PT: Day 7

Thursday's workout:

6min Elliptical Warmup on level 3
Warmup Hip Stretches
Side Steps - 60in each direction
Bosu Squats - 20 reps with 5 sec hold
Leg Extension - 30 reps each leg
One Legged Squat and Place - 7 cones now so 14 squats per leg
Swiss Ball Bridges - 20 with 5 sec hold
Cage Stretch

PT was frustrating yesterday.  I guess there has to be a day every once in a while to show you how far you still have to do.  Yesterday was that day.  I went in tired and went home tired.  I didn't cry, but I wanted to.  I kind of wish that I had; it might have felt good to have a little release.  But the moment passed and I'm moving on.

Turns out I've been doing the Leg Extension and Swiss Ball Bridges incorrectly.  And I'm doing something with my right hip to compensate for my weaker left hip when I side stepping.  Grr.  My therapist will be watching me closer next week.  My progress is good, but there is still work to be done.  It's good that I'm in therapy because it is surprisingly hard to tell that you are performing a motion incorrectly.  Isolating specific muscles is also strange.  Sometimes I have to pause and think about the motion I'm trying to perform for a full 10 sec before I can make my body do it.  Very interesting.

But more on the issues.  The Leg Extension is supposed to work the glut.  Using the machine, it is supposed to isolate the glut.  I haven't been performing it correctly so I've been working the quad and hamstring and hip and back... pretty much everything but the glut.  The motion of revised yesterday and for the first time I really felt it work the muscle it's supposed to work.  But I really have a concentrate on what I am doing.  All my other muscles are there ready to compensate if I stop paying attention for a minute.  Now I have to extend my leg back to where it is almost straight and then squeeze in my butt cheek.  Hopefully since I felt it Thursday I can replicate it at Monday's appointment.

The same problem exists for the Swiss Ball Bridges.  I'm working the hamstrings to exhaustion and not the glut.  When I lift my butt up off the table, I don't have to lift as far.  the focus is on getting a squeeze in my butt and not using my hamstrings to complete the motion.  This one is actually harder than expected.  I can see why they started me with the Leg Extension.

And for side steps, my right hip is cramping, but my left hip is the weaker one.  When I do the One Legged Squat and Place I can feel the weakness of the left hip.  In that exercise the right cannot compensate.  But in the side step there is something I'm doing that puts all the work on my right side and my left doesn't even get tired.  I guess it is no wonder the right is stronger if I'm working it that much harder.  At Monday's appointment the therapist is going to watch me more closely during this exercise to determine what is going on.

For the icing on the cake, my tail bone is still hurting.  I'm not sure what to make of that.  I sit all day long and it just isn't getting anymore comfortable.  I think I'm going to have to get that checked on as well.  Might as well get it all fixed while I'm at it, right


As negative as I might sound writing about all this, I am thankful to have the opportunity to get better.  My work, husband and insurance are all contributing heavily to get me healthy.  For that I am grateful.  That grateful feeling just doesn't make PT suck less.  But I'm going to stop complaining now and get on with the day.  Tomorrow is my first 5K and I think to mark the occasion I might just have to put some pictures up here.