MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Today was a crazy one! I stood up with Nicole, and I actually QUIT doing an exercise! K, totally unrelated, but both were crazy in their own way!

For the first half of the session, Nicole had me doing some freakin' intense arm workouts. I used a resistance band, like I've done before, but Nicole has upped the amount of resistance on the band, making the exercises harder!

First I bicep curls with the resistance band. My abs get a workout too when I'm doing these, because of the strength it takes for my abs to hold me up and back in the chair. I accidently let the resistace band pull me forwards, and I had to engage my stomach muscles to sit me back in the wheelchair.

After doing bicep curls on both sides, I wrapped the band around each hand to ensure a tight grip. I pulled the band apart, and brought it back together (with straight arms). This execise was a killer! I did about 7 reps and had to quit! Nicole was shocked, cuz I never quit...Well, there's a first time for everything!

Next, Nicole stood behind me with the resistance band, and with straight arms, pulled the band in front of me with straight arms.

Then, she held the band above my head for pull-downs.

And then we switched over to the wooden pole for push-outs...that's a term I just invented to describe my motion. It was like a push-up, only instead I was pushing out, away from my chest. I did these with the right arm, by itself. We didn't give the left arm a chance to take over!

Afterwards, I tilted my wheelchair all the way back for some leg-lifts. I did this exercise where I would lift both legs straight, then bend the left knee up towards my chest, and lastly, try and straighten my left leg straight-up...all while maintaining my right leg-lift! We did this multiple times, the switched to work with the right leg, while maintaining the left leg-lift. My right leg is much farther behind the left, in that I can't fully bend my knee up.

Then, we worked on point and flexing my feet. Nicole said the my right ankle feels looser/more flexible than the left...which is a plus for the right side of my body...finally!

While my chair was leaned back, Nicole had me work on control in my arms while I raised and lowered the wooden pole. She also had me pretend I was rowing a kayak. Oddly enough, it took me a sec to understand how to actually row a kayak! It's one of those things you just know how to do, but I guess fake-rowing is a technique I need to re-teach my arm muscles!

And then, my grandma stopped by! Nicole and I were excited to show her how far I've come! Nicole decided to go ahead, and have me stand-up! Because my spine is so "messed-up" (strictly from muscles pulling tight on one side, being too loose on the other), my hips are uneven, making
my stance kinda cattywompus. I am able to stand much straighter when I'm wearing my back brace.

Nicole also had me sitting on a box, holding myself up with the TRX. I did some sit-ups (where holding on to the TRX, I lean back and sit myself back up.), and I pulled myself up to a standing position a few times. And I got the chance to stand with Nicole over in front of the mirror (I'm not vain. I just like to see what I need to fix in stading!).

Last, but not least, I buckled my seatbelt...which I used to have sooo much trouble doing...not anymore!

***MERRY CHRISTMAS and Have a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! This is my last blog entry for the year. It's been an impeccable year! Words can't express how grateful I am to have y'all following me on this journey! Thank y'all so much for your love and support...I'LL BE BACK...WALKING, I HOPE! :)

Wonder Woman

 

I wore my back-brace to training today. Normally I wear it at home only because it's pretty restricting, as far as moving my upper body goes. But Nicole said to wear it in our session today, so I did! It's a lil uncomfortable after awile...my spine is curved from the muscles pulling it over to the left side up top...so the brace tends to rub on the skin right under my armpit!

 

So, I had my back-brace on so that we could try standing with it on. When I'm wearing the brace, my spine and hips totally get straightened out. We were hoping that by wearing it, my standing would improve.

 

So, after my arm warm ups, I wheeled my way over to the TRX to test my standing skills. I held onto the TRX handles above my head, took a deep breath, and hoisted myself up to a stand. Nicole had me pull-in my hips, spread-out my legs, and work on shifting my weight over to each leg. I also tried stepping forwards, which was easily done on the left side, but bending my right knee and stepping forward with that right foot is sooooo hard! It just won't move! Incredibly frustrating!

 

Oddly enough, my right hip started really hurting, so Nicole helped me back in my chair. Although the back-brace wasn't magic, it helped to stand a lot straighter than without it.

 

In the wheelchair, I did some gnarley pull-ups! I lifted both of my feet straight up while I used my arms to pull-up my upper body! Nicole was amazed and had to record it!

After seeing the video, I was pretty amazed with myself, too! My mommy will be so proud of my brute strength!

I think Nicole was getting a kick out of seeing me pull myself up so high, that she had me keep doing it over, and over, and over again! At last, my arms were killing me so she had me let go of the TRX, and just do a bunch of leg lifts.

I also spent some time doing knee raises, and then it was back to the TRX! Nicole had me switch off pulling my arms down...I held on to both TRX handles abvoe my head the whole time.

And my ankles are pretty tight, I have trouble pointing and flexing my feet. We worked on that a bunch, too. Nicole stood at my feet, and helped my muscles to understand the point and flex motions. She woul point and flex my feet, having me do the motion as much as I could, then she would stand back and have me try to do it alone. We did so many of these, my calves were burining, so I knew it was working!

