During my (very) extended
recovery time with all it’s bumps and hurdles I have come to realize many
things that go against my previous conceptions.
ARGH! Not only am I rewiring my
entire body; I have to change the way I think about my body and my
recovery. So hard.
What I want to share today
is how it is sometimes very important to do activities you either don’t like or
don’t want to do to get the results you need.
What does this go against
for me? I have long supported the
concept that you need to do an activity you like or love to get results. Why?
Because that is the activity that you will be the most likely do
regularly and with continuity.
Now I see that in order to
develop the strength I need to recover and maintain my recovery I need to be
doing sooo many more repetitions of basic movements than I want to do.
As soon as my foot and
weight bearing started improving, I threw my repetitions out the door and began
moving: beginners Pilates classes, bike riding,
and small walks. Why? Because I hate performing simple movements
over and over again! I’d rather watch paint dry. Within 2 weeks my hips and injured foot and
leg became highly unstable and I was back in the weeds. I thought I had been so cautious, but I had
thrown out the keystone to my recovery:
all those repetitions for my local stabilizers!
I don’t think this situation
is specific to rehabilitation though.
People tend to do what they are good at and not what they need to get
good. Me: case in point
My PT and I joked a lot about how the people doing Pilates and Yoga should be doing strength training and vice-versa. That would be interesting! I'd have a whole different clientele to teach.
