Description of Exercises [For prologue to this section of The Mom & Me Journals dot Net, click here.]
As of 9/04/04:
As of 9/04/04:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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."
- 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.
Monday, June 13, 2005
Today's Walkering Session:
Today involved walkering, a fair amount of it. I've just about decided that we will alternate exercise session days with walkering days. Perhaps, in the near future, some days will incorporate both.
Our first walkering session involved a short trip to Costco to pick up some supplements I'd forgotten to replenish the previous day. It involved walkering from the car (we got a space as close to the entrance as the handicapped spaces, even though all the handicapped spaces were taken) into the store, through the front, all the way to the opposite side to the pharmacy area, to check-out, maneuvering through there, then back to the entrance, out the door and back to the car. She did well. When we got to the supplement aisle I allowed her to rest, a bit, although she didn't sit on the walker. Before we left the car, I told her I was going to "drill sergeant" her through the store but, I reminded her, if she didn't stay close to her walker, straighten her back and allow the momentum of her legs to move the walker forward, her back would probably bother her. Sure enough, on our way to the car she complained that her back was hurting. I reminded her, again, why this was so. I, once again, encouraged her to take this into consideration when we went to New Frontiers and make an effort to ease some of the stress on her back with my technical suggestions.
Upon arriving at New Frontiers I once again reminded her of the techniques that would allow her to walker through New Frontiers with ease, and again told her that I would not correct her in public but leave her to her own devices. I don't know if her back bothered her this time. It was a very short trip and her attention was caught by the color and variety in the store. These aspects of New Frontiers capture me, as well, and we did a bit of perusing on our way to and from our intended items. She wanted to google their deli case, as well, which we did.
Once we arrived home I reviewed, again, stress-free walkering technique.
In response, she hit me with a conundrum, what she considered her primary walkering disability: "I can't walk that way; my body isn't built like that."
I knew that she was referring to the humping of her upper back. I also knew that this was a psychosomatic problem for her and immediately thought of two ways to dispel this problem: "Mom," I said, "your hump is just below your shoulders, and is, all humps considered, fairly slight. Are you telling me that when you complain of your back hurting from walkering, it's hurting in this area?"
"No," she said, as I guessed she would, "it hurts down here," and rubbed her lower back, just below her waist."
"Okay, then, the problem isn't your slumping. You're built just fine for walker use. I think the problem is that you are pushing the walker as though it is a lawn mower."
"Well, yes!"
"It's not a lawn mower. You don't have to push it with your arms. It will move forward as you walk; thus, the closer you are to it, the easier it will be to straighten up and move it forward. The walker isn't to be used as a shopping basket; it's in order to steady you when you walk, which it does, regardless of how you use it. It'll be easier on your back, though, if you let it do its work instead of trying to do its work for it."
This is when I got a bright idea. "You know, Mom, it might be easier yet if we start doing belly grips to strengthen your abdominal muscles. That should help you naturally step up to the walker, because your back will want to straighten up. You know what I'm talking about: contracting your belly muscles, holding them for a count, then relaxing them for a count. I think we'll add that exercise to our routine."
She rolled her eyes. "Uh-oh. I shouldn't have said anything."
I laughed. "Trust me. In a couple of weeks, you'll be glad you did."
"Me and my big mouth!"
So, maybe we're on our way to a solution to my mother's walkering dilemma. It may take some time and she may have a few more back twinges in store for her before we've reached an accomodating 'perfection', but I think we're on our way, now.
And, yes, I will be making an effort to report regularly on our walkering sessions, when it seems appropriate.
Our first walkering session involved a short trip to Costco to pick up some supplements I'd forgotten to replenish the previous day. It involved walkering from the car (we got a space as close to the entrance as the handicapped spaces, even though all the handicapped spaces were taken) into the store, through the front, all the way to the opposite side to the pharmacy area, to check-out, maneuvering through there, then back to the entrance, out the door and back to the car. She did well. When we got to the supplement aisle I allowed her to rest, a bit, although she didn't sit on the walker. Before we left the car, I told her I was going to "drill sergeant" her through the store but, I reminded her, if she didn't stay close to her walker, straighten her back and allow the momentum of her legs to move the walker forward, her back would probably bother her. Sure enough, on our way to the car she complained that her back was hurting. I reminded her, again, why this was so. I, once again, encouraged her to take this into consideration when we went to New Frontiers and make an effort to ease some of the stress on her back with my technical suggestions.
Upon arriving at New Frontiers I once again reminded her of the techniques that would allow her to walker through New Frontiers with ease, and again told her that I would not correct her in public but leave her to her own devices. I don't know if her back bothered her this time. It was a very short trip and her attention was caught by the color and variety in the store. These aspects of New Frontiers capture me, as well, and we did a bit of perusing on our way to and from our intended items. She wanted to google their deli case, as well, which we did.
Once we arrived home I reviewed, again, stress-free walkering technique.
In response, she hit me with a conundrum, what she considered her primary walkering disability: "I can't walk that way; my body isn't built like that."
I knew that she was referring to the humping of her upper back. I also knew that this was a psychosomatic problem for her and immediately thought of two ways to dispel this problem: "Mom," I said, "your hump is just below your shoulders, and is, all humps considered, fairly slight. Are you telling me that when you complain of your back hurting from walkering, it's hurting in this area?"
"No," she said, as I guessed she would, "it hurts down here," and rubbed her lower back, just below her waist."
"Okay, then, the problem isn't your slumping. You're built just fine for walker use. I think the problem is that you are pushing the walker as though it is a lawn mower."
"Well, yes!"
"It's not a lawn mower. You don't have to push it with your arms. It will move forward as you walk; thus, the closer you are to it, the easier it will be to straighten up and move it forward. The walker isn't to be used as a shopping basket; it's in order to steady you when you walk, which it does, regardless of how you use it. It'll be easier on your back, though, if you let it do its work instead of trying to do its work for it."
This is when I got a bright idea. "You know, Mom, it might be easier yet if we start doing belly grips to strengthen your abdominal muscles. That should help you naturally step up to the walker, because your back will want to straighten up. You know what I'm talking about: contracting your belly muscles, holding them for a count, then relaxing them for a count. I think we'll add that exercise to our routine."
She rolled her eyes. "Uh-oh. I shouldn't have said anything."
I laughed. "Trust me. In a couple of weeks, you'll be glad you did."
"Me and my big mouth!"
So, maybe we're on our way to a solution to my mother's walkering dilemma. It may take some time and she may have a few more back twinges in store for her before we've reached an accomodating 'perfection', but I think we're on our way, now.
And, yes, I will be making an effort to report regularly on our walkering sessions, when it seems appropriate.
