Return to normal walking?

[Pax]

That "it is what it is" place is hard to get to. I'm there as well and will just keep doing the best I can and hope to see improvement.

[ny biker]

Saw my Ortho yesterday. Home exercises for 6 more weeks and then he will release me
It is what it is, hopefully not permanent but I don't think he can do any more than he has.

I hope the exercises work. Are they for quad strengthening? Did they give you stretches for the tight hip flexors?

[Catrin]

Just exercises for knee flexion, which is odd now I think about it. I will need to do my own research. The problem is I can't tolerate kneeling or lunging and all the hip flexor stretches I know of include one or the other. A lot of my kettlebell work does involve the quads so that helps.

Even my coach, who is highly effective, educated and knowledgeable, can't think of anything more I can do for hip flexors that I'm not already doing. At his suggestion I will attempt hip bridges tonight. I'm already doing several versions of the Bretzel and a half Turkish Getup (unweighted currently).

[Pax]

Are you swimming? Kicking laps with a long slow kick (like you do when scuba diving) does a nice hip flexor stretch.

[emily_in_nc]

Catrin, I had to do a lot of hip flexor strengthening on my right side after my pelvic fracture back in 2005. That side is still weaker than the left, as when I do a lot of stairs or uphill hiking when I haven't been, I'll get sore in my right hip flexor but not the left. One of the stretches my PT suggested for when my hip flexor was sore was to lie on the bed (but it's gotta be a fairly high bed) on my back, in a normal position (head on pillow end, feet towards the foot board, but lie close to the edge with the leg to be stretched to the edge of the bed (since it was my right leg I needed to be on that side of the bed, in other words). Then dangle that leg off the bed until you feel a stretch in the hip flexor. You have to be careful not to let your back arch, but this stretch was good for me without requiring a lunge or putting any pressure on the knee. Hope I've explained it adequately!

[ny biker]

Catrin, I had to do a lot of hip flexor strengthening on my right side after my pelvic fracture back in 2005. That side is still weaker than the left, as when I do a lot of stairs or uphill hiking when I haven't been, I'll get sore in my right hip flexor but not the left. One of the stretches my PT suggested for when my hip flexor was sore was to lie on the bed (but it's gotta be a fairly high bed) on my back, in a normal position (head on pillow end, feet towards the foot board, but lie close to the edge with the leg to be stretched to the edge of the bed (since it was my right leg I needed to be on that side of the bed, in other words). Then dangle that leg off the bed until you feel a stretch in the hip flexor. You have to be careful not to let your back arch, but this stretch was good for me without requiring a lunge or putting any pressure on the knee. Hope I've explained it adequately!

Oh I like this. Sometimes I get hip or leg pains after I've been sleeping a while and I need to stretch to make them go away so I can get back to sleep. This is something that I won't hardly have to wake for.

[Catrin]

I tried this hip flexor stretch when I woke up this morning, nice! Thank you!

[emily_in_nc]

I tried this hip flexor stretch when I woke up this morning, nice! Thank you!

Oh good, I am glad you were able to follow my description. It's much easier to show than to tell! It's one of those stretches that doesn't seem to do a lot unless you're really tight or sore in the hip flexor area, but when you are, it is helpful.

Funny, I had to do it this very day myself as my right hip flexor is very sore today after yoga yesterday. I had not been to practice for nearly two weeks because a trip we took, so yesterday's lunges and boat pose took a toll. I am a little sore in the shoulders, but mostly in that weak right-side hip flexor.

[Wahine]

The hip flexor stretch Emily suggested is great and bridging with something to squeeze between your knees is great too. The idea is that whatever you are squeezing keeps your hips in neutral alignment, a yoga block works well. These both help with hip flexor tightness. Here's another, more neutral example of the same stretch.

