so part two of working out like a cripple. today is more of a "cardio" day. i suppose you could consider it the more fun day? depends on how much you like working out/physical therapy though. i basically rotate between yesterdays regimen and todays; every other day--normally you only do pt 2-3 times a week but since i work here i basically just do it everyday/3-4 days a week.
anyways, today is the jumping program as well as the day i do my running intervals. running isn't necessarily what is required, i'm not really sure how much i'm actually supposed to be running but i'm basically an unofficial pt patient since my insurance sucks and i can't schedule real appointments so i don't get feedback unless i ask for it. so i basically play it by ear, depending on how my knee feels. so you could do some sort of intense bike/eliptical/stepper workout -- cardio of choice basically. but i "like" running the best.
so i usually start with the jumping program. i think it's the harder of the two, at least by the end. the jumping program they have here consists of 3 weeks where the intensity increases each week. if you're healthy, you should go through the jumps 3 times, but i kind of have to work my way up to that. i wouldn't do it everyday, every other day, maybe only 2 times a week depending on your fitness level and amount of gym time you get per week. i am currently on week 2, and the only difference between week 1 and 2 is the duration of time you do each move. each move i do is for a duration of 25 seconds; if you want to start at week 1 just cut back to 20 seconds.
so per training session there are 8 moves. and as i said youll go through 3 times. i have a fancy little training timer that you can set the time for the resting period, the exercise period, as well as the amount of repetitions so i end up setting it for 24 repetitions, 25 second (or whatever the exercise period is) exercise, and i give myself a 15-20 second rest period. i'm usually pretty antsy to get through it and it's a better cardio workout if you don't take too long of a break. you can also take breaks between sets, you're probably supposed to actually, but as i said i just want to get it over with most of the time.
so here are the moves:
wall jumps - i call these "block jumps" because i am a volleyball player for life. find a wall, bend your knees, jump and reach as high as you can on the wall. i do them at a steady pace as of now for my knees sake, but i would do them a bit quicker than you want to if you're able. i'll be there someday
tuck jumps - pretty common jumping technique. jump in place and bring your knees up as high as you can. once again i do these at a steady pace, more so to make sure i'm landing correctly, but doing them at a quicker pace is my suggestion
squat jumps - once again pretty common and self explanatory. essentially do a squat and on your way up spring up.
barrier jumps (side to side) - basically a typical plyometric move. i just use a line, but you can use a towel or flat object, or if you're feeling dangerous something a little more 3D. and you're just going to jump over it side to side quickly. these are easier for me to do, well easier on the knee, so i do them as quickly as i can.
barrier jumps (front to back) - same thing except jumping front to back as quickly as you can.
180 jumps - for these you're just going to jump from front to back, doing a 180 degree turn. these you don't have to do as fast; you want to make sure you're landing evenly
broad jumps - okay so these are different for me than they are you a little bit. you're going to start on 2 feet and essentially leap and land on one leg. try and go as far as you can and stick it for a few seconds. these you don't necessarily have to time. technically, you're supposed to do 5 total during week 1 and 10 during week 2 but it's easier for me to just time it. so you're going to do the same thing but you're going to do both legs. i just do my bad leg because it takes me a bit longer.
bounding in place - also called skier jumps, you're just going to go from one leg to another in place, side to side, at a steady, quick pace
and that's it! after you've gone through them 3 times of course. doesn't seem like much but i was a lot sorer the next day than i thought. i usually do some single legged leg press and some calf raises after and that definitely heightened my soreness the first couple times. but beauty is pain right.
okay so that's that now it's time for my run/your cardio. since i'm not allowed to go too fast yet, nor for very long i have been doing interval sessions. depending on how much time you have or want to spend, i've been doing 5 minute walking warm up then 5 minutes of running, 4 minute walk, 4 minute run...and so on...down to 1 minute, and then maybe a few minutes of cool down. the highest i'm allowed to go speed wise is only 6.0 mph at this point, but for those normal people out there i would start out at a nice jog and the lower your running minutes get maybe increase the speed a little each time. i'm not always a huge fan of the walking intervals so sometimes i'll do a 3 minute warm up and do 2 minute walking intervals in between. but you can kind of adjust that part yourself. also, i always have the treadmill at a 1% incline. if you start doing it that way you'll never even notice and you'll increase your calorie burn. it's win win.
so that will be my therapy for today. as well as lifting. blah. good thing i work at a gym.
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