作者: Brett Jones   StrongFirst教育主任

I recently had my eighth surgery and I am neither proud nor am I ashamed of this. In fact, while nobody would consider such a thing to be “good” at first, I’ve actually learned a lot about myself, holes in my training game, and new ways to run diagnostics on my kettlebell practice during the process. As Hobbes (of the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip by Bill Watterson) so wisely noted…the progress goes “boink.”

我最近做了第八次手术，我既不感到骄傲，也不为此感到羞愧。事实上，虽然一开始没有人会认为这样的事情是“好的”，但是事实上我已经学到了很多关于我自己的东西，在我的训练游戏中的漏洞，以及在这个过程中运行诊断壶铃的新方法。正如霍布斯(加尔文和霍布斯漫画由比尔沃特森)所明智地指出... 进展去“砰”

But at the risk of getting ahead of ourselves, let’s rewind to the beginning of my injury story. About fifteen years ago (circa 2004), my personal and professional lives were in a transition period. I was newly divorced and driving out to Southern California to start a different job. On my way, I decided to stop in and see my friend Jeff O’Connor. If you know him, it won’t come as a surprise that soon after I arrived at his place in Oklahoma, out came the Strongman training implements. We went to flip one of his tires—a big tractor tire. I was feeling pretty strong until the moment when my foot slipped, my right knee buckled and popped.

但是冒着超前的风险，让我们回到我受伤的故事的开始。大约15年前(大约2004年) ，我的个人生活和职业生涯处于一个过渡时期。我刚刚离婚，开车去南加州开始另一份工作。在路上，我决定停下来看看我的朋友杰夫 · 奥康纳。如果你认识他，就不会奇怪我刚到他在俄克拉荷马州的住处，斯壮曼的训练工具就出来了。我们去掀翻他的一个轮胎，一个大拖拉机轮胎。我感觉自己非常强壮，直到我的脚滑了一下，我的右膝盖弯曲并弹出。

Within two hours, the knee swelled up like someone had put an air pump into it and gone to town. Driving the rest of the way to the West Coast was interesting, to say the least. On those flat stretches of road when it’s all too easy to nod off, the knee pain was actually a good thing because it yanked me back into full consciousness. But other than that, it was not pleasant.

不到两个小时，膝盖就肿起来了，就像有人往里面打了个气泵，然后进了城。至少可以说，剩下的路程开车去西海岸很有意思。在那些很容易打瞌睡的平坦路段，膝盖的疼痛其实是件好事，因为它把我拉回到全意识状态。但除此之外，一点也不愉快。

However, as an Athletic Trainer, I wasn’t a stranger to injuries, whether they were mine or other people’s. So after I settled into my new place in Cali and the swelling went down, I immediately started rehabbing my knee. I eventually got back into kettlebell training and even started powerlifting training. As far as I was concerned that was the end of the matter.

然而，作为一名运动员教练，我对伤病并不陌生，不管是我自己的还是别人的。所以当我在卡利安顿下来，消肿了之后，我马上开始修复我的膝盖。最终我重新开始了壶铃训练，甚至开始了举重训练。据我所知，这件事已经结束了。

Until it wasn’t.

直到不再是了。

Having published a StrongFirst piece about needing to get more daily walking in to avoid being an “active couch potato,” irony and my knee flaring up prove the universe’s sense of humor. While my knee had been “irritated” a few times over the years, it didn’t seem to be an issue. And I would like to say that going fifteen years between the time of injury and having to have it addressed is actually pretty good.

我曾发表过一篇 StrongFirst 文章，说我需要更多的日常散步，以避免成为一个“活跃的电视迷”。讽刺的是，我的膝盖突然发炎，这证明了宇宙的幽默感。虽然这些年来我的膝盖有几次“发炎”，但这似乎不是什么问题。我想说的是，从受伤到不得不接受治疗之间的十五年其实是相当不错的。

The “Beginning of the End”

“终结的开始”

In March of 2018, I was training in earnest for the SFL certification (see the requirements here). All was well until I switched from conventional deadlifts to the sumo variety. Though this felt great at first, my right knee soon objected. While I was able to continue training, this was the beginning of the clicking with pain going up stairs. Despite this, I successfully completed the SFL and moved on to other aspects of my training, like the goal of Sinister, and my other teaching responsibilities.

2018年3月，我正在为 SFL（SFG杠铃体系）认证进行认真的培训(见这里的要求)。一切都很好，直到我从传统的硬拉转向相扑。虽然一开始感觉很好，但我的右膝盖很快就反对了。虽然我能够继续训练，这是开始的点击与疼痛上楼梯。尽管如此，我还是成功地完成了这个 SFL（SFG杠铃体系） ，然后继续进行其他方面的训练，比如“极致”的目标，以及我的其他教学职责。

Early in 2019, my wife and I were on a local hike that we’d done several times. On the best of days, it’s like a good StairClimber workout. But this particular walk was worse because my knee clicked painfully on about 60 percent of my steps. I also noticed that my right hip hurt after I went for a long walk, even on those that weren’t particularly challenging. Clearly I was compensating for “something.”

