1st Qtr Results - 2nd Qtr Guidance: Increased Strength & Endurance
The initial portion of this recovery is officially behind me. Even though I was officially in 2-shoes at 7.5 weeks, the change from around week 10 to now at almost 13 has been extraordinary. Nothing that can be measured in days, but as a whole, I have definitely hit the next level and feel even more energized to begin the real work of building strength and that hidden gem, endurance. Reading other people’s updates has helped me tremendously. At times, I would chuckle to myself while reading about activities others slightly ahead of me had reported, thinking yeah right, I’m a looong way from that. Low and behold, 4-5 days later an entirely different perspective. And these milestones keep occurring when measured on a weekly basis. I credit the blog, and newer high intensity PT visits (now once a week) for unlocking capabilities that I had no idea my leg could accomplish. Things that I am now doing regularly:
- Going on up to 2-mile walks. Some days not as much, others no problem. It simply keeps building. Overall steps per day are becoming irrelevant to me. There is no problem being on my feet all day and accumulating 13-15,000 steps or +/- 5-6 miles per day. It’s the focused walking that remains a challenge.
- Riding exercise bike with foot properly positioned, moderate resistance, over 80 rpm’s for 30-40 minutes 4-5 days per week.
- Using a slider under my bad foot, doing lunges while sliding the foot back keeping the heel down, at 3 angles, then switching to full lunges raising the heel and touching the knee to the ground.
- The last exercise has allowed me to begin using my elliptical machine again with no problem. Building endurance on this machine as well in conjunction with the exercise bike.
- Working the quadriceps muscle on the bad leg 3-times as much as the good one. The muscle is still strong, but has lost some mass. In order to prevent future knee issues on this leg, this quad must work hard to catch up. I’m doing a lot of body weight squats and doing one-legged lunges utilizing the TRX.
- P90X2 - one of my favorite workout regime’s, is a fantastic recovery tool for this injury. It is all about balance, while training your core and other muscle groups on one foot at a time, exercise balls, foam rollers, etc. I’ve done all 3 P90X’s, Insanity, T25, TRX training and more. P90X2 is the perfect for me at this time. I have no problem with planks, side arm planks, push up’s on exercise balls, etc. Obviously I’m not engaging in any plyometric’s so I’ll skip or modify something else and move on. The plyo stuff will come in due time and as advised by my PT’s, likely starting with T25.
- Kinesio tape has been a constant on my leg. My PT puts it on each session. I credit it with significantly reducing the swelling in my lower leg. I also believe it has assisted in its job of getting my calf muscle to begin properly firing while walking.
- Calf raises of many types, a few times per day. What is interesting is that while I still cannot do a single calf raise on the bad leg from scratch, if I am in a plank, or say downward dog position where the calf is already engaged, I can then proceed to do single legged raises from there.
- Last but not least is the continued visits to my trainer, who is mostly working with me on focused intense stretching and massaging out my quads and IT bands. Also, my chiropractor who specializes in ART, working on my ever sore QL’s, mid-back, neck, and keeps me balanced from the weekly trauma that this injury continues to have on my body.
There is still a long way to go here, but I can say that my experience of the past 2-3 weeks has provided a truly remarkable resurgence of energy and focus. Another piece of this recovery that was sort of lost on me previously was the lack of endurance. My PT’s have explained that now that we have moved to this next stage of strength building, marked endurance is still likely 8-12 more weeks out. Best explained - I’m still a few months out from likely taking a strong 5-mile walk. More than running, biking, getting back on the tennis court, this is my next major goal. -Rob
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Great post Sporti, solid advice for those a bit behind you trying to properly exercise and gain strength back. When did your doctors, PT, trainer think running will be ok to try?
Congrats sporti and a great summary! Day to day I feel like I don’t get significantly better but if I read my old posts it’s good reminder of how much stronger you get, particularly weeks 8-12!
Keep up the program! I’ve slacked a bit the last four days and it’s a good inspiration for me to keep up the intensity. My secondary exercises are what I slip on doing (plank, squats, etc.) but they are super important to a full recovery with no compensatory injuries.
Hi Rob,
Keep posting — there is a lot for the rest of us to learn and adopt from your activities.
