As I entered week eight I felt very positive. I had truly turned a corner in my recovery because I was finally able to lay on my right side without pain. This made me unbelievably happy.
I was back on track with normal soreness of my hip after my rehab exercises. My physical therapist began to really challenge me during our two sessions leaving me too sore to do much rehab of my own. I still did the stationary bike every morning for 40 minutes and increased the resistance when I could. I was able to put it up to four for a few minutes here and there, but mostly kept it on three which allowed me to work up a sweat fairly quickly. I also did some footwork on the reformer at the studio when I could.
The balance and stability exercises I did at PT were difficult for me and I did not enjoy them at all. I did enjoy the hard work and sweat though. It had been so long since my muscles were sore from a workout that I looked forward to going each week. The exercise pictured here where I’m reaching down to touch the blue foam pad while balancing on one leg got my hamstrings so sore, but I’m sure that’s because we did them along with the single leg bridging.
The heel taps while standing on the foam pad were good for my stability and balance too, but not as challenging as the previous exercise. I recreated these at the studio with the stability cushion on the jumpboard. I was finally able to move my body in new ways and can’t wait to do more. I paid close attention to my limitations and I realized that going up and down the stairs too many times was definitely still a bad idea.
We did a lot of flexband work with it around my knees for squats, monster walks and clamshells while in a squat. I’ll try to post photos of those next time. I’m so grateful that I will be able to add more new exercises and go back to some things I love soon. So far this has been a long haul for me with everything else that is going on in my life and the world. I know things will probably never quite go back to normal, but I absoluletly can’t wait to be back in the studio with all of my amazing clients!!! Hopefully one day very soon.