I've tried to find a video to illustrate an exercise I have my patients do where they walk with a theraband wrapped around their leg all the way up to the waist to facilitate normal gait, but I can't find one. I may have to make a video myself. eeeeek. It's really hard to teach patients in person, I'm not sure it's possible to describe. You take a really long piece of firm (blue or stronger) theraband. Step on the band at the half way point. pull the band tight +++ and cross it in front of the ankle. Pull the band tight +++ and cross it behind the knee. Keep pulling tight and cross it in front of the hip, then tie it around your waist. With the theraband on like this and walking around, it will help you relearn how to coordinate your muscle activation patterns to bend appropriately when you lift your foot to step forward and also to activate the extensors when you're standing on that leg.

[Catrin]

The hip flexor stretch Emily suggested is great and bridging with something to squeeze between your knees is great too. The idea is that whatever you are squeezing keeps your hips in neutral alignment, a yoga block works well. These both help with hip flexor tightness. Here's another, more neutral example of the same stretch.

I've tried to find a video to illustrate an exercise I have my patients do where they walk with a theraband wrapped around their leg all the way up to the waist to facilitate normal gait, but I can't find one. I may have to make a video myself. eeeeek. It's really hard to teach patients in person, I'm not sure it's possible to describe. You take a really long piece of firm (blue or stronger) theraband. Step on the band at the half way point. pull the band tight +++ and cross it in front of the ankle. Pull the band tight +++ and cross it behind the knee. Keep pulling tight and cross it in front of the hip, then tie it around your waist. With the theraband on like this and walking around, it will help you relearn how to coordinate your muscle activation patterns to bend appropriately when you lift your foot to step forward and also to activate the extensors when you're standing on that leg.

Thanks Wahine, I was trying to picture it from your description. I do have a yoga block at home so can add that to my hip bridges. Interesting, yesterday I was back at my gym and I tried the ArcTrainer for 15 minutes at an easy level to see if my knee would tolerate it. That's the only cardio - based machine that my knee has tolerated the most, all other elliptical-type machines are torture. It is just different enough and I noticed for the first time that something about the stride carry-through is stretching my hip flexors. I need to be cautious as not to overdo it but that's hopeful. I just need something for cardio that doesn't involve kettlebells. I can, and do, use them for that but I need to balance it out so I don't really blow my shoulders out.

My coach is meeting me Friday for a lengthy screening to determine exactly what I can do at the gym without impacting my various broken bits. Outside of being a kick-azz kettlebell competition coach (who is still competing at 69), he has also specialized for a long time on the "aging athelete" and how best to work around "stuff" to meet goals. He calls it like he sees it. I just want to stay active and regain some of my lost fitness and strength since my most recent injury. It's frustrating as it seems my range of activities seem to keep shrinking but I won't give up!

[Pax]

I tried this hip flexor stretch when I woke up this morning, nice! Thank you!

I tried it today,it worked great! Thanks, Emily.

I noticed since I started using the ellipticals at the gym my hip flexors get really tight.

[Catrin]

Do they have an ArcTrainer Pax? Those do work differently, at least they seem to for me

[Pax]

Do they have an ArcTrainer Pax? Those do work differently, at least they seem to for me

No, it's a small family owned gym, they don't have too much outside the basic elliptical/treadmill/exercise bike. It is kinda fun though, I couldn't use an elliptical before the knee replacement.

[Catrin]

No, it's a small family owned gym, they don't have too much outside the basic elliptical/treadmill/exercise bike. It is kinda fun though, I couldn't use an elliptical before the knee replacement.

Progress is always a good thing! The Cybex ArcTrainer is really the only machine I can use without knee or hip pain and I've tried them all (both pre-and-post surgery) - it does things differently though I couldn't explain how. It doesn't hurt any of my body parts and that's a good thing Thankfully it's a HUGE machine so there is no way that I could be tempted to purchase a used one for home. Why yes, I've considered it It makes me feel like I can run - though I cannot. I'm unsure if I literally could run to save my life, though I would assume that the mind would overpower the mechanical problem if that should be necessary, at least I hope so!

[emily_in_nc]

I tried it today,it worked great! Thanks, Emily.

You're so welcome!