Had PT yesterday, and after starting to whine that I was not happy with the progress, Mark pushed the envelope up a few notches. After the usual initial 6 exercises, we moved on to much harder ones. Now, I don't mind the harder ones, but the ones that involve both strength AND balance just suck. Goes back to my limited feeling in my feet from all those back surgeries. Told him about that and he basically said "gee, that's a shame for you, now get to it"! Had to do these exercises where I stand on the bad left leg, bend the knee, and then slide the foot close to the ground going forward, while bending deeper. Then you do similar actions where you move the leg outside, and also to the back. Try it if you are old (not you terry!). Had to do multiple sets of ten. Didn't hurt, but what a klutz! Then I got on a balance board, and did mini squats while balanced, then raising and holding the balance for 30 seconds. Supposed to do sets of 10, but almost every time about the 4th one, I fell over. Meanwhile mark did them standing next to me on a hard foam roller.....bastard! Then I did these two exercises where you have a rubber band around both your ankles. First, you bend your knees with your feet about shoulder length apart, and you move sideways down a hall, rest a second, and return. Think of MC Hammer doing "can't touch this" in his parachute pants! Do that 4 times. Then, you do these things called monsters (guess cause you look like one). You start on a 45 degree angle with one foot about 2 feet in front of you, with your knees bent. Then you spin your lead foot, move your other foot 2 feet forward, turn your foot, and crab your way down the hall and back. Again, rest a minute and do 4 sets. The big rubber strap provides good resistence. I started with the medium band, and I am sure they will move me up to the harder ones next time. Well, after two and a half hours of PT, I hurt from my lower back all the way down my lower body, and my weak boy legs were a bit trembly. So, be careful what you ask for. Today, I did 10 miles on the exercycle, a FEW leg exercises (hamstring curls and calf raises) and all the upper body stuff. Needed to recover a bit from yesterday, and prepare for tomorrow when we will repeat it all. After I got home, I did my fantasy baseball roster, had a snack, and then took the bike out to get comfortable with it. I set up a criterium figure 8 half mile course in the complex and spent about forty minutes practicing shifting up (with the wind) and down (into the wind)and making left and right hand turns. Being left handed I turn left better than right. Should have joined nascar. Seem to have the seat just about right. While I am in Cruces getting PT tomorrow, I should get two things delivered from bike nashbar....an eighty buck wireless speedometer that they had in their outlet barn for $16, and a 70% off Giro road helmet so in case I go down at a higher speed, I won't end up drooling in a home. This weekend I will do a nice 25 mile loop out and back to Rockhound park. If that goes well and my knee stays a normal size, I will start doing longer ones each weekend. I would love to do the hill up to spring canyon, but I don't think my knee is ready for a 17% incline just yet.....maybe in a few months.....
Thursday, June 7, 2012
PT Upgrade!
Had PT yesterday, and after starting to whine that I was not happy with the progress, Mark pushed the envelope up a few notches. After the usual initial 6 exercises, we moved on to much harder ones. Now, I don't mind the harder ones, but the ones that involve both strength AND balance just suck. Goes back to my limited feeling in my feet from all those back surgeries. Told him about that and he basically said "gee, that's a shame for you, now get to it"! Had to do these exercises where I stand on the bad left leg, bend the knee, and then slide the foot close to the ground going forward, while bending deeper. Then you do similar actions where you move the leg outside, and also to the back. Try it if you are old (not you terry!). Had to do multiple sets of ten. Didn't hurt, but what a klutz! Then I got on a balance board, and did mini squats while balanced, then raising and holding the balance for 30 seconds. Supposed to do sets of 10, but almost every time about the 4th one, I fell over. Meanwhile mark did them standing next to me on a hard foam roller.....bastard! Then I did these two exercises where you have a rubber band around both your ankles. First, you bend your knees with your feet about shoulder length apart, and you move sideways down a hall, rest a second, and return. Think of MC Hammer doing "can't touch this" in his parachute pants! Do that 4 times. Then, you do these things called monsters (guess cause you look like one). You start on a 45 degree angle with one foot about 2 feet in front of you, with your knees bent. Then you spin your lead foot, move your other foot 2 feet forward, turn your foot, and crab your way down the hall and back. Again, rest a minute and do 4 sets. The big rubber strap provides good resistence. I started with the medium band, and I am sure they will move me up to the harder ones next time. Well, after two and a half hours of PT, I hurt from my lower back all the way down my lower body, and my weak boy legs were a bit trembly. So, be careful what you ask for. Today, I did 10 miles on the exercycle, a FEW leg exercises (hamstring curls and calf raises) and all the upper body stuff. Needed to recover a bit from yesterday, and prepare for tomorrow when we will repeat it all. After I got home, I did my fantasy baseball roster, had a snack, and then took the bike out to get comfortable with it. I set up a criterium figure 8 half mile course in the complex and spent about forty minutes practicing shifting up (with the wind) and down (into the wind)and making left and right hand turns. Being left handed I turn left better than right. Should have joined nascar. Seem to have the seat just about right. While I am in Cruces getting PT tomorrow, I should get two things delivered from bike nashbar....an eighty buck wireless speedometer that they had in their outlet barn for $16, and a 70% off Giro road helmet so in case I go down at a higher speed, I won't end up drooling in a home. This weekend I will do a nice 25 mile loop out and back to Rockhound park. If that goes well and my knee stays a normal size, I will start doing longer ones each weekend. I would love to do the hill up to spring canyon, but I don't think my knee is ready for a 17% incline just yet.....maybe in a few months.....
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