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.
Friday, May 27, 2005
Today's Exercise Session
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Time Session Began: 1604 Duration of Session: 35 min |
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| Exercise | Reps | Sets | Comments |
| ISL | 12 | 1 | She's beginning to take me seriously. |
| KI | 10 | 1 | Hard for her, today. |
| LU | 10 | 1 | Elbows still dangling...worked her hard. |
| KNI | 10 | 1 | Very good! |
| FO1 | 10 | 1 | Needs lots of work. |
| SDS | 10 | 1 | The platform seems to be hampering her ability to do this one, so I turned it lengthwise so her heels didn't drop off the edge. This seemed to help. |
| FO2 | 12 | 1 | We did a few extra in order to correct her form. |
| TDS | 12 | 1 | Good! |
| F2S | 10 | 1 | No problems. |
| SSS | 10L - 8 R | 1 | Had unusual trouble with her right leg, this time, and stopped after 8 reps. |
| AC | 5 | 1 | Good! This is our first time doing these this time around, so I was surprised at her facility. |
| MIP | We tried doing this sitting, both of us, but it can't be done adequately on one's ass. | ||
| FC | 10 | 1 | Noticed that she's shoving the weight up instead of lifting it. We corrected for this. |
| SDST | Did not repeat sitting. | ||
| IACR | Not yet. | ||
| TDST | Not yet. | ||
| IACL | Not yet. | ||
| STS | Not yet. | ||
| SSST | Not yet. | ||
| BD | 10 | 1 | Surprisingly good! She was able to lift her arm higher in the air, this time. |
| NSGP | Not yet. | ||
| SUSD | 5 | 1 | Still struggles with this, but it's probably the most important exercise we do. |
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Today's Exercise Session:
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Time Session Began: 1833 Duration of Session: 29 min |
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| Exercise | Reps | Sets | Comments |
| ISL | 10 | 1 | Done sitting. |
| KI | 7 | 1 | |
| LU | 7 | 1 | Done sitting. |
| KNI | 7 | 1 | |
| FO1 | 7 | 1 | Done sitting. |
| SDS | 7 | 1 | |
| FO2 | 8 | 1 | Done sitting. She has trouble straightening her elbows on this one. On the last rep I coached her to do "one" with elbows straight. She did. |
| TDS | 12 | 1 | |
| F2S | 5 | 1 | Done sitting. I think this is the only one where we didn't up the reps. |
| SSS | 6 | 1 | She really worked this one! |
| AC | Not done yet. | ||
| MIP | Not done yet. | ||
| FC | 5 | 1 | Oh. O.K. We didn't up the reps on this one, either. She still has trouble remembering to keep her arms tensed throughout the exercise. |
| SDST | 7 | 1 | Done sitting. |
| IACR | Not done yet. | ||
| TDST | Not done yet. | ||
| IACL | Not done yet. | ||
| STS | Not done yet. | ||
| SSST | Not done yet. | ||
| BD | 6 | 1 | Surprised at how much she improved on this one. On Monday she was barely able to hold her elbows at a 105° angle. |
| NSGP | Not done yet. | ||
| SUSD | 5 | 1 | Oh. Okay, we didn't up the reps on this one, either. But she did good. |
As is typical with this amazing woman who is my mother, she actually showed improvement and took to increased reps without batting an eye. I didn't add any exercises. She's still too underdeveloped to do that. But, I have the feeling, we'll be adding more soon. We are mainly having problems with her standing balance. I feel sure this will improve, though.
I didn't take many comment type notes, today, because the same comments seemed to apply to every single exercise. Much improvement in performance. I did underline this for her all through the session, continually telling her, "See? You have amazing recuperative powers." She does. I wasn't simply "petting" her.
After the exercise session we talked about walkering. She hates it. I told her that I'm sure no one who needs a walker loves it, except for the fact that it allows them more mobility than they'd have on their own. I explained that, at least for the time being, she needs to get used to it again because it will allow her the mobility that I think she would enjoy. "Mom, you're pretty much shuffling through the house, and it's an effort for you to move the 30 feet from the rocking chair to the toilet. We both know, from your history, that when you're shuffling instead of walking, you also don't want to go any place because it isn't fun for you and it isn't fun for you to have me shuffle along by your side. You always try to shoo me on, and, when you're shuffling I simply won't leave you on your own. It's dangerous to you. So, will you agree that we'll adopt the walker again temporarily and indefinitely, until we are both at ease with your renewed walking ability?"