Very impressive exercise regimen! I am at 8 weeks now and 5,000-6,000 steps are average for me. 2 miles walks are not in the horizon yet, but in my dreams only.
Rob - great to hear things are going so well at 13 weeks. Your sports background will continue to provide you with the tools for this year-long recovery. Like preparing for a marathon, this recovery happens one day at a time, one workout at a time, one rest day at a time. Progress may proceed in leaps at times, but it can also be so incremental that it seems like you’re standing still. There are always going to be those half-steps back. Setting goals and working toward them with purpose and a positive attitude will certainly get you there. Look what it’s done for you so far! - Kim
@smick, kim, norm, tatyana - thanks for the kind words!
@gocanes - running isn’t really a goal of mine as much as it is an ancillary activity to doing plyo/agility drills, biking, and eventually getting back on the tennis court, so I haven’t really discussed it with anyone yet. I think I could probably run a tiny bit now, but haven’t really tried. Otherwise, I go for long brisk walks with my dog’s almost every evening, which is what I’d like to continue to build to as a main goal. I have another mid-term goal to do a local biathlon (5K & 20 mile bike) at the end of August. I’ve challenged my 11yr old son to do that with me. At 5.5 months, who knows? I certainly won’t be disappointed if I can’t do both.
Sporti I think it’s great that you’re so active. P90X is no joke, very intense. I can only do the ab workouts at my stage. But I compliment the quick workouts with pushups and pullups. I will hit the gym for the first time next week.
Your progress is very encouraging, thanks for posting.
Yeah, it was amazing between week 10 and 12 for me, it just started feeling so much more solid and the toe off gained a lot of strength. I love those calf raises from down dog, even able to do bound dog, but I’m still afraid to intensify it into 3 legged dog on that side. You seem to be at a similar place to me, try some plyo, I just started doing it out of the boot in week 12 and I can get some solid little hops pretty good. Lunges help with stability so much, both with landing on the bad foot forward and balancing with it on the ball of the foot behind. Back to 2-a-days at this point! Still feeling on target for hitting sport again at 6 months.
Roark, and Sporti, what was the farthest you felt comfortable walking in week 10? I just went for about a mile walk that included some steps and very slight elevation, and have some throbbing/slight soreness in the AT after. I have been feeling pretty solid all week and am able to do 20-30 double leg calf raises at a time with no problem,and 2-4 single leg calf raises on the injured leg, so I thought a mile walk wouldn’t be any issue.
@gocanes - my own experience was i started doing 1, then quickly to 1.5 and even 2 mile walks by week 10, but I went too fast and my achilles was sore and hurting for days afterwards. I’d just gradually increase it each time, maybe 10%.
I am doing around 2 mile walks now, 5 times a week, and it feels ok. But, i can also dial the amount of effort by whether I try to walk fast with good form or walk slower and cheat. So, the distance is a little less important versus the intensity of how many minutes i walk with good technique that uses the calf on every step.
Thanks smick - you explained my experience perfectly. The one problem that I have is pre-planning the day off, and what activities are skipped on those days. Listening to my body remains paramount and not pushing through anything. I have no problem calling my wife or asking a neighbor for a lift home if things start feeling tight or sore. It is nice to live on a street that is a 1 mile oval though!
Thanks again smick and sporti, im generally doing that about 1 mile walk a day, this weekend as I approach my 11th week Im going to take it up to 2 miles, and see how that goes.
Hey gocanes,
I never really measured how far I walked, but I probably at least end up going about a mile to and from my car at work, the parking situation where I am is terrible. So overall I probably do more. It wasn’t until week 12 when I really started getting some solid strength in the toe off. But I don’t tend to experience much soreness down there. I’m up to doing about 45 isometric hold double legged standing calf raises twice a day. I should probably start trying for the single legged soon but just want to talk to my doctors about that first. I have been able to do some small hops in plyometric workouts on the bad side. My biggest struggle is the soleus stretch. The one where you do a calf stretch with the knee bent. I have trouble getting my knee over my toes with my foot planted. I’d say I’m more stiff than sore and its mostly just in the morning until I get it all warmed up. My PT said she didn’t want me to start up with running again until I could do like 20 solid single legged standing heel raises. So I’m targeting that for the end of month 4.