This week I got a glimmer of hope that my hip is getting better, but my physical therapy appointment showed me that it will be a slow recovery process—literally.
Scooby’s content to be walking in this weather,
but my hair seems to be protesting something.
A S-L-O-W Recovery Process
I started physical therapy for my hip this week. The first half of my first appointment was an assessment of strengths/weaknesses/imbalances. Despite all the work I’ve been doing on my own, my PT concluded that I have significant imbalances to work on, although my left (injured) side was stronger in some tests than others.
The second half of my first appointment she had me do typical PT exercises—glute bridges, clamshells, and a variety of leg lifts. I know physical therapists want you to do these exercises slowly, but she had to remind me to slow down several times!
For my at-home exercises, there is an app with my workout plan and videos for each exercise. Rather than just being a short demo of the move, the video shows someone doing all the reps s-l-o-w-l-y and with the brief “holds” at the top, so I can just follow along. It’s a bit tedious, but keeps me honest!
For my second appointment, my PT added other familiar exercises—monster walks, banded side steps, calf raises, and single-leg squats with TRX straps for balance. Again, she had me really slow down during the banded side steps in a way that worked by adductors and tested my balance. All the PT moves are really simple, but by the end I was pretty tired.
Weekly Run Down
A few other things impacted my workouts this week. There was a brief break in the weather Monday followed by a few days in the 100s followed by a few days of Canadian wildfire smoke—including a code purple air quality warning on Friday.
When I took Scooby out Friday morning the air was thick and smelled acrid. 😷
As for my glimmer of hope, when I tried a few running intervals ahead of my first PT appointment to figure out where it hurts, it didn’t! So, I started adding a few running intervals to my Scooby walks and even did a few stints on the treadmill. My hip still aches once in a while afterwards, so I’m not cured yet, but I hope I’m seeing light at the end of the tunnel. 🤞
Sunday I paired my new favorite 30 min strength class with one of Hannah F’s 30 min rides—still holding back on the resistance. Her 10 min stretch class is another favorite—holding each stretch for 60 sec instead of 30 makes a big difference.
Monday when I saw how gorgeous it was outside—low 60s!—I decided to take Scooby for a longer walk. I also tested out running for a few seconds at a time and it felt great! It would have been a FANTASTIC morning, except when I was almost back to my house I brushed some tall flowers and got STUNG! I felt the heat spreading across my leg and limped the rest of the way home. I continued with the strength classes I had picked out, but skipped the cycling class I had in my stack.
Tuesday my sting (above my left knee) was still a bit swollen but I thought an easy cycling class might help with circulation. I wanted to take Camilla’s Futball class, but when I saw the tough class plan I decided CVV’s warm-up ride would be a better choice.
I backed out of Camilla’s class
Wednesday my sting was still bothering me but my hip felt OK, so after my strength workout I hopped on my treadmill to do 10 min of 30 sec run/walk intervals. I kept my pace slow (under 6 mph) and it felt good!
Thursday I was ready to take Camilla’s ride and it was tough! The high-energy Futball anthems and her high energy kept me going. ⚽️
Friday I decided to take it easy ahead of my PT class. Sam Yo’s 60s rides always have a fun Motown playlist and this one did not disappoint.
Saturday I did a long stack of short workouts, including 15 min on the treadmill. Holding myself to 30 sec running intervals is hard, but I really don’t want to push myself into a setback.
Robin’s new G&L class is all glute bridges and shells.
I am happy to see progress towards recovery, even though it is slow. I’m not gonna lie, though, I hope the shockwave therapy I’m starting next week helps speed the process along.
A huge thank you to Deborah and Kim for hosting the Weekly Run Down link up.
Did bad air quality keep you inside this week?
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It was definitely a challenging weather week around here. Glad you finally got into PT. I hope you find it helpful and not too frustrating. Curious to hear how the shockwave therapy goes. How many sessions do they do? Good luck!
I hope things continue to go in the positive direction with your hip recovery. Hopefully, shockwave therapy speeds the healing along nicely!
The combined weather and smoke from the Canadian wildfires made for such nasty conditions outside this past week, and like you, I kept things inside as much as possible.
Yay- it sounds like the hip is really improving. I’ve been doing my own DIY PT, which is a lot of the same exercises you’re doing. BUT, now I’m going to do them really slowly- thanks for the tip.
How is your sting now- was it a bee sting? Those are painful, I know.
hope you have a smoke-free-, sting-free, pain-free week!
I swear I am physically unable to do clams as slow as we’re meant to. Glad you’re finding some progress. Boo on the sting.
This air 🙁
We also had some challenging weather this week. But we made the most of it! It looks like you did too. Hope you are feeling better soon, I know the hip troubles so well.
WHAT STUNG YOU???? The disrespect!!!
Stinging insects are truly the worst. I can’t stand them, but usually I just get itchy bites, no big swelling or welts.
Keep going with your PT and stay safe!
That is good news about your hip and running.
Wow, your PT is tough.
My hips are stiff every morning but loosend up once I start moving. I should probably do some of those exercises.
That’s great news on the recovery progressing! Ouch on that sting, though! I hope that heals soon!
I have been following along with a PT program that maps your body position during the exercise and gives you a score. If you don’t do the move correctly, you get less points on the total score. Some of the exercises are so boring (marching!) but yes, it sure does keep me honest because I know the results are being sent to my therapist. She’ll know if I’m not really doing them!! I hope yours help you out and you can keep them slow. That is a challenge!
What a great idea with those PT videos! Also, that you get the whole demo of the movement showing how SLOW it’s supposed to be! 😅
Hopefully, things will heal up perfectly and you’ll be back to running pain free soon!!