On my 20th physical therapy session yesterday, we concentrated on perfecting my walking gait and building strength in the calf muscle. In addition to the machine calf raise and assisted single leg calf raise, my therapist had me walking forward on the treadmill at a pace of 2 miles per hour. I was a bit surprised that I was able to keep up and I was even more surprised about how much better I was able to concentrate on my walking technique.
Today I’ve seen a noticeable improvement in my heel-toe movement, walking speed and a lot in confidence. I’ve completely ditched the boot even in high-risk situations like weight lifting and playing with my psycho dog, Flair. Calf strength continues to be an issue and probably will be for quite some time. So today I decided to invest in a seated calf raise machine.
Wednesday when I was watching the White Sox game, the announcer, Hawk Harrelson, mentioned that when he was in the minors, a player was running the bases when his helmet fell off, striking the runner in his AT and causing it to rupture. That’s got to be the weirdest way I have ever heard of rupturing an AT.
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June 30th, 2012 at 9:08 pm - Edit
Have you practiced your heel raises off the end of a stair & with dumbbells? Cheaper than a machine! In the meantime, isn’t it strange how we’ve taken heel to toe walking for granted? My first time thru with an ATR, I had to keep reminding myself not to watch my feet.
July 1st, 2012 at 12:47 am - Edit
gntwagner,
I want to be able to isolate my calf that has the ATR. I have been doing seated calf raises with a dumbbell balanced on my knee but I am already up to an 80 lb. dumbbell and I’m not sure I can safely handle picking up one heavier than that. I still can’t do a single-leg standing calf raise so I figure I have to somehow make a jump from the 80 lb. dumbbell to the full body weight of 160 lbs. I believe that machine is a good way to do it. It wasn’t that expensive ($150) and I have wanted one for a long time even way before my ATR. This gives me a good excuse to spend some money on a new toy - always a good feeling
You are so right about how we take the technique of walking for granted. I do computer animation so I should be well aware of what a walk cycle is suppose to be like. In relearning how to walk, not only do I have to concentrate on the heel to toe, but also hip movement, upper leg movement and placing my center of gravity. Still, if a 2 year-old can master it, I figure I can too LOL