Back to the Grind

   I always get a warm fuzzy when my physical therapists give me more exercises and freedom in the gym. The trust instilled in me not to break the machines or myself is scary and appreciated. Last week my husband surprised me with a trip to Colorado for our 3rd wedding anniversary. The steep incline and constant walking proved to be comfortable and enjoyable. My knee was stable and worked like a normal knee should. Challenging my knee in a real world situation proved to be the motivation I needed to work harder in the gym. I can only imagine what I will be capable of with a few more pounds of muscle on my leg.

   Upon learning of my adventure the wonderful people at Optimus Physical Therapy changed my entire protocol, again. More weight, more single leg exercises, and more machines were thrown at me yesterday. I cheerfully skipped over to the leg press machine and added some weight, then a little more weight, and put an extra 12 lbs. on for fun. Total weight was 100 lbs. which much to my surprise my legs could handle. For single leg press I used 50 lbs. for each leg. Single leg deadlifts are one of my favorite exercises to do. They help to strengthen the hamstrings and work on your balance. Weak hamstrings are a hurdle for many ACL patients and thus need to be kept in optimal condition. For the deadlifts I was rather cautious and only used a 5 lb. medicine ball to lift.

   Needless to say, after 3 hours of working out I was a tad bit sore and tired. Since I have roughly 3 weeks left of my school semester, I was holed up in the library for several hours after PT. When my body is physically exhausted, even a looming deadline cannot motivate me to write faster. Today all I need is caffeine and spellcheck, maybe an ice bath for my sore muscles too.

  Thursday should be even more fun because I get to add more machines and agility exercises. Steven needs to have ice and chocolate on standby.