostly plays Pickleball now, and enjoys swimming, biking, and walking, of which he does three miles a day regularly.

Next, I had the chance to sit down with Renard Biltgen.  The former computer programmer on the software development end of things, Renard is now retired.    He began playing a ton of tennis once his work days were behind him and he found he couldn’t control the swelling in his right knee after a while.  He told me he just couldn’t get to balls he would normally have easily tracked down previously.  Renard told me, “Prior to having surgery, I began altering my gait to take pressure off the knee.  That just led to hip problems.”  His wife Lynn had been employed at the same workplace as Rita years ago, and when it came time to choose someone to help Renard, Lynn’s recommendation was a no-brainer.  He started working with Rita about a month before his knee replacement surgery last May to prep him for the post-op.  They focused on strengthening the muscles surrounding the knee prior to surgery along with upper body exercises to make getting up and around easier as well as take the pressure off the knee.  She indicated it would be ideal for making his getting up out of a chair and into the walker easier.  He believes it was smart and very helpful.  Renard says, “The water therapy post-op with Rita in my pool involved squats and several exercises with noodles.  The buoyancy of the water decreased the level of stress and effort, which I found helpful.  Walking up steps is hard, so doing it in the pool was really beneficial.”  He’s back to playing tennis four times a week.  He and Rita work on his core, cardio and agility now – mainly what he needs to help him continue to play tennis.  There are exercises he knew about, but Rita has led him to do it with the correct form.  He thinks this is of real instrumental value.  “The best thing about working with Rita is her flexibility, the understanding of the body, and to be inventive and creative in devising workouts, especially when there is an injury,” says Renard.

Both clients gushed about Rita without my urging.  Having heard their stories and seen the smiles on their faces when talking about her, it provided real credence for me to recommend you seek out Rita and RPCoaching if knee replacement surgery is coming your way.

 

 

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