The main purpose of the blog is to be my external memory device. I feel like I'm getting a little of the memory down, but not all that I want to remember. In addition, the blog will be SELECTED memories. I don't feel the need to remember all the bad stuff. If you're looking for a blog with drama, then, move along, this isn't the blog for you.
A while ago, I wrote a post where I listed a bunch of topics I wanted to cover. Today we'll tackle #5, Pilates versus Zumba (Zumba wins, but Pilates is necessary). I started doing Pilates in November/December when I was recovering from a knee injury that had caused my old back injury to get worse. I had a numb right foot from September through January. It's not numb now. It's good!
I became a big believer in Physical Therapy because it 1) helped my knee and 2) it helped my back. It took a long time to get better because PT is a slow process of healing and strengthening, but I honestly believe I am stronger now, in both my back and knee, than I was before the injury.
I still baby my knee some because I am pretty sure I have arthritis in it. [Sidebar: A doctor took x-rays of my knees, and then said in passing, "You don't have as much space in your knee joint as other people do." I didn't get a chance to follow up to find out what this meant as the examination was for something other than my knees--I'll explain more that appointment when I write about topic #1, Weird antibodies and a visit to the doctor.] Anyway, despite babying my knees, I still jump quite a bit, and nothing hurts (errrr, doesn't hurt too much). The key to keeping my knees from hurting is to keep my leg muscles in very good shape so that the muscles take the impact and help the joints.
Oh, yea, I was supposed to talk about Pilates in this post, not Physical Therapy, but they are related in more ways than one. At the end of my time with the physical therapist (who is now a good friend), she suggested I start doing pilates to get stronger. She thought this would help me keep up the benefits of all the physical therapy. PT is about massage, manipulation and exercise. We worked on strengthening both my back and my leg muscles.
Since
As I mentioned before, I think I am stronger than I was before the injury. The extra muscle is good for me--I hate to say it, but as we get a leeeeeeetle older, we have to work harder to keep our muscle. Muscle helps us age a little more gracefully. Today, I learned for sure that I am stronger in my core and that Pilates has been helping me!
I went to a Zumba class that I hadn't been to since January 1, 2010. I love the class and wish I could go every Saturday, but I don't belong to the gym where the class is. Since I missed all my workouts this week, I asked if I could sneak in this week and the teacher said I could. It was a great class, as I knew it would be. (Zumba wins because it is SO. MUCH. FUN.) At the end of the class there's an ab workout. When I was there on New Year's day, the teacher led us through these exercises that I couldn't do (see Side V-Ins). She had the class do 100 of them on each side. It was crazy. When I went today, she had the class do the Side V-Ins again, and I could do them! I did nearly 100 of them. I hadn't tried that exercise since the New Year. Go Pilates! I was feeling like a powerful being when I realized how much stronger I had become!
Some of the other benefits are that 1) I can sit in chairs during meetings and not have my back hurt, 2) I can hold little girls on my lap and not experience pain, 3) I can go for a few days (e.g., the duration of the trip) without icing my back and not be in too much pain, and 4) I can sit on the floor without cringing. So as you can read, Pilates is necessary, but Zumba still wins.
*This is what my physical therapist told me all the time. Heh.
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