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PT Week 2

Hello again! I am back to report my assignments for my second week of physical therapy are. Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures to share with you this time, though most of the important things about form were covered in week one.

Pretty much everything that was done in week one carries over to week two, though the exercises are made more difficult and a few new things were added. Form is still just as important with these exercises as it was last week. I’ll try to continue in the order the exercises were listed last week for convenience. I will add an asterisk to all new exercises.

Hamstring Stretch: (Same as last week.) Lie on your back with a towel around your foot. Straighten knee ad bring your leg towards your head until you feel a stretch. Hold for 30 seconds, work up to 5 stretches.

Quad Sets: This week, we are adding a ball or towel between the knees. While squeezing the ball or towel with your knees, perform a quad set with both legs. Remember to keep the inner quad pointed up toward the ceiling, as this is the target muscle. Hold for 5 seconds, do 30 reps.

*Bridges: Laying on your back with your knees bent, your feet flat on the floor, and squeezing the ball or towel between your knees, raise your hips off the floor until your body forms a straight line from shoulders to knees. Hold for 5 seconds, repeat 30 times.

Straight Leg Raises: Do the same action as last week, but now add ankle weights. I started with 2 lbs per ankle. Lie on your back, uninvolved knee bent. Straighten other leg into a quad set, and then slowly raise it until it is even with the other knee. Slowly lower, pausing halfway down, then lower completely. Work up to 30 times per leg.

Hip Adduction: Do the same action as last week, but now add ankle weights. I started with 2 lbs per ankle. Lie on your side with top leg in front. Slowly lift lower leg off the floor, and then slowly lower. Work up to 30 reps.

Hip Abduction: Do the same action as last week, but now add ankle weights. I started with 2 lbs per ankle. Lie on your side with bottom knee bent and top knee straight. Slowly lift top leg upwards 12-18 inches without rolling hips forward or backward. Work up to 30 reps.

Glute Lying Leg Raises: Do the same action as last week, but now add ankle weights. I started with 2 lbs per ankle. Lie on your stomach with knees straight. Lift one leg up, squeezing the glute to accomplish this. Return it to starting position for one rep. Do 30 reps on each side.
*Leg Presses: At the PT’s office, I performed this exercise one leg at a time on the leg press machine with around 35 lbs of weight. At the gym, I find this impossible, so I have been doing it with both legs at once. I hope to either eventually add weight so that I can move to single leg reps with no weight, or I might try doing weighted single leg squats on the Smith machine.

Heel Raises: The therapist had me start doing this exercise on the leg press machine, one leg at a time, with around 35 lbs of weight. I have been doing variations as necessary, including simply standing with one leg on the seat of a chair and holding dumbbells in my hands while the leg on the floor performs the heel raises. Work up to 30 reps each leg.

Hamstring Curls: The PT is allowing me to do this both standing with my hips against a table and using 10 lb ankle weights, or on the machine at the gym. When I am at the gym, I make sure to do one leg at a time so that one leg isn’t doing more of the work than the other. Repeat 30 times.

Mini Squats: Perform this action the same as last time, except now barely touch your bum to the seat of a chair (do not sit down, though!) before returning to the start position. Stand in front of a chair with feet shoulder width apart, toes pointed straight ahead. Slowly bend knees and hips as if sitting down until you feel your butt touch the chair but do not rest your weight on the chair. Return to standing. Perform 30 reps.

Step Over and Backs: Perform this action the same as in week one, except use a higher step! Using a step (or pile of books!) place one foot (foot A), toes forward, on the step. This foot will remain on the step until you switch feet after all reps. Step up, bringing your other foot (foot B) alongside it and pause. Step forward off the step with foot B so it rests on the ground, still keeping foot A on the step. Now reverse the whole action, bringing foot B back up onto the step, and finally back to the starting position. This is one rep. Work up to 30 reps.

*Standing on One Leg: While this exercise isn’t completely new, she did change it up quite a bit. The PT had me stand on one leg on a trampoline, and throw a good sized, somewhat heavy rubber ball at another trampoline that was angled toward me, and catch it as it returned. I thought it was going to be impossible, but it was fun! Basically, the idea is to hold the leg position while you are moving (but make sure not to bend the knee into a squat.) Since I don’t have that lovely trampoline set up at home or the gym, I am improvising by standing on one leg and holding a medicine ball against my chest. For the action, I extend my arms to hold the medicine ball out in front of me, and then return it to my chest for one rep. Or, you could balance while stretching an arm forward and a leg backward and then return to just the one legged stand for one rep. Whatever it is you do, repeat it 30 times before changing to the other leg!

*Side Step with Band: This one is not my favorite! Tie an exercise band around your ankles relatively tightly so that there is maybe room for a fist between your feet. Position your feet about shoulder width apart and get into a mid-squat position. Step to the side with one foot, keeping feet pointed forward, knees not dipping in, and maintaining the squat, and then let the other foot follow so that you are again in the squat position with feet shoulder width apart. Continue stepping to the one side for about 30 feet, and then return to where you started by stepping with the opposite foot. Go back and forth 3 times.

*Hip Machine - Abductions: Perform 3 sets of 10 on each side with resistance, making sure to keep the resting leg in the single leg stand position. For more info on performing this exercise, go here.

*Hip Machine - Extensions: Perform 30 on each side with resistance, again making sure to keep resting leg in the single leg stand position. For more info on how to perform this exercise, go here.

I will warn you, I was sore for at least two days after first performing this whole routine in the PT office, and I am still a bit sore now having performed all the exercises another 1-2 times. It’s a good ache, though, and I can feel my muscles strengthening and tightening, especially in the glutes. See you next week for the third round of me vs patellofemoral chondromalacia.

~ Happy Training ~

P.S. Thank you to everyone who posted additional thoughts, articles and resources on the PT Week 1 page! I’ve read through all of the links, pondered the different ideas and find all the input very helpful.