Knees to Chest
Thursday, 03 July 2008
(First clip actually taken on Friday 06 June 2008, and remaining on the above date.)
This was one of the exercises I focused on while I was off-walking with my blistered toes. It was a good one as I could really see and feel the changes happening. If you look at my earlier clips of trying to do the same thing, they look very limited compared to this.
Now I am able to lift the legs from flat on the bed to my chest and then control them backwards and forwards without touching the bed. In the first clip I do it without any straps which is the easiest for me now, and this allows me to get the muscles active and let me feel them pulling and so connect to them before moving on. However, you will see that they fall out to the sides as I am pulling them up as I do not yet have enough muscle connection to control the lateral movement as well.
This is why I use the straps in the 2nd clip to force more & different muscles to work.
Getting control of my thighs is everything right now as it'll make all the difference to my walking. If I can lift my thigh to take a step, I'll cut out my hips, and it'll be more controlled and stable, and will force more muscles and nerves to open further down in my legs. Once one muscle moves voluntarily, it affects those connected to it too and so the progress continues.
In the 3rd and 4th clips where Charles appears to be holding my knees, this shows one of my strengthening exercises that helps the previous two. Although it's like watching paint dry and nothing exciting seems to be happening, actually a lot is!! I am using resistance. There is a really weak point right at the top where it's hardest for me to control and this is the one I am trying to capture. The other problem is when I have held the pull for a time, it's impossible to feel it as it is with anyone who is not paralysed. For this reason I have started (not shown in this clip) to do a series of tiny pulls, which I am finding really effective.