Friday Pilates

We took a few pictures at Pilates on Friday to submit to Body Leadership for the article that was being published for Body Leader of the Month.   I'm not sure if the one on the left is leg circles or adductor stretching.

In the next, each leg take turns in pushing forward while the other lifts.

I've talked about the next exercise in a pre-op post about Pilates. (Long Spine) I just started this one again on Friday.  Controlling the movement fluidly is a little more difficult that pre-op but still feels really great.   It is working that troublesome glute really well!  There is another one were I am lying on a box on my stomach facing the left (towards the picture of the skeleton on the wall that you can see in the first picture) but I haven't included that one - it truly is the definition of a bad picture!  The increase in the amount of exercises that I can do changes dramatically from week to week and things that I didn't like and weren't comfortable with pre-op aren't all that bad anymore.

In particular if you remember my intense dislike to the reverse knee pulls, well, that's changed.  It isn't that much of an issue any more.  I thought it was because I didn't feel comfortable looking down at the ground thinking that I would fall flat on my face.  I guess it must have been just general discomfort that I wasn't interpreting correctly.

I'm also back on the foam roller and balancing quite well.  I tried this exercise with both arms up off the ground at the same time but I'm not quite stable enough for that yet and get a little wobbly.  Maybe by next week I will have the strength back that I require!

I'm back on the bosu as well.  I can stand and do squats and also from standing transfer weight from side to side.  I stood pretty close to the wall when I got onto the bosu since though I really wanted to try it out and see if I was ready yet, I didn't want to fall on my ass either!

Friday was a very productive session.  I am starting to see how much more I will be able to progress past what I was able to do pre-op.   There are a few exercises that I was doing about six years ago that I am yet to try again but I think that I will be quickly moving on to more that I wasn't able to do at all.   One of the main that I was able to do back then requires me to stand on the reformer (one leg on the bit that I'm laying on in the top pictures and one on the other where the wooden panel and the feet support it - the bar bit goes down).  I'm not quite comfortable with the idea of getting up there just yet but I'm sure after a few more times on the bosu, I'll gain enough confidence to get up there and give it a go.  I don't think that the exercise itself will be difficult for me in the slightest, it's just being that far off the ground that I'm not quite 'good' with yet.  I'll keep you all posted!

Changes

Life is changing pretty quickly at the moment.  I'm still doing a lot of rehab type activities, like physio, hydro and an at home program but the other parts of life are visibly changing.  I have learnt a lot about the people who have gone through this process with me and unfortunately things I didn't want to learn about the people who didn't.  I'm starting out knowing exactly where I stand with people which is a strong platform to start again from.

I am back at work doing stop gap type work and I am adding things in that interest me.  That's led to a lot of reading and being back online just browsing, something that I've not really had the time to just enjoy for a very long time.  I think that's really some of the reason to have gone through this really.  To change that life that really wasn't working out for me work-wise, that was filled with pain and limited by joints that didn't work the way that they were supposed to.  The start to all of the changes was something beyond my control but it really was something that needed to happen.  It's scary not knowing what happens next.

I've not taken on so much that I've cut back on my rehab activities but more than enough to fill my days so I have been neglecting to write as much here.  The things that I do know is that there will be more opportunities that I will be able to take.  Little things like being able to work in the city without paying ridiculous amounts for parking since I'll actually be able to catch a bus.

I was baking on Sunday night and my sister came past to be an 'official taste tester' before I took the cupcakes in to share with the people at physio.  She asked me a hip related question at some point during the conversation and I realised that I hadn't thought about them while I was baking.  It came as a bit of a surprise that the question kind of seemed out of context even though it did relate to me and what I'm doing at the moment.  I suppose that will happen more frequently as time goes on.  It will be more difficult to forget when I start doing things that I haven't done for years.  As I meet these milestones I'll be excited by the accomplishments.  Some of the shine might wear off as I progress further but I think that there will always be some things that will always bring wonder and excitement with them.

I just have to make sure that I don't screw it up and forget the lessons that I've learnt.