Milestones

This has been another very good week, I’ve reached several post-injury milestones, and we’ve had some fabulous weather too!

Monday

I was really tired after very poor sleep over the weekend. And other than that? My hip flexors and adductors were screaming with DOMS after the Sunday session in my husband’s gym. Oops. I certainly didn’t do anything really heavy? But what I did was to use muscles that have only seen resistance bands since April. I could just barely do my PT knee lift walks! NOT a good thing when it’s my regular gym day… where light sessions don’t happen, like ever. (ok, it did once, but only because I had just recovered from Covid)

• Warmup with leg raises – first on floor and then hanging from the dip machine
• Leg extensions with resistance band
• Hamstring curls with resistance band
• Barbell row, 30 kgs
• Tricep pullovers, 9 kg dumbbells
• Flyes, 9 kg dumbbells
• Push-ups
• Lateral raise, 5 kg dumbbells
• Shoulder shrugs, 8 kg dumbbells

Believe it or not, the leg extensions and hamstring curls went ok. The most painful move was to stretch my hips enough to get on the bench for the barbell row.
I was also happy to complete three decent sets of regular press-ups, from full position, despite stiff and achy toes. They’d better get used to it.

Tuesday

I started the day on the bike and did a few km but the route was way over my head (or legs!) and I stopped before the insane inclines started. I’ll have to choose a more suitable route for Thursday.

It was a lovely day so I spent some time in the garden with the camera. Generally, the garden looks like ***** after a summer when I’ve been unable to do any gardening, but existing plants are happy enough. The ongoing problem in this garden is that plants either don’t like where I’ve put them, or they like too much where they are, grow too large and I have to move them. That’s definitely the case with the cat mint – it’s huge!

Wednesday

Gym day!

• Warmup with wall slides and – attempted split squats (not Bulgarian!)
• Piriformis glute bridge
• Side leg lifts with straight legs & resistance band
• Barbell chest press 27,5 kgs
• Flyes 9 kg dumbbells
• Parachutes
• Seated bent over raise, 5 kg dumbbells
• Forward raise, 5 kg dumbbells

I was pleasantly surprised when my trainer asked me to try a split squat, and I happily accepted the challenge. It didn’t go particularly well, but at least I gave it a try, and there is this thing – every time I challenge the foot a bit further, I make a bit more progress. This foot needs to move! Of course the challenge has to happen gradually, but it has to happen. I’ll continue working on the split squats, they’re good for balance too.

Thursday

On the Thursday I went to see my physiotherapist again. He was very happy with my progress and we discussed how to ramp up walking, what’s realistic when it comes to walking within the next month or two, my achy toes, and he had me do new challenging exercises. Overall a very good meeting and I got the thumbs up to now do my lifting in the gym on both my feet. Leg exercises will still be with resistance bands for another few weeks but I’ll start doing squats at home.

In the evening, to attend the slow tune session, I used the stairs instead of the lift. Even to get down! It worked ok and made me happy. It’s the little things in life!

Friday

Today was the first full day with my new physiotherapy program, and I must say I had a blast! I really enjoyed doing squats again, despite feeling stiff like an 80-year-old. Hips, knees and ankle mobility and overall leg strength needs some work but hey, I’m now doing it, I’m on my way back and this is a huge step in the right direction. My new program has added ankle mobility, soleus heel raises, isometric heel raises, step-downs, continued balance work, squats and more. It keeps me busy for sure!

In the gym, another post-injury milestone was reached with doing my lifting program without injury modification. My leg exercises are still with bands, but other than that, we’re back to normal. I stand up on my feet for shoulder lifts and barbell rows. This was such a wonderful feeling! The barbell row was challenging – but the hard part was to walk those few steps to put the bar back on the rack. My confidence that the foot works isn’t 100% there yet, but I’m working on it.

• Warm-up with hanging knee raises and split squats
• Single leg press with resistance band
• Single leg raise with resistance band
• Barbell row, 30 kgs
• Tricep pullovers, 9 kg dumbbells
• Flyes, 9 kg dumbbells
• Barbell chest press, 30 kgs – yay!
• Seated shoulder press, 6 kg dumbbells
• Upright row, 17,5 kgs

My shoulders felt strong and well for those hanging knee raises which made me happy. The split squats are a work in progress because of my poor balance and achy toes but I’ll continue to work on them. They’re a good exercise.

My barbell chest press weight was increased today from 27,5 to 30 kgs. I wasn’t sure what to expect but did well and was very happy with it, I managed to do two full sets and then 9 reps out of 10 on the last set so not bad at all! Sadly afterwards my triceps were exhausted and I didn’t do great on the shoulder press. But the upright row – now standing up on both my feet – went very well.

I was so happy after this session! After everything going on during the last few months, even if I’m not “there yet”, I felt strong again.

My husband was going to work with a specific project over the weekend so we planned a soft evening at home, but had barely come inside the house when a lady knocked on the door. She invited us to come to a family gathering organised by a lovely gentleman who has created a community space at a crossroad a bit up the road from us, available for everyone to use. It is a lovely initiative and he has talked about arranging something there and that he wanted us to come and play some music. We decided to go and we had a great time! A bit of red wine, getting to know some new people and doing some tunes, what can possibly go wrong?

Saturday

I had planned to go to a nearby village to try to take some photos for a camera club project. I would also get some walking done. We’ve had some fog the last few days and I was hoping to get some photos of the old abbey with fog over the water. Well, the photography plans were a total fail because down in the village the fog had totally lifted, and I hadn’t checked the tide! Afterwards when I looked at my photos, I also realised I had missed a fantastic photo opportunity that would have fitted the project perfectly. The weather was fantastic though and I enjoyed a lovely walk and took some photos just for pleasure.

I walked WAY too far. When I saw the physio on Thursday he recommended I walk three times a week and ramp it up from 1 km to maybe 1,5 to begin with. 1 km had my feet totally fatigued last weekend. Now I tracked the walk on my watch and ended up on 2.10 km. Ugh!! I walked over the bridge and back and then went into the old abbey. By the time I was ready to be picked up by my husband, my feet were an achy mess. So yes, I’ve learned my limits but I’m a bit annoyed that my feet get fatigued so fast.

Sunday

I keep working on my PT program, and also hope to get some cycling done today. It’ll generally be a very slow day. Next week will be busy with my husband’s birthday, music stuff, work, and more.

I hope you are doing well and had a good week! What was the highlight of your week?

Thanks Kim and Deborah for hosting the Weekly rundown link-up!