Description of Exercises  [For prologue to this section of The Mom & Me Journals dot Net, click here.]
As of 9/04/04:
  1. In Side Lift [ISL]:  Standing, with weights; Holding arms at sides, weights parallel to floor, lift weights up along sides as high as possible while holding elbows as close to body as possible; lower weights to starting position.
  2. Kick It [KI]:  Sitting, independent alternate leg reps; start with foot flat on floor, kick to touch trainer's hand with toes, return foot flat to floor.
  3. Lift Up [LU]:  Standing, with weights; Holding weights above shoulders, elbows out to sides, weights parallel to floor, extend arms completely above head, return to starting position.
  4. Knee It [KNI]:  Sitting, independent alternate leg reps; start with foot flat on floor, raise knee up to touch trainer's hand, return foot flat to floor.
  5. Forward Out 1 [FO1]:  Standing, with weights; Holding weights to upper chest perpendicular to ground, elbows close to sides, extend arms straight out, return to starting position.
  6. Separate Demitoe Sitting [SDS]:  Sitting, independent alternate leg reps; start with foot flat on floor, raise heel until foot is resting on ball and toes, return to starting position.
  7. Forward Out 2 [FO2]:  Standing, with weights; Holding weights to upper chest parallel to ground, elbows perpendicular to body, extend arms straight out, return to starting position.
  8. Together Demitoe Sitting [TDS]:  Sitting, both feet reps together; start with feet flat on floor, raise heels until feet are resting on balls and toes, return to starting position.
  9. Forward 2 Side [F2S]:  Standing, with weights; Holding weights straight out in front at shoulder height perpendicular to ground, open arms out until they are perpendicular to front of body, return to starting position.
  10. Side Step Sitting [SSS]:  Sitting, independent alternate leg reps; start with foot flat on floor, step smartly to side and back, lifting knee up and down with thigh action.
  11. Arm Circles [AC]:  Sitting, with weights; Holding weights straight out to sides at shoulder height perpendicular to ground, circle arms forward for prescribed reps, then backward.
  12. Marching In Place [MIP]:  Standing, holding on to back of chair with both hands for support; march in place smartly, lifting knees high. On 9/6/04, changed exercise so that she stands between two chair backs facing forward and supports self on either side.
  13. Forward Curls [FC]:  Standing, with weights; Holding weights parallel to ground, arms close to sides, bend arm at elbow and raise weights to shoulders, keeping elbows close to sides.
  14. Separate Demitoe Standing [SDST]:  Standing, holding on to back of chair with both hands for support, independent alternate leg reps; with foot flat on floor lift heel until foot is resting on ball and toes, lower foot flat to floor.
  15. Independent Arm Circles Right [IACR]:  Standing perpendicular to chair back holding onto chair with left hand, without weights; with right arm hanging down at side, circle arm from shoulder and upper arm, forearm hanging loose and elbow slightly bent, around across body and face, up, then out to side and down.
  16. Together Demitoe Standing [TDST]:  Standing, holding on to back of chair with both hands, both feet reps together; start with feet flat on floor, raise heels until feet are resting on balls and toes, return to starting position.
  17. Independent Arm Circles Left [IACL]:  Standing perpendicular to chair back holding onto chair with right hand, without weights; with left arm hanging down at side, circle arm from shoulder and upper arm, forearm hanging loose and elbow slightly bent, around across body and face, up, then out to side and down.
  18. Side to Side [STS]:  Standing, hands on hips, without weights; begin facing forward, twist torso to left, then to right, as far as you can go.
  19. Side Step Standing [SSST]:  Standing, holding on to back of chair with both hands for support, independent alternate leg reps; start with foot flat on floor, step smartly to side and back, lifting knee up and down with thigh action.
  20. Back Drop [BD]:  Standing or sitting, independent alternate arm reps, with weights; Turning arm out so palm faces away from body, grip top of weight between thumb and forefinger, lift a arm straight above head so weight is parallel to ground, keeping upper arm straight, bend elbow and lower weight behind head and neck and lift to starting position.
  21. Not So Grand Plie [NSGP]:  Standing supporting self with arms between two chair backs, toes turned outward, feet about shoulder's length apart, bend just a touch at the knees, keeping back straight and buttocks held in, then rise.
  22. Standing Up/Sitting Down [SUSD]:  That's right, standing up and sitting down, with coaching and support. Not surprisingly, she is currently having difficulty standing up and sitting down, so I decided we should practice this. She scoots to the edge of the chair, readies her muscles, braces herself with her hands on my very steady arms, I coach her to "lean forward from the hips" and she stands up, then sits down, while I coach her to "sit with control, don't plop yourself in the chair."
  23. Belly Grip [BG]:  This is simply tightening the abdominal muscles, holding for a count of five and relaxing for a count of five. Performed standing up. It occurred to me that this might help strengthen her lower back and help her body "remember" how to stand correctly when using her walker so that she stands closer to it and pushes it with the momentum of her legs instead of with her arms.

