Saturday, February 5, 2011

Creative Solutions

  So you may think I'm crazy, but today was my 2nd hip hop class since the accident.  I know what you're thinking.  How is that possible?  Well...anything is possible.  A big thanks and shout out to Jennifer Archibald for being amazing!  Thank you for letting me take your class in a chair.  I first attempted this last Saturday and again today.  Just over a month out of a dance studio.  I must admit I was initially hesitant.  I didn't know how I'd react to being in the studio unable to dance, walk, or even stand for that matter.  But I was desperate to just let go and move my body.  In the back of my mind thanks to a certain someone, all I could hear was, "Why not take hip hop?  You should be able to dance in a chair..."So I gave into my overwhelming passion and accepted the challenge.  Jen's Saturday class is a half hour of resistance training (with thera bands) combined with ab work on the floor.  The last half hour is all about moving.  She adds choreography to her combinations as we continually repeat it.  Since she has a lot of intricate arm work, I figured...why not?  So as she started to teach, I did the arms and whatever I could do with my legs, in a chair.  I have a hard time picking up the arms when I'm on two feet, so sitting was that much harder.  A challenge...awesome!  And here's how I turn this frown upside down.  Now, I have the opportunity to improve my skills.   I notice I pay closer attention to the style and upper body.  This will definitely help me when I can dance again.  I'll be able to pick up choreography that much faster!  Sweet.  See ya next week Jen.  
  I'm a very determined individual.  I want to speed up this process and heal as fast as possible.  As my roommate Jenny notes, I'm very impatient...very New York.  I have access to a beautiful gym everyday, so I'm using this to my advantage.  I've been sticking my foot in the pool every couple of days to help increase my range of motion.  In the beginning, my foot barely moved.  I'd stare at my toes and try to get them to wiggle.  Today...2 1/2 weeks later,  I can flex it about 10 degrees on my own.  Thank you Kinetic Chain!  My nervous system finally combined forces with my muscular and skeletal systems.  I do however, have more range of motion when I use my hand to move it.  
  Yesterday I swam 20 laps.  The doctor told me to wait a couple of weeks, and since it had been over 2, I thought that was enough.  It didn't hurt my foot at all!  I started kicking my legs slowly with the kick board; and 10 minutes later...I got to the other end of the pool.  So after 4 of those, I started to use my arms.  I could finally get my heart rate up!  
  Now we approach the theme of this post; Cardio workouts, minus a foot.  How can I get my heart rate up while sitting?  I'm guessing your mind goes right to the hand bike, what I like to call the geriatric machine.  You probably don't even know where that is in your gym.  After trying that a few times.  I knew I needed to find something else.  Creative solution #1: Hip hop class sitting in a chair.  Creative solution #2: Swimming.  Creative solution #3: Muay Thai.  
  I thought to myself...why can't I do Muay Thai sitting down?  I can box, I'm just temporarily unable to kick.  Muay Thai is an amazing cardio workout and now I can tell you from personal experience...it doesn't matter if you're sitting.  Today's video is a short clip of my boxing workout.  Alan is holding the pads and calling out combinations for me.  You can't hear us very well...except of course when I yell at him.  Oops.  Thanks for being such a good sport : )  Since I used my blackberry to record this, I can't edit it...so fast forward to about 40 seconds in.  Next video will be a strength and cardio workout using a medicine ball.  Let the creative juices continue to flow.             
  You may think this is too much activity for me at this point of my recovery...but I'm happiest when I prove to myself how much is possible and how far I can push myself.  You may in fact think I'm crazy, but for now I'm gonna do me : )





~Amy

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