Struggle Day

Friday was my struggle day and from the minute I pushed myself to get up out of bed I was wishing it was time to get back in again.  

Despite feeling like this however, I pushed through...

• Morning Photography jobs for the Moorabool News
• Collection of my book gift card
• P/T session with Craig
• Lunch and quick catch up with my Jhanine to check out her new Cake Studio.
• Physiotherapy Session
• Shopping
• Music Rehearsal
• The usual Mummy and Wifey stuff

Last weekend my name was drawn on a facebook competition to win a $20.00 Collins Gift Card.  I don't know what I am going to buy yet but I am curious about this Fifty Shades of Grey that all the girls are raving about.

PT Session with Craig.

2 X Resistance Band walks - Sideways

2 X Resistance Band walks - Forwards

2 X 10 Full TRX Squats

2 X 10 Wall Ball Squats with VMO Ball Hold

CROSS FIT CIRCUIT X 5

5 X Calorie burn on Cycle

10 X Steps Ups (once again I needed to use the TRX to help me but I got better with each one)

20 X 6kg Ball Slams

30 X 8kg Kettlebell Swings

I really struggled but continued to push through.  There were so many times that I wanted to say that's it, I can't do anymore but I didn't and even though I felt that I was really slow, I was proud that I didn't pike out. Besides pushing myself to do it, I have a feeling that there was no way Craig would of let me give in anyway LOL!

Physiotherapy

This session was with Henry who specialises in Exercise Prescription and he was really encouraging and helpful.  

One of the questions I had was whether or not I should be pushing through the pain or whether I should be stopping before it...the answer was a blunt STOP before it - 'IF' it is pain in the joint.  Muscular pain of course is a different story.

He was really happy with my progression of exercises and added in a couple of others to further advance my progress.  As well as continuing to work on my VMO I also need to strengthen my Glute Medius Muscle so that it can assist shorten the outer thigh muscles therefore pulling the knee cap over so it tracks properly.  I also need to be really conscious of the knee caps position when doing my other exercises eg.  Knee in line with second toe when squatting.

Clam Shell - 3 sets of 10

Lying directly on side, knees bent to 90 degrees
Keep feet together, lift top knee towards ceiling
Keep pelvis still, don’t let  it roll backwards towards bed

Hip Raise with Leg Extension - 3 sets of 10 (each leg)

Lying on back knees bent.
Tighten butt muscles and lift butt so shoulders, hips and knees in a straight line
Hold hips up, lift one foot off floor and straighten leg so it is in line with knee
Keep pelvis level and hold for 5 seconds
Lower slowly

One of the negatives of the session was that he isn't convinced that the operation has worked due to the laxity in my joints.  So, it means tighting (shortening) the muscles that work the joint as much as possible in order to keep the knee cap from popping out.  

Another question on my mind was whether he felt that it was possible to strengthen my left knee enough so to avoid further surgery - unfortunately he wasn't very optimistic due to the same reason he isn't sure whether or not this surgery has worked, but he said that anything is worth a try and to just see what time presents.

Notes from Session with Danyel

I really liked some of the new and challenging exercises that I did in my Thursday session and just wanted to make a note of them before I forgot.

Suprisingly enough one of the exercises is one that the Phsyio is getting me to do....Hip Raise with Leg Extension.  This one takes so much mental concentration to make my leg do what I want it to do and also strength and control to hold my body up.  With Danyel, we advanced it into a leg lower (taking leg straight up and then down).

Resistance Band shoulder throws (similar to torsonator) and lunge power punch - these would be awesome with a plyo component thrown in.

Push ups with knee/brazillian crunch - these take push ups to a whole new level and I love it.

Plank variation - toe taps, knee touches - I've done these before but had forgotten so it was nice to have the memory refreshed.