8-Months / List of Milestones To Date
It has been quite some time since I’ve posted on my blog. Amazingly enough, my last post was at the wonderful 3-month mark, where things really started to improve and here I am now 5 months later! Occasionally I will pop into the site to look at blogs of the others in my time-frame to see how things have progressed for them. It is wonderful to read the many success stories and to see the variety of ways people have rehabbed their legs.
As Norm constantly drills into everyone on this site, keeping everything incremental has been the key to my recovery thus far. The tendon having been healed for quite some time now, building back the strength in the calf and supporting muscles is a slow grind. I figured that since I do keep a brief workout log, I’d go back and provide others a general guideline (obviously this is just me) of the milestones along the way since 12-weeks. For me, always staying active and working the leg out in many different ways over the course of time has been effective. There is almost no consistency in terms of which exercises are done when, only that I do serious leg work and/or plyometric workouts essentially every 2-3 days depending on my schedule and/or level of soreness. The most wonderful feeling for me is an incredibly fatigued leg on the day following a tough workout, and then having it feel stronger and ready to go a day or two after. The recovery keeps getting stronger. The following are highlights from my calendar, with the understanding that I do something at least 5 days a week whether cardio or strength exercises:
Week 12 - Walks of about 2 miles. Started cross training on exercise bike (35 minutes) and now elliptical (5 minutes)
Week 13 - first outdoor bike ride, slow and careful approx 5 miles.
Week 15 - rode 12 miles outdoors at nice pace
Week 16 - up to 30/20 min on bike/elliptical
Week 17 - began plugging in some intermittent light jogging into walks
Week 19 - rode 20 miles outdoors at nice pace
Week 20 - ran 2 miles without stopping
Week 21 - first strong walk over 4 miles. Started back with my trainer - stretching, leg exercises and cross training.
Week 24 - ran 3 miles
Week 25 - regular walks over 5 miles
Week 27 - jog/sprint intervals on track. 10-mile hike.
Week 28 - Began doing foot drills daily per PT recommendation - huge benefits - really wish I had started these earlier.
Week 30 - did a 45′ ropes course (pic) with my boys with no problem!
Week 32 - ran 3 miles on a track then sprinted the straightaways for 3 more. Started jumping rope a few times a week.
Week 33 - started doing Insanity workouts again - one of my all time favorite programs.
That brings us current at almost 35 weeks. The workouts continue to get more intense and the recovery feels great. I have resumed my membership at the racquet club and will begin hitting balls and slowly getting back to my tennis game. I have resisted thus far so as not to push too much, but feel that my strength has reached a level in which I can trust myself to get back to tennis incrementally.
Good luck to all - especially anyone who has recently suffered from this annoying slog of an injury. Don’t use my experiences as anything more than what is possible in the future. The specific timeframe is irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. I still can’t do a full single calf raise, but I”m confident that will come in time along with everything else as I strive to return to full strength.
Rob
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Congratulations on your recovery! Thank you so much for your update and providing the link to the foot drills - I am going to try to incorporate them in my daily routine.
Your calf looks good - definitely quite a bit of definition. I don’t even know if I have any yet and may need to start taking photos to compare my progress through the months.
I am amazed at all you can do despite being able to do a single leg calf raise. I initially thought that maybe it is because you may be an overweight man but according to your photo - you aren’t. I have read of others not being able to a single leg calf raise too and I am often surprised by this. I have been able to do them since my OS had me try for the first time at my 3 month check up but I don’t think they have really helped me with my recovery - my progress probably closely resembles yours at each of the weeks you listed (so far). So you see, no major advantage for me.
Thanks again for your update - I always appreciate those who take the time to come back and update!
Thanks for sharing the foot drills, I will add them to my exercise toolkit. I have found the online video “Tone your feet” on GaiamTv to be fantastic- the final seated section is beyond me for now though. You can sign up for a free 10 day trial.
So glad your recovery keeps getting stronger!
It sounds great, Sporti, don’t stop!
Like atr2014, I was surprised to finish reading your amazing list of exertions and activities, then to read your “afterthought” that you still didn’t have a full-height 1-leg heel raise.
Mind you, I’ve had a similar experience myself — in my case, a recovery that will never include a good 1LHR, but did include a return to all my fave sports (including competitive volleyball) with no noticeable deficit! As you’ve probably read, I think the 1LHR is an overrated test of ability to DO things, apart from the ability to do a 1LHR. But it is a strength test that virtually all “normal people” can do just fine, so it’s natural for ATR patients to treat it as a key test of a full recovery. And my ultra-conservative OS for my first ATR (back in 2001-02!) set that test — in fact, being able to do a BUNCH of 1LHRs without grunting or groaning! — as a necessary condition for my return to volleyball. That time, I passed the test around 10 months post-op, which was when my volleyball season was restarting anyway, so it worked out fine. But I’ve convinced myself that I can get pretty good explosive sports performance — and as good as I got pre-ATR — without it.
Keep it up dude, you’re doing so well!
Love that ‘Foot drills’ file, thanks for that! I did 20k on the exercise bike and walked 3 miles yesterday, and as well as 20 mins high intensity plus 6 miles walking on Sunday and feel great! So happy with it!
Great to see you’re getting somewhere. I wish I could say the same. I had my heal spur shaved over a year ago. When this was done, they had to detach and re-attach the Achilles. Because my splint was too tight during the surgery, I got nerve damage on the top of my foot. Then, the surgeon turned me away. I then began PT. After 3 months, I had gained strength back in everything BUT my Achilles. Then..they turned me away. (never thought PT would do this). Here I am, a year and 3 months later. I have shooting pain on the side of my calf and the same post surgery pain around my Achilles. It feels weak and fatigued all the time. I can run 3 miles and play ultimate Frisbee, but my strength is not there and I’m limited. I noticed that you did Insanity. I did Insanity 4 months after surgery, slow, but it helped me get strong..but again, I still have pain in my Achilles area. I believe it’s just chronically weak now. I’ve been patient for a long time, still holding out hope that one day I can just walk with no pain. The pain I had from the bone spur is gone, but now I have pain from what was once, a perfectly fine Achilles. I went to a second opinion doctor and he did an MRI on me. Everything checked out, he said they did fine. I’m thinking I need a good PT. Your thoughts? thanks