Saturday, February 9, 2013

Week 19...whoa

This is the 19th week since my surgery. 

Honestly, I forgot to count for the last few and have had to check on my phone.  That makes me really happy!  I went back to Chula Vista for a few clinics and a check-up with my surgeon, had a blast, and am so happy to be moving forward at what feels like breakneck pace.

I think I'm living in a time warp.  I can't believe my surgery was so long ago.  It feels like it was yesterday, but I also remember each stage of my recovery vividly and can reflect on how far I've come every day.  I don't want to lose sight of how much I'm learning from the recovery process, but I love that I'm still able to do what I've always done after injury; simply look forward when milestones are reached, and believe in my rediscovered abilities. 

Here are some of my favorite rehab exercises:

Resisted speed skaters: Chris/Amber/Heather pull on a bungee around my waist at all different and changing angles while I speed skate diagonally forward.
Bosu ball speed skaters/lunges/hops/soccer drills: All variations of jumping onto, lunging onto, jumping over, or jumping around the bosu ball.
Slide board: Put booties on and slide back and forth on a plastic board.  I have to wear my brace for this one, but that's okay.  It's dynamic lateral movement, so that's expected.
Monster walks: Place a bungee around my legs just above the knees and walk forward, backward and side to side.  I feel like I'm doing defensive basketball drills, because I get to move dynamically on the sideways ones!
Split squats: One foot on the ground on a foam pad, the other behind me on top of a high box, and sit back into the hip and squat/lunge.  Awesome.
Any kind of RDL (Romanian Dead Lift)!

I do much, much more than the exercises above, and I'm totally loving all of it right now, but I don't want to bore anyone.  Please ask specific questions if you have them!

My upper body lifting has been awesome, I had leg lifts for the first time in my last block (eccentric squats, split squats and eccentric RDLs), and I get to start Olympic lifts in the block that starts tomorrow!  I'm so excited to be moving toward normal again, but am loving paying attention to moving my body correctly.  I can't tell you how cool it is to know that I'm whole again.  Happy Training!