Physio Today

I saw my physio today. K reviewed all my previous exercises (see entries below) and I can now stop some of them and do others a few times a week to maintain them. In addition I have a series of new ones:

· The Mermaid – a nasty little exercise involves pulling myself up onto one arm, keeping my abdominals held and retaining a straight line at the same time. I will start with 3 reps on each side and work upwards.

· The ‘Sustained Clam’(pictured above) – Instead of doing the normal clam, I will hold the open clam for a time period of 30-40 seconds to the left leg and 30 seconds to the right leg. During that time period, the hip flexors will relax off and the deep gluteals (slow-twitch muscle fibres) will take over. This will be repeated 3 times on each side and increased gradually. I could also alter where I do the clam, making it a mid-clam position (standard) or taking the position further up the legs.

· Gluteus Max – This exercise is taken lying prone with a pillow under my tummy and a pillow under the working knee. The objective is to raise the leg at 90 off the bed. I will start at 3 reps on each leg and work upwards.

· Hip Hitching – at the moment the left hip does not have the same ROM as the right and so this exercise is designed to increase this, although I will do both sides.

· Foot strengthening – taken sitting on the floor, I will put a towel under the working leg to reduce of my hypermobility and I will stretch the foot, using the plantar muscles and not engage gastrocnemious. I will do 15 reps of this on each foot, and gradually increase.

Finally, I will also do some massage/Bowen on my left Ilio-Tibial Band (ITB) which is a little irritated at the moment.