Today was a day of unexpected strength. It wasn’t an average Monday to begin with since I decided to ditch my usual pool workout with my trainer, Bob, and start back to working out on land. Yes, this means battling gravity!
On my 2nd office visit, the goal of my chiropractor, Dr. Cris, was
to get me to walk which has never been possible in the eyes of any other doctor. She explained that in order to stand up, utilizing muscles that haven ‘t been used in 35 years, that I would have to take baby steps. No, I would literally have to go through all the steps a baby takes before they walk. The 1st step would be crawling. It sounds easy. But, for a person who has very little muscle mass, it felt easier to hurdle Mount Everest!
When I 1st started attemting to crawl in February, 2013, my shakey arms and wobbly legs could only hold me up in one place for a minute with the assisstence of a strap held by Bob under my hips. After much practice, and some help from the strap and Bob, I graduated to actively crawling. Picture a baby deer standing on all fours! But, this rigorous activity caused the muscles around my pelvis/SI joint to tighten up so badly that it would throw my back right out, repinching my nerve. I was almost back to square one, fighting my original injury! Frustratingly, it put an immediate halt to my workouts.
I hadn’t ‘done a workout on land in 3 months, but today, I was ready to try stationary and actively crawling again! I expected it would take a few sessions for my body to adjust and get to the point where I left off 3 months ago. What a surprise! It’s rare for me to see and feel immense progress…but I did, and it felt beyond great! Everything was stronger! My passive crawl was steady, 4 minutes with little muscle fatigue. Next, came 25 strong, consistent push-ups. Then, the most difficult of all, active crawling. As i put one hand in front of the other, my legs naturally followed in a strong cross- crawl pattern. No more Bambi legs! I independently crawled through the living room and down the hallway with very little help from Bob or the strap. And, the pace at which I did it was unprecedented from past attempts! A vast difference in my breathing and core strength made everything easier!
Days like today confirm that through God’s love and grace, I am gaining strength and muscle. What was once said to be impossible is now possible, and all of my hard work is paying off!