First dunk since the rupture!
Posted on November 4th, 2009 by doug53
Well, okay, on a 9 1/2 foot basket; but cut me some slack, I’m 54 years old. Still a nice milestone, though, as I haven’t dunked on a real ten foot basket in ten years. It felt great. I have been doing lots of bouncing on my toes lately, so I guess that paid off.
Feeling just a little younger,
Doug
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Fantastic!
Good for you Doug,
Now, about that test putting your leg over your knee, I did try it yesterday but got myself all tied up in knots, can you describe it again for me, as a 60 year old I found it hard just to get my foot over my knee!!
I am seeing my surgeon again next week for results of MRI but how that can possibly show whether the tendon is too long I don’t know, just know that my symptoms were exactly the same as TomTom’s, and my physio is convinced that the problem is the tendon being too long.
Thanks for any help
Annie
Well done Doug! I can imagine how good that felt! No stopping you now.
Smoley
Hi Annie,
Maybe this would be a better way:
Lie down on your back, with your heels near your butt, knees pointing up. Put the your injured foot’s heel on the other leg’s knee. Point the injured foot’s toes firmly by flexing your calf muscle. Grab the ball of your injured foot with your hand, and push the toes up and down, while continuing to flex your calf. If the tendon is too long, there will be some loose “play” before the calf catches the movement.
Does that make any more sense? If you have trouble reaching the ball of your foot with your hand, you may need someone else’s hand to help you do this “test.”
Doug
Hi Smoley,
Great to hear you’re in your shoes! When I first got into my shoes and could fully weight that injured heel, I worked the quads with a new exercise.
Specifically, I stood with my injured foot ahead of my good foot, as if I had just stepped forward with my injured foot. I would then rock my weight back and forth,bending my injured leg’s knee some as I pushed the injured ankle into the ground while rocking forward. If you are worried about leaning too far and stretching the tendon too much, have your hands on something to catch your weight before you go too far forward.
That should work the quads better than that exercise we talked about before. If you are not quite ready to do this exercise, you probably will be soon.
Best wishes,
Doug
Doug - Thanks for the exercise tip, the tendon is still very tight and won’t let me go far enough forwards to start working the quad, but it does give a gentle controlled stretch to the tendon so I will build it into my routine. First physio is on Monday, so I’m hoping they’ll get things moving. Well done on your continued role as site physio guru!
Smoley
Hey Smoley,
You might like my latest exercise sometime down the road. I wanted something to mimic the quick reactions needed when playing basketball that I could do every day at home, so a new exercise was born. I call it Chasing The Dog Around The Yard. (My Ridgeback is a big dog, but she has moves any professional athlete would envy.) It is critical to warm up some before such vigorous exercise, so I always precede this exercise with another, lower impact one I call Making Sure There Is No Dog Poop In The Yard.
More home-made exercises for you to look forward to!
Doug