Saturday, September 04, 2004

 

I am now Mom's physical therapist.

    I've been doing this since she returned from the S(killed) N(ursing) F(acility). At least once almost every day, sometimes twice, she and I go through a series of upper and lower body exercises designed to develop and increase strength and flexibility. Most of the exercises I learned by sitting in on Mom's physical therapy sessions at the SNF. Some I've added or modified to address specific problems and/or address areas for which I think she might be ready.
    The description of exercises above is permanent and will appear at the top of the page each time you visit this site. It will be modified as I add and/or modify exercises. The schedule she keeps each day will be posted much as I post her blood glucose and blood pressure readings, what she eats and comments about what I've chosen to give her at Mom's Daily Tests and Meds. This site is primarily for my reference and review, functioning in the review capacity as a chance for me to focus on what and how she's doing each day and what I might need to modify.
    You may notice that my descriptions of the exercises clumsy. They certainly aren't professional descriptions. I wrote them on my own in an attempt to describe exactly what I have her do, including every movement and posture I think is important. For instance, regarding the Demitoe exercises, since she has trouble remembering to return her foot flat to the floor after each foot lift, I included this bit of instruction. As well, if you find yourself at all interested in perusing the daily charts and can't remember which exercise is which, click on the exercise name abbreviation and it will take you directly to the appropriate description above (I hope, anyway; there may be a few bugs I need to work out, but I should catch them within the first few reports).
    A few description phrasing explanations are in order:    At this point, a few words about my session design choices might be in order.    Although she has not questioned why her sessions with me are designed differently and more rigorous than her sessions at the SNF, I decided, today, to explain this to her. She rarely, for instance, got corrective feedback at the SNF and was always heartily congratulated for her performance. I give a lot of corrective feedback (not harsh, but to the point and usually during the exercise, sometimes having her repeat a few reps in order to allow her body to understand what it needs to do) along with hearty congratulations and encouragement. I explained that, at the SNF, their job was primarily to get her moving and keep her body from gelling. Thus, simply getting her out on the floor and giving her encouragement without much correction was sufficient. I told her that I'm expecting more from her because it's time for more to be expected. As well, I explained, some of the atmosphere surrounding such a facility includes the assumption that, being old and debilitated, the residents are not, in general, going to be particularly adept at any of the exercises but it is more important to keep them going than to have them go in the correct direction. They don't have the time, I said, to single people out from a group therapy session and work with eccentric strengths and weaknesses, unless the resident has a peculiar problem. Her problem, mini-stroking, isn't peculiar and there were lots of Ancient Ones there with the same problem. Here at home I can hone in on specifics, get detailed feel for her strengths and weaknesses and modify our exercise focus on a daily and even moment-to-moment basis. For instance, I told her, no one took a particular interest in the fact that at the SNF she was unable to adequately lift a weight in one hand from her hip in a quarter circle to a point directly above her head, then down. She was simply lifting it with her forearm and, in so doing, undermining the point of the exercise, which is shoulder joint flexibility and upper arm strength. Thus, I modified the exercise to address the fundamentals by taking away the weight and working, first, on getting her body to understand the concept of moving her arm from the shoulder in a circle across the front of her body, which works better for her, at this time. And, within two days of modifying the exercise, her body is getting it. Within a couple of days to a week I expect that we'll be doing the exercise as the SNF was conducting it, with the weight.
    She was very attentive while I explained all this and worked even harder after I'd finished. Our exercise sessions include a lot of explaining. As well, I do all the exercises along with her, without support and standing, except those that require me to have her spot on me, such as kicking her foot up or lifting her knee from a sitting position.
    There is one exercise that I added for two days and have already dropped because she isn't quite ready for it: The modified standing knee flex. After only a couple of reps her knees become iffy and she gets scared, so we'll wait on that one. I take the same position with all the exercises. The torso twist, for instance, is a new exercise as of today and has a very low number of reps because she began to sway after a few. If this continues over the next day or so that one may be dropped for awhile.
    My intention with this section of my web effort on behalf of my mother and myself is that I will be filling in charts by hand, which I've already devised in a spreadsheet program, as we exercise, with exactly what we do in the order we do it and include comments on her specific difficulties or triumphs that day, which I will transfer over here. Today is the first day that I've filled in such a chart, and, considering the hour, I think I'll wait to transfer the data here until tomorrow. I have a fair amount of catching up to do throughout the site this weekend but hope to get it all done before the long weekend ends and other duties take priority. Thank the gods for holidays, miscellaneous and otherwise!
Comments: Post a Comment

<< Home
All material copyright at time of posting by Gail Rae Hudson

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?