On Thursday, I headed to PT. I wondered what we talk about that day!
They have an intern, which I love because it means that the Physical Therapist will explain what he is actually doing as he does the treatment. I do not always follow what is being said, but it is so fascinating. AND if I act interested, I get in on the explanation in layman’s terms. 😉
He was making an adjustment in one of the joints in my foot (tried to look this up, but there are so many joints that I cannot actually say which joint it was) in order to create space in the joint to help my dorsiflexion as that is the flexion that is inhibited on both of my feet and explaining the procedure to the intern. I was super fascinated, but the complex or rather the unfamiliar terms totally threw me off. It really does make me want to get a PT degree, but I’m not really interested in treating lots of different people in lots of different areas. I’m really only interested in feet.
Anyway, I learned how to do a scorpion stretch, a bridge with a leg lift that engages the core the same way that the core is engaged during a running stride, and three different ways to work the core without using the hip flexors. 1. Do a bridge on a stability ball and crunch up. By making the glutes work in the bridge, the hip flexors cannot work. Thus, only training the ab muscles and glutes. 2. Do crunches with your feet together and knees laying out to the side in a butterfly. In this position, the hip flexors absolutely cannot engage. 3. Squeeze a ball between your knees (this is what Melissa already has me do). By making the hip adductors work, the hip flexors are blocked.
Totally awesome!
Stay tuned for another aspect to my blog and more pictures and links to videos of these exercises and more!
Tags: physical therapy