Tag: physiotherapy

Setbacks and Comebacks.

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Since the below post, I’ve trained less and been to the physio more.  It’s not something I wanted to happen but no one wants to get injured.  Sometimes it just happens. To make matters worse, I’ve somehow managed to injure my left wrist (goodness knows how) and that is also slowing down my gym progress. I’ve trained at Stryve twice since this hip flexor incident and I’ve been to one boot camp.  I’ve visited my physio more times that I have made it to the gym in the last month.

Tonight I’ve come home from visiting Physio John, with a bunch of new exercises to add into my regime of physiotherapy.  Tonight was hard for me.  Any time where I cannot master something in one or two goes, it makes me angry and frustrated which mentally and physically compromises my ability to perform the moves correctly and make any progress.  I know physio is a long road and not a quick fix.  After 2 major knee injuries, you’d think I’d be used to physio and how many hours, days, weeks and months it can take to heal an injury.  My problem is that I am impatient and I want something to work now, so I can get to where I want to be, without delays.

I have 2 new moves.

The first one is called a striding lunge. Instead of your standard equal body weight lunge, I am putting more weight on my front leg my leaning forward.  I still need to keep my knee over my toe and stop leaning forward when I get to the point of my knee being unsteady.  I also need to make sure my hips are levels and not uneven. I then come back up, relax all my muscles and start again.

The second exercise seems too simple but it was more frustrating than the lunge.  I simply have to neutrally sit on a exercise/fit ball, activate my transverse abdominals and lift up my calf muscle on one leg, without activating my hip flexor.  Seems pretty simple however with an over active hip flexor, this almost made me walk out.  I tried it maybe half a dozen times and only 50% of the time was I doing it right.  I mean, 50% is better than 0% but I’m still 50% off where I need to be. It is a lot harder than I expected but since I have a exercise ball at work, I can seriously concentrate on mastering this while I’m working.

There was a third exercise that I was supposed to do.  I am to lay on my stomach, bend my leg up at a 90 degree angle and lift my quadricep off the floor and maybe hold for a couple of seconds, then put my quad back on the floor and bring my leg back down to being straight. Sounds pretty simple except my hamstrings cramp up at any thought of bringing my foot back towards my glutes.

Physio John said that it was because my hamstrings are weak.  I said they’re not weak and he replied, they are. I could feel this instant anger inside me, like I was offended because I feel like he is calling weak.  My hamstrings are a part of me so that makes me entirely weak.  However after I thought about it on the drive home, I know I’m not weak.  I am much, much stronger than I used to be and one muscle in my body that is not strong now, doesn’t define my whole body.  I am strong as a person and one muscle who still needs training will not determine the type of person I am.

I have to do most of my other exercises I’ve already been doing, so the list is just getting longer and the time it takes to do them is getting longer. Sorry John, if you are reading this, but I am struggling to fit in 2 sets per day.  I do my best but sometimes I do only fit in one set.  I feel like that is better than no sets though.

I’m just frustrated.  Frustrated that I am always hurting somewhere and I cannot catch a break to get into the gym seriously and smash out some goals.  I will get there.  I know it takes time.

I know most of my posts are just informing you guys of what is happening in my life, to those who still read.  I feel like I want to hear from anyone that has gone through years and years of rehab.  How did you stay focused?  What kept you going?  I won’t give up, I am not that type of person (or I thought I was) but some days, I just feel like my body hates me.

I’ll be back soon to full strength and I’ve have conditioned my body in a way where I know what is right and how I need to move in order to stay healthy.  I will also have stronger and more active muscles which will assist in keeping my body healthy and safe from injury.

If you ever need a physio, I highly recommend John @ Sunbury Physiotherapy Centre.  Even though our physio/patient stint has only been 3 to 4 weeks, he has been worth every penny I’ve spent.  He is really supportive of what I am going through, so thorough with what exercises he is giving me,  why I need to do them and where they are working.  He’s just an all round nice person who genuinely wants to help people.  A+ human being! You can find the clinic here.

La Love,
C. x

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Remember When?

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Do you remember back when you first started a new job, a new hobby or even your first fitness regime?  Was one of your very first thoughts  “I am never going to be able to learn all this stuff, I’ll never be good at this or I quit.”

I most certainly do.  I used to think I wasn’t a bad runner but I could never run for more than a few minutes without getting tired.  I thought I would always be the same.  I was just supposed to run for short distances and that would be it.

I remember tearing my lateral collateral ligament in my right knee and thinking I may never be able to run again, let alone play football, if I don’t look after my knee and give it the right treatment.  I sat sidelined for 8 months doing recovery physiotherapy just to strengthen my knee enough to start jogging for 5-10 minutes at a time. By that stage, I couldn’t jog 400 metres without getting tired, I was so unfit.  (It also meant a fair few months not wearing heels! :O)  I started training with my team again and I was so worried about not getting hurt again that it affected my game, personally, as in I wasn’t giving 100% to the team.  My coach encouraged me to trust my body and that 8 months of physiotherapy would have made it strong enough to withstand the pressure again.  From that moment, I tried not to look into the past but to enjoy the present and look forward to the future.  My team trained hard and I trained harder.  I had something to prove.  I was just as good then as I was before my injury, maybe even better now I was in the right mindset.

