Which upper body exercises after ACL surgery?

Ziggajay

New member
Sup all, I'm getting an ACL+LCL reconstruction in about a month and according to the doc I'll be able to get back in the gym within a week after the surgery however certain lifts will probably not be allowed for a while.
I'm gonna be on a test C+EQ cycle during recovery and wanna take the time to build my upper body strength.

From your experience, are the standing exercises a big NO-NO after an ACL?

I've actually got enough stability right now in my knee where I can squat deep and heavy, run around, jump, shoot hoops hang from a basketball rim etc. Doc says I got good supportive muscle. However with a bunch of screws in your knees its probably not a good idea to do these for a while once you go under the knife.

So here are the standing exercises in my routine and I'm trying to figure out how the hell to do them while I'm recovering:

-Heavy BB shrugs
-Standing BB curl
-T-Bar row
-Standing BB row
-Standing Tri Extension
-Bent over lat
-One arm bent over row
-Cable rows (not standing but they strain the legs)
-Lat pulldowns (same as above)
-Standing upright rows
-Good mornings
-Calf raises on the leg press using a ton of weight
As well as back Hyperextensions and Abs using the knee locking machines.

Can I do some of these right away (doc says 1 week and I'm back in the gym if everything turns out right). How can I replace some of these if I can't do them standing?

How should I change up my split routine if I can't have these in there?
Right now it's Chest, Back, Shoulders n tri's, Legs n bi's (no squats anymore, just good mornings and calf raises).

Seems like my back day will really suffer if I can't get all those rows in as well as bicep day if I can't barbell curl, and some others, so what the hell can I do to get a decent workout?

I don't wanna be sitting around hitting the gym 3x a week for 30 minute sessions just cause I can't do a bunch of exercises. How to compensate?

Doc says if I recover well I can start some of these these in about a month but I'm not so sure about that.

More importantly how long has it taken some of you guys with ACL's to get back to these lifts? Squatting or good mornings or deadlifts is obviously out of the question at least until 10 months down the road.

Thx to all in advance
 
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