Post Prolo: First Day of Exercise

So it’s been two weeks since I saw Dr. Fullerton and I’m now able to do really low-impact stuff. For example, I can now walk on a treadmill for 10 minutes!!!!!! Sad as that is, I’m happy to be out doing something. …I’m also a little surprised how winded I get walking on a 3% grade incline.  As I understand it, if I feel good from today’s work then I can do 15 minutes 

We will see how it goes.  In another two weeks I will be able to do some type of resistance training. I’m already trying to plan out some stuff and when I have it all figured out I’ll post the protocol here for all to enjoy.  I’ve reached out to my friend/trainer/pt guy in IL who programmed my rehab for my hip in the hopes that he’ll do it again. If he does this will be amazing because his understanding of the body is amazing.  Here's the latest entry for the Vlog:

Rehab is slow going. Literally

Ok so I've been rehabbing the hip for a while now, and I thought I should share what I'm allowed to do and (more importantly) what I'm not allowed to do.  The important thing is for me to work on strengthening all the stabilizing muscles.  If I work them too hard too quickly I can undue some of the healing that has taken place.  Alright, here are the rules for my rehab currently:

• Begin SLOWLY AND GRADUALLY
• Begin with more reps at a lighter weight and slowly increase the weight. I need to gain endurance before I can increase how much I lift so that my hip will be stronger and less likely to become injured.
• When doing my lifting it has to be in click free range of motion. If I begin or continue to get pain or clicking/clunking during high activity it may mean that I need one more treatment.
• When I first begin lifting weights it has to be a slow smooth motion. Do not rush into the exercise. Slowly lift the bar and do more reps.
•  Do not do anything that causes a sharp pain
• Having a little pain during exercise is ok but the pain has to go away within 2 hours of my exercise.
• No triple extension of the hip yet.

So I have to start doing things slowly, gradually increase the ROM, and build up to high reps (like do sets of 15 reps) and then increase the weight.  It's a little annoying that I can't work on speed/explosion strength but all in due time I guess.

So here is my lifting routine right now. I'm only listing the leg workouts since that's what I'm rehabbing, but I'm also incorporating upper body exercises as well (want to look buff for the honeymoon). 

Day A

Quarter squats

Hip Adduction

Day B

Modified Deadlift

Hip Abduction

That's it for now.  I'm doing 3 sets of 8-12 reps, if I can do 12 reps then I up the weight.  It's not sexy I know, but for now it's all I can do in terms of strength training.  I've also been given the green light to use an elliptical machine, so now I can work a little on cardiovascular endurance.

Looking forward to being able to squat and sprint, really hope this happens within a couple of months.

Met with Dr. Hauser

The meeting was... interesting, to say the least.  He did a few, quick tests and felt that I really didn't have an impingement of the hip (this would kind of make sense since I've been working on my stretching my hip capsules for almost two years to the day now.), but he definitely felt some instability in the hip joint as well as that laberal tear.  This is almost completely opposite of what the PRP Dr Wager diagnosed like two years ago (no laberal tear, but FAI). Perhaps all the stretching and stuff has made the impingement a non-issue, that would definitely be ideal as well as the hope of getting all those massages. 

He told me that he felt he could help, and if I wanted to he could do a procedure in like 30 minutes.  ...He gave me the option of taking some painkillers before the procedure, as I will get poked by a needle 30+ times.  That is a ridiculous amount of needle, so I felt I would be best served by some vicodin.  However, I have a lot of work to do, and I can't really afford to take today off so instead I scheduled an appointemnt for the 23rd.

There is one thing that really, really bummed me out though, and that's the recovery.  One of the main reasons why I wanted to try prolotherapy before surgery was because of the recovery.  In the clip of Dr. Hauser getting an injection of stem cells (the stem cells come from the marrow in his own tibia) for treating his knee he talks about how he was running three days later.  Well, appearently with a labral tear I would have to be inactive to let the labrum knit together.  I can swim and walk,but anything that causes my hip to snap would be bad (so no more than 20 degree movement), and I wouldn't be able to do any external rotation as well.  ...That last part may mean I might have to hold off on dance lessons (have been learning how to dance with Kristin in preperation for our wedding). 

It's that last part that kills me.  I've really been enjoying dancing with Kristin, and that I would have to hold off on dancing for like eight weeks is sad news.  The recovery time for prolo is almost the same as surgery, so it makes the idea of prolo less appealing.  However, I know that surgery is not always the answer, in various forums there are people who are months post-op and are still expereincing pain just walking.

So I think I've decided to try at least one prolo treatment, but I swear I'm not as near as excited about this as I was when I thought I could immediately get back into squatting and stuff.

I will keep posting about this, as well as some other things.  I apologize for the lack of posts, but since I've become more inactive there hasn't been too much to write about.

Gravy gone bad

So this morning was my first day back in crossfit. I was really looking forward to what Andrea had in store for me. It might have been shoulder friendly, but it was an ass-kicker:

3 Rounds of
30 Squat Cleans
30 Pull-ups
800m runs

So I started off with squat cleans, they were only 45 lbs so as to not test my shoulder too much, and after doing 20 she looked at me and asked, "Oh, your not doing it for time with the class?"

Apparently the workout wasn't just for me, but for the whole class too. So I decided to start over, and waited until everyone was ready. After another 30 squat cleans, I went over to the pull-up bar. Andrea told me to scale it back to 20 pull-ups to make sure my shoulder was ok, and I had no problem scaling it back.

Now I thought the 800m run would be the easiest part, since I've been on the treadmill a couple of times this week. I was sorely mistaken, that 800m was way longer than I thought it would be.

After 2 rounds in 32 minutes, I started doing squat cleans again, and Andrea told me that 2 rounds was fine for me. I responded with something like, "What's my time? Ok, everything now is just gravy." Well, after doing 20 more squat cleans, I decided that I had had enough of this "gravy". The gravy had gone bad, and I suddenly had a little taste of bile in my mouth.

I decided 2 rounds was enough.

I get back home at 8:30, and I feel like I've already conquered the day. maybe I should start working out in the morning? Alright, time to shower and head over to work.

Reality has set in...

My God I am out of shape. I got back into the gym and did three sets of 15 air squats, and I was sore the day of, the day after, the day after that, and the day after that. I can not believe how out of shape I am, so I'm really getting out of my "let myself heal" mentality to a "let myself kick some ass" mentality. I think I've allowed myself to slide so much because I don't really look any worse off than when I was working out (I like to think that's because I am doing a pretty damn good job of sticking to the zone diet) My shoulder is getting stronger everyday, but I still walk away from physical therapy with a little soreness in my shoulder. I think my body is now ready to get back into crossfit, I just have to be careful not to put my shoulder in pain, but if I do everything correctly, and I let pain be my guide, I should do fine.

I can't wait to get back to crossfit.

Well, I just read some of Adriene's blog, and it's inspiring to read about another crossfitter with a shoulder problem. Well, I shouldn't say "another crossfitter" since the six classes I've attended doesn't warrant that title. Regardless, I've decided that I am going to really start working out again, and simply "listen" to my shoulder for any pain or signs that I should stop, then I'll simply stop.