2019年初，我和妻子在当地一家后摆做了几次。在最好的日子里，它就像一个很好的爬楼梯锻炼。但是这次的步行更糟糕，因为我60% 的步伐都是膝盖发出的疼痛声。我还注意到我的右髋部在长时间散步后疼痛，即使是在那些并不特别具有挑战性的地方。显然我是在弥补“某些事”

Then in May of 2019, I went over to England to teach at an SFG Level II instructor certification. We’d had a bunch of heavy kettlebells delivered to the training site, but they needed to be moved. Some bright spark (guess who) decided it’d be a good idea to carry the two heaviest bells. From the first step, I realized from the crunch in my knee that this was in fact a terrible notion. While I was able to soldier on through the certification, it was clear that I needed to do something about this issue before it got even worse.

然后在2019年5月，我去了英国，获得了 SFG 二级教师证书。我们有一堆重型壶铃送到训练基地，但它们需要被转移。一些聪明的人(猜猜是谁)认为搬运这两个最重的壶铃是个好主意。从第一步开始，我就意识到这实际上是一个可怕的想法。虽然我能够坚持通过认证，但很明显，我需要在这个问题变得更糟之前采取一些措施。

Once I got back home, I decided to do something else to assess my physical state. Since I’d been using the PUSH Band—which, for the uninitiated, is a wearable velocity-based training tool—to measure the speed and power of my swings and snatches for a while, I had collected a lot of objective data. I thought that my latest workout was solid and didn’t subjectively notice a dip in my performance. But the numbers told a different story. As you can see from the comparison below, both speed and power were way down. This was another indicator that my knee was hindering my performance and causing me to compensate.

回到家后，我决定做点别的事情来评估一下我的身体状况。由于我一直在使用 PUSH 腕带(对于外行人来说，这是一种可穿戴的基于速度的训练工具)来测量我的功率（动量）和摆荡，我收集了大量客观数据。我认为我最近的锻炼是可靠的，并没有主观地注意到我的表现有所下降。但这些数字说明了另一个问题。正如你从下面的对比中看到的，速度和功率（动量）都下降了很多。这是另一个指标，我的膝盖阻碍了我的表现，并导致我补偿。

So down on velocity and power (across the board) and I would have told you that this session from today felt great and was “on par” with the one from November 7th. Obviously it wasn’t.

因此，在速度和功率（动量）方面(全面) ，我会告诉你，从今天开始，这种训练周期感觉很棒，与11月7日的那种感觉“不相上下”。显然不是。

Under the Knife

刀下

So reluctantly, I called my doctor and asked for a referral to a specialist. Once he’d performed the usual scans (X-ray, MRI, etc.), it was clear that I had more than just a pesky problem. There was a significant tear in the meniscus and a flap of tissue that was loose. He recommended surgery.

所以，我很不情愿地打电话给我的医生，要求推荐一位专家。一旦他进行了常规的扫描(X 光，核磁共振等) ，很明显我的问题不仅仅是一个讨厌的问题。半月板上有一处明显的撕裂，还有一块组织松动。他建议做手术。

To ensure I didn’t do any further damage to the knee before I went under the knife, I decided to pivot my training yet again and concentrated on the Kettlebell Military Press.

为了确保在手术前膝盖不再受伤，我决定再次转移训练重心，集中精力在壶铃军事推举上。

The Surgery and Rehab

手术和康复中心

A knee procedure used to be quite the event, with full anesthesia and a lengthy operation. But these days, you’re done in less time than it takes to get an annual physical.

膝关节手术过去是一件相当麻烦的事情，需要全身麻醉和长时间的手术。但是现在，做年度体检所花的时间比以前还少。

My recovery, however, wouldn’t be so swift or simple (though it was somewhat sinister). With a history of pulmonary embolism, I was determined to get moving again as soon as I could. So, on my first post-op day, I took a short walk and proceeded to add a little more distance every afternoon. I felt pretty good overall, but after a few days, I was shocked back to reality when my knee swelled up. In hindsight, I realize I’d done too much, too soon—setting my recovery back by 7 to 10 days.

然而，我的恢复不会如此迅速或简单(尽管有些险恶)。由于有肺栓塞病史，我决定尽快重新开始行动。所以，在我术后的第一天，我散了一会儿步，然后每天下午多走一会儿。总的来说我感觉还不错，但是几天后，当我的膝盖肿起来的时候，我震惊地回到了现实。事后看来，我意识到自己做得太多、太快了ーー把恢复时间推迟了7至10天。

Nevertheless, once I acknowledged this mistake and got through the acute phase of recovery, it was time to start training again. If my brain mapped my body, it would come up with a pair of lats with hands. So perhaps it was inevitable that I’d put pull-ups at the center of my post-surgery program. I’d also been focusing on pushups and was pleasantly surprised that when I tried a few with one arm, it felt like I had both on the ground. Now that my knee is a bit more stable, I’ve added calf raises and single-leg deadlifts. The latter made me realize that I’ve left single-leg work out of my training for far too long, which is something I plan to remedy moving forward. In fact, I had added single-leg deadlifts to my military press routine and it resulted in significant improvement and improved strength as I headed into surgery.

然而，一旦我承认了这个错误并且度过了急性恢复阶段，就到了重新开始训练的时候了。如果我的大脑绘制了我的身体，它就会想出一双有手的背阔肌。所以也许把引体向上作为我术后计划的中心是不可避免的。我也一直专注于俯卧撑，当我试着用一只手做几个俯卧撑的时候，喜欢·一个人感觉就像我把两只手都放在了地上。现在我的膝盖更加稳定了，我增加了小腿提高和单腿硬拉。后者让我意识到，我已经把单腿执行训练置于训练之外太久了，这正是我计划向前进行补救的地方。事实上，我已经在我的军事推举训练中加入了单腿硬拉练习，这使得我在手术过程中有了明显的改善和力量上的提高。

Here’s how my training has looked for the past few weeks:

以下是我过去几周的训练情况:

Starting Back Toward Sinister

从“极致”开始

For now, I am going to work on snatches and while they’ll need to be on the lighter side for a while, I’m excitedly anticipating being able to work back up to 24kg and beyond. Then I’m going to get back to progressing toward the Sinister standard—which I’ve only been saying for the past two years! But not until my knee tells me it’s ready. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from this experience, it’s that patience will be rewarded and haste punished. As John Wayne may or may not have said, “Life is hard. It’s even harder when you’re stupid.”

现在，我打算用抓执行训练，虽然他们需要轻松一段时间，我还是很兴奋地期待能够回到24公斤以上的执行训练。然后我会继续朝着“极致”的标准前进ーー我在过去两年里一直在说这个标准！除非我的膝盖告诉我已经准备好了。如果说我从这次经历中学到了什么的话，那就是耐心会得到回报，急功近利会受到惩罚。正如约翰 · 韦恩所说: “生活是艰难的。当你愚蠢的时候就更难了。”

Some cynics might use my knee injury to question my training. Beyond my temptation to quote back to them Teddy Roosevelt’s “The Man in the Arena” speech, I strongly disagree. Had it not been for my kettlebell training, I would’ve been hurt much more over the years, and my knee would arguably have been in worse shape. If I could go back in time, I’d gladly fix things so that my foot wouldn’t have slipped while flipping that tire. But it did, and you can’t un-ring the bell once it has been rung. Of course, I’d also gladly do without the pain and restricted movement, but I’ve reframed this experience as a lesson, rather than as a loss.

有些愤世嫉俗的人可能会利用我膝盖的伤来质疑我的训练。除了引用泰迪 · 罗斯福(Teddy Roosevelt)的“竞技场上的人”(The Man in The Arena)演讲之外，我强烈反对他们的观点。如果不是因为我的壶铃训练，这些年来我受的伤会更严重，我的膝盖可以说会更糟糕。如果我能回到过去，我会很高兴地修复这些东西，这样我的脚就不会在翻转轮胎时滑倒。但它确实发生了，而且一旦壶铃拿起，你就无法放下它。当然，我也很高兴没有痛苦和限制的运动，但我已经重新构建这个经验作为一个教训，而不是一个损失。

Another key thing I’ve revisited through this discovery process is never to take situational awareness for granted. No matter how experienced you are as a coach and/or athlete, you must pay attention to what your body is telling you and not kid yourself about what you aren’t capable of doing in any given context. I’ve chewed enough dirt to be able to grit my teeth and push through fatigue and discomfort. But when that progresses to persistent pain, it’s time to reckon with the fact of the matter and take corrective action. The journey continues…and goes boink.

在这个发现过程中，我重新审视的另一个关键问题是，永远不要把情势察觉视为理所当然。无论你是多么有经验的教练和/或运动员，你必须注意你的身体在告诉你什么，而不是欺骗自己在任何给定的情况下你不能做什么。我已经咀嚼了足够多的泥土，能够咬紧牙关，克服疲劳和不适。但是，当这种情况发展到持续的疼痛时，是时候认清事实并采取纠正措施了。旅程继续... 继续。