Every Day is Better

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Well, that’s at least mostly true. 😉 I’m finding PT is making a HUGE difference with both my quad tendon injury and my outlook. My therapist is awesome. She’s very positive and knowledgeable. I also really appreciate that she spends so much time with me answering my questions and giving me tips.

My ankle weights came on Wednesday and holy hell are those leg exercises brutal with them! They’re not too hard, so I know the weight is right, but I actually sweat when I do them now, which is kind of awesome. Here’s a brief look at two of the exercises from my point-of-view:

Workouts from the past two days were a little light. Yesterday I was supposed to go to my awesome intermediate yoga class but unfortunately I was stuck in a server room working on upgrades-gone-wrong for 11 hours. So, no yoga for me. This is all I ended up with, a 35 min workout (I guess plus going up and down the stairs to the server room multiple times):

  1. Leg lift series (wearing 5 lb ankle weights on each ankle, per PT):
    Single-leg-lift-crunches x 30 each side
    Side leg-lifts x 30 each side
    Lying on stomach, lift one leg back, foot pointed x 30 each side
  2. 20 minute yoga-pilates fusion class.

That left me warmed up for my day, with a decent sweat going from the weights. It was a LOT of core and glute work. Again, ideally I would have also done the 75 min yoga class but that was not meant to be.

Today was a 50 minute workout:

  1. Leg lift series (wearing 5 lb ankle weights on each ankle, per PT):
    Single-leg-lift-crunches x 30 each side
    Side leg-lifts x 30 each side
    Lying on stomach, lift one leg back, foot pointed x 30 each side
  2. 35 minute advanced yoga (focusing on prep-for and actuation of bird-of-paradise).

This was a little short, but I’m giving 4 hours of massage today so I didn’t want to overdo it. I had to modify the yoga a bit (the flow included crow pose, which I can’t do right now) but overall it was a fantastic flow for stretching out my hips, glutes and hamstrings; all of which get WORKED with those PT exercises.

I’m happy to report that my knee was feeling pretty awesome Tues->Thursday. By last night it was a little stiff and it was stiff again this morning but it’s feeling great since my workout. In addition to PT and the exercise I was given, I’ve been doing self-massage using cross-fiber-friction (per the PT) and it’s amazing how much the scar tissue has broken up in just a week. I intend to hit the gym for harder workouts tomorrow and Sunday.

Next week is going to be a challenge. I’ll be in Seattle with my partner and his college buddies as they enjoy a reunion culminating in a friend’s wedding. So I’ll be away from the gym and my home weights. I’m planning on bringing lighter ankle weights, since traveling with 10 lbs of weights won’t help me with those checked-bag weight limits. The PT has given me the assignment to rent a bike, which I’m totally down for but I’m also a bit of a tag-along in this group so it will be a delicate balance of keeping myself in shape while not being aloof from the group or roping them into bike rides they might not be down for. We shall see. I’m also bringing my yoga mat so at the very least I should be able to do bodyweight exercises and some yoga. Wish me luck!

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