Chasing Discs

2/21/12 - Physical Therapy

After taking yesterday off and limping around for a good portion of today I was really nervous about what Michelle, my physical therapist, would say this morning. 

She looked at my knees, bent them and compared them.  My left one is more prone to hyper extension than my right, but other than that the joint was ok.  Then she did some hip strength comparisons, and my right leg is much stronger.  Which isn’t all that surprising given that I pivot on my left foot in frisbee, so I’ve been overdeveloping my right leg for years.

I talked with Michelle about my training, and we both agreed I’m probably over-training a bit.  All of my workouts are hard.  My lifting days are intense, and I always go hard in frisbee, and my running days are hard.  I need to pick and choose my workouts a little more.

So basically the moral of the story is, more rest days/active recovery days (spinning, yoga), and more hip strengthening to correct the imbalance.  

PT Exercises

• One Leg Jumps onto Bosu Ball 2x20 each leg
• Standing Leg Extensions (side & back) with Resistance Band 2x20 each leg
• Monster Walks
• Single Leg Press w/foam pad 2x20 each leg
• Weighted Donkey Kicks 1x10 each leg
• SLDL bodyweight 1x10 each leg
• Pointer Dog with stability ball 1 x10 each side

Then I sat with an ice wrap for 15 minutes.  After resting yesterday the knee already felt better this morning.  So I’m hoping a few more days of rest (I plan to do my upper body lifts the next few days), and then I’ll see how the elliptical feels.  If that feels good, then I’ll try a shorter run this weekend. I’ll plan 5-6 miles and the reevaluate from there.  

Not ideal, but at least I have a plan, and Michelle thinks I’ll be able to still do the race, and we have a follow up appointment next week to see how I’m doing.