Joe Rogan boasts 15 million followers on his The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, and entertains fans with his comedy and passionate commentary on UFC telecasts, but the 56-year-old former taekwondo competitor has also been dealing with some serious knee issues behind the scenes. Fortunately, Rogan appears to be fighting fit once again, as he recently posted an Instagram video showing the New Jersey born star giving the punch bag some serious hell.
What happened to Joe Rogan’s knee?
During episode #2100 of the JRE podcast, Rogan revealed that he’d had a patella tendon graft on his left knee. The patella tendon was actually used to replace a torn ACL in this instance, but he’s also had a different type of surgery on his right knee. Rogan’s right knee was rebuilt using a part of his ACL, donated by a deceased person. “I’ve always told everybody I’ve had my knees done both ways,” he explained on his show. The left knee appears to be the one that has given him the most grief however. “I had my left knee done with a patella tendon graft, which was the most painful and took forever to recover from. And then I had my right knee done with a cadaver graft. It was way easier. I went to a party five days after the operation with no crutches, no nothing. Just put on a brace and walked,” he shared.
Joe Rogan is now recovering well from his knee injury
“I went without kicking for a whole year to deal with a knee injury,” explained Rogan for those that didn’t know of his ailments in an uplifting new post, dated May 21, 2024. “And thanks to @ways2well it’s now 100% pain free.” Ways2Well is a medical service providing a range of resources including injury prevention and rehabilitation. “The video of me hitting that bag was yesterday, and in the past if I did that the next day my knee would be sore, but today I feel absolutely perfect,” he confirms.
The footage shows the standup comedian demonstrating that he’s a standup guy once again, giving the bag some hell with a flurry of punches and knee strikes. “That bag is 130 pounds and the amount of torque generated by kicking full blast is just insane,” he explains. “It’s one of my favorite things to do and the best way ever to release stress, but before @ways2well it felt like every time I did it it just f***d my knee up more. I can’t thank them enough. @ferrisbuhler81 (the owner; Brigham Buhler) is an amazing guy and a great friend, and I can’t thank him and his company enough.” Rogan also praises Ben Patrick, who is better known as the “Knees Over Toes Guy” for keeping his knee strong and stable.
“Good work,” exclaimed combat coach Dewey Cooper
“Felt those 3 states away,” wrote Huberman Lab’s Andrew Huberman, Ph.D., who like the rest of us is eager to learn more about Ways2Well’s techniques.
Despite looking fit at 56 and offering up some blistering work on the bag, it’s unlikely that Rogan will come out of retirement, but X/Twitter will likely have a field day with those GIFs!