How about my job for instance? 4.5 years ago I started here.  We have over 200 products and I need to remember most of them and what they are made up of so when a customer rings, I can at least clarify whether they are a real lead or just a time waster.  I did think, I will never know all of these.  Slowly but surely, I have learnt them, it may have taken me 4 or so years but I got there.

You will get there in your own time if you only help yourself. Image here.

An old saying goes “You start your life at the end of your comfort zone”. You will never know how great your are until you put yourself in a situation where you have only 2 options. Success or failure.  If you succeed, you now know you are greater than you once thought.  If you fail, there should not be sadness, but a hunger to achieve what you rightfully think you can do which in turn will bring about success.  Life should not be about how many failures we have but how many failures we learn from and turn into successes.

Last night, I went for my evening run.  Nothing unusual there. However, I was completely unmotivated and I just could not be bothered.  I crammed my brain with thoughts like ‘You will feel better afterwards.” Did I? Honestly, Yes. I ran quicker again last night that I have before. *GRIN* Another PB in my want for a quicker speed.  I may not have run for as long as I normally do, (it was only for 20 minutes) but I increased the speed of my treadmill to intervals between 10Kmh to 12kmh because I need to push myself to be better.  Did I feel like giving up and slowing down at some points. Absolutely.  Did I feel like I was going to be sick with 3 minutes to go.  Unfortunately yes, but I kept on going thinking I will overcome this.

My 20 minutes of running saw a pattern like this.

1 minute – 10km
1 minute – 11km
1 minute -12km
1 minute – 11km
(and repeated)

It was obviously the quickest 3.7km I have run to date. *YAY* Surprisingly, I am recovering quicker than before, probably because my body is getting used to run harder and longer.

I remember telling myself I’m tired and I can’t run further but I gave it a go.  I either succeeded or I didn’t.  It wasn’t a life or death situation but a chance to prove to myself that I am better than I believe. If you has asked my back in 2010 when I was walking around on crutches if I thought it was possible in 2 years I’d be running 5-6km, I would have laughed in your face and told you “You’re dreaming”. It’s amazing what the body can do when you set your mind to it.  Don’t give up.  Remember back to when you said “I can’t” and replace it with “Watch me”.

Tonight is a rest night for me.  I am flying to Sydney to see a client with my boss.  I am going to hopefully get some pics and post about it tonight/tomorrow, depending on how many Vodka/OJ’s I’ve had.

C.x
(P.s. Next time I complain about my job, remind me of this trip yeah? It’s not that bad after all huh? ;))

Exciting Fitness Antics!!

candicealancasterLeave a comment

PRE football season.   Killer on your body for all the right reasons.
POST football season.  Killer on your body for all the WRONG reasons.

My last game for the season was about three weeks ago now and dreaded post football body had definitely come around.  As I am not training twice a week and playing on Sunday’s, I am finding myself becoming more lazy and unmotivated.

Talking about being unmotivated, it’s more due to the fact that in my last game I stretched my posterior cruciate ligament (info on where that is can be found here) in my left knee, meaning I cannot run or heavily exercise for at least 2 months.  (What is more crucial: I CANNOT WEAR HEELS FOR THAT PERIOD OF TIME!)  I should be only walking lightly and doing physiotherapy exercises every day which I have probably been over doing the walking and slacking on the exercises.

It’s not that I don’t want to exercise; I just want to be able to do it all properly, right now; not have to wait for another few weeks.  I have 3 more weeks until my next physio appointment and until then, I cannot run or jog, strictly walking only.

So, back to post football body.  Due to me gallivanting around Europe for 2 months and missing about 6 games and then only playing less than a handful when I got back, my post football body has come about a lot quicker than it should of!  I probably have put on a few kg’s quicker than I would have liked to.

Neither the less, turns out, I am getting a new treadmill 😀  Say goodbye to post football body and HELLO to sexy summer body, where I can run in a sports bra and not feel like I’m being judged!

Unlike most people, under physiotherapist’s orders, I am not allowed to run on hard surfaces like concrete or asphalt because of a previous knee injury.  Gravel, dirt, grass and treadmills are my only option.  After breaking the one we had at home (well, I didn’t entirely break it, the motor sort of died after being so old and sucking up too much dust, let’s just say that) I have decided that I am going to purchase a new one with my mum.

We are looking at the new ProForm 520ZLT.  Pictures and information available here.   I don’t need anything too fancy or high tech, I just want to be able to run inside when it’s cold, dark and raining and still feel amazing after I’ve done it, not feel cold, wet and miserable.

Currently trying to get my brain back into order into thinking this is a good idea and that once I start exercising properly, my healthy eating will kick back up again too! So it’s like, an all-round win in every department.

Below are a few motivational pictures I have saved to my phone and computer in order to get my brain back into working order.

C. x

(P.s. I was starting my healthy eating today, until I ate something bad for lunch! 😦 But I’ll be good for the rest of the day and walk it off tonight which a brisk stroll I think.  I’m down half a kilo on last week, so there is some progress to be cheery about.  I’ll keep the posts coming with updates on how I am going on reaching that SEXY SUMMER BODY!)