She agreed. I think we're on our way, again.
I know that we've been on our way before, but, you know, or maybe you don't, this is the terrain of Ancienthood: Stepping forward and falling back. She adjusts well, so I am obliged (and happy) to honor her continued desire to travel through Ancienthood by also adjusting. Well.
Every moment anew. As it is. "Being here now," as Alan Watts advocated, is more important at this stage of the game than it is at any other.
I'm not sure if we'll be doing another session tomorrow or the next day. We'll see how it goes. I don't think she'll be needing acetaminophen tomorrow, but, well, you never know. Maybe we'll practice walkering in the driveway, like we used to do when she was recovering from her back injury.
Monday, May 23, 2005
Carpe Diem - Today's Exercise Session:
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Time Session Began: 1806 Duration of Session: 30 min |
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| Exercise | Reps | Sets | Comments |
| ISL | 10 | 1 | Done sitting. Not bad, considering. |
| KI | 5 | 1 | Better than expected, especially the right side. |
| LU | 6 | 1 | Done sitting. Form very bad. |
| KNI | 5 | 1 | We have a lot of work to do. |
| FO1 | 6 | 1 | Done sitting. Oh my god... |
| SDS | 5 | 2 | Pretty good! |
| FO2 | 5 | 1 | Done sitting. Very good! |
| TDS | 10 | 1 | Good, good, good! |
| F2S | 5 | 1 | Done sitting. Considering that I've got a temporary crick in my right shoulder, she did better than me! |
| SSS | 5 | 1 | Really good. |
| AC | Not attempted today. | ||
| MIP | Not attempted today. | ||
| FC | 5 | 1 | Done sitting. Fair. |
| SDST | 5 | 1 | Done sitting, which is to say we repeated a previous exercise. Good. |
| IACR | Not attempted today. | ||
| TDST | Not attempted today. | ||
| IACL | Not attempted today. | ||
| STS | Not attempted today. | ||
| SSST | Not attempted today. | ||
| BD | 5 | 1 | Done sitting. Fair. |
| NSGP | Not attempted today. | ||
| SUSD | 5 | 1 | Got better with each rep. |
That's right, our first formal exercise session in almost exactly eight months! Be excited! Be very excited!
By formal I mean: We set up our exercise area rather than simply attempting movement in her rocking chair; I took on the role of kindly but firm drill sergeant; She did not say, after 10 minutes of wimpy arm weight work, "O.K., that's enough," and I'm sure she understood that I wouldn't let her do this; we worked on her form and coaching was intense; and, most importantly, she looked at and to me, trusted me, tried hard and worked hard (and, my heart swelled to bursting, as it usually does when she trusts me and follows me).
All the comments you see up there? I said them out loud, even the outrageous ones. I admitted, as well, when I was having trouble with a particular movement because of straining my shoulder and elbow a couple of days ago. I promised I'd go easy on her but, as it turned out, she was capable of more than I thought; I should have remembered that she usually is.
Although the session was woefully incomplete, it was a work out. We both felt better afterward, even though she was ready for it to end when I ended it. We talked afterward about how long it's been since we did this. She remembered that our previous little sessions in the last few months haven't amounted to anything. I reminded her after the session and several more times throughout the evening that she has amazing recuperative powers (which is still true) and that, although I won't push her (much), I think we can both expect rapid advancement, just as she experienced at the Skilled Nursing Facility and when we continued her exercises afterwards.
You'll notice I added a new exercise, the last in the Description list: Standing Up/Sitting Down. The explanation for this exercise is with its description.
I hadn't been planning, today, that we'd reinstitute exercises, but she's been warming up quickly over the last few days. She didn't take a nap today, which surprised both of us. Her habit, since winter began, is to take a nap even if she awakens late (as she did today). But, there was a sultry breeze wafting through the house, she commented on how pleasant it was several times, she was alert and relaxed and at 1755 I decided, and announced, "Mom, this is a good time to restart our exercise routine." She made that face, the face those of you who know her will be able to imagine, but didn't refuse or try to talk me out of it. So, today, the time was right, I recognized it immediately and we seized the moment.
My plan, as the days continue through the summer, is to add walkering here and there, insist on her accompanying me on errands, think up outtings for us, etc. I'm not expecting her to dance in the aisles, or anything, but, well, you never know...