Nicole wants me to stand-up in some sort of harness, and do squats to work my legs. Since I am lacking in the "harness department," we tried simulating what a squat would feel like. Nicole had me tilted back, raised my legs up with my knees bent, and using her whole body weight as resistace, I pushed my legs straight. We quickly decided that I should only use my right leg, since my left leg seemed to straighten faster. I REALLY gave my right leg a good workout with that!

Today was definitely a hard workout, but I'm glad I can show it off in my blog!

Amazing Day!

Today's session was awesome. A lot of work, but awesome. My abdominal muscles feel incredibly sore this evening, but it's that good sore...it's just reminding me of how hard I worked today!

We started out with the typical arm warmp-ups--- lil circle forwards and back, twisted invisible doorknobs. bent elbows in and out, pushed arms up and down with bent elbows. If you are ever feeling cold, I would reccommend doing a few rounds of these warm-ups...They really get your blood flowing!

After my warm-ups, I lined up my chair with this pilates chair-thing so that my feet were lined-up with the footrest part of it. Nicole sat on the actual seat part of it, and placed my feet on the footrest of the chair. The footrest moves up and down, held up by springs, by which you can adjust the resistance.Nicole helped to keep my feet and knees in line while I used my hamstings to push down on the footrest, and come back up. I'm of course, sore as hell now, but it's just my body reminding me of my hard work today!

Then, Nicole transferred me over to a wooden box. I was able to hang-on to the TRX hanging above me. I worked on sitting up tall, keeping my hips straight, and constantly reassuring myself that I COULD hold myself there without falling.

When I got comfortable sitting, Nicole had me try standing! I was able to stand however, I used a lot of my arm strength to pull me up, rather than leg strength to push me up.

Nicole the had me sit back down and do sit-ups on the box Yeah, I know it sounds pretty crazy for a disabled person to do, but that's why I love Nicole! She held on to my wrists, and I slowly lowered myself back, then used my abs to sit me back up. I think we did about 15 of these intense sit-ups!

Then it was time to stand again. This time, I stood facing the mirror with one arm around Nicole's shoulders. She widened my stance to help me put more weight through the left leg. By widening my stance, my left hip is forced to be pulled down lower, whereas in a narrower leg position, my left hip sits higher up, making my right leg bear the majority of my weight.

I also stood so I could see my reflection sideways in the mirror. Standing in this position helped me to see how my butt sticks out when I'm standing. I need to bring my pelvis/hips forward in order to get a tighter, "normal" stand.

So, today I really feel positive about how my progress is coming along. I think my abs are finally kicking-in, and I can see and feel the muscle areas I need to focus my efforts on. I really think that our session today also helped Nicole see where/what we need to work on.

Fear

Today we worked on the Pilates Reformer...We haven't done any work on the reformer in forever! It was so cool to actually see the difference in my body/muscles just laying down with my feet and legs on the bar at the end of the reformer. They were much more steadily bent up on the bar, and I could hold them up without straps or Nicole's hands trying to keep them up.

I started out with simple (for most folks!) leg presses. I pushed my legs as straight as I could go without letting my knees drop straight and lock out. Nicole made a good point to me when she said that I needed to go slightly beyond my "comfort zone," in order to work the area that needs it to get stronger.

Then, I did a bunch of leg presses with just the right leg. We wanted to be sure that the right leg wasn't getting cheated by letting the left leg do all the work during the previous tandem leg presses.

Next, Nicole handed me these two handles from the top of the reformer, I held my arms out straight and pulled down to the pad I was laying on. When I brought my arms back up, my body rolled back down. (Side Note: I really hope y'all know what a Pilates Reformer is, cuz I'm having a hard time describing my movements on it properly!) And thrn I kept my arms at my sides and bent my elbows up...kinda like a bicep-curl, only with palms facing outwards, not towards my chest.

We tried placing my feet in these slings that were attached up at the top end of the reformer. The idea is to raise and lower your straight legs. I, however, don't know how to engage my muscles to hold my legs up nor raise up my straight legs. I can easily lower my legs down to the ground, but at a certain point, I'm sure it's all gravity doing the work!

Then we placed a block between my knees, and I had to hold it in there while I did leg presses.

And here's where my fear started to get me. Nicole sat me up at the edge of the reformer, and with her gasping nothing but my hands, I worked on sitting-up. I would sorta wobble around at times until I found my balance again. And at those times I can't really explain it, but fear seemed to take control of me. Tears built up in my eyes and snot dribbled out my nose! I think I am just so used to the years of literally having no control over my body, and I'm at a point now where I just need to get over that fear! Ha. Easier said than done.

Nicole had me just sit there for a while and figure out my balance, then she made me work! ;) She had me lower myself back, then with ab-strength, not arm-strength, I did a sit-up. I did a number of sit-ups like this, and my abs are most definitely sore after that! It feels like my stomach is made of metal...hard as a rock! It may not look that toned or ripped, but it feels that way! ;)

Although I may not know what it is exactly that frightens me and sends me to that tearful place, it definitely seems time to conquer that fear. I guess the only way to do that, is by putting myself in that type of scenario over and over again...I'll be able to prove to myself that I DO have control over my body...or if I don't, Someone does!

I'm not feelin' the writing-thing today...LOL

I feel like I have no creative writing skills right now! LOL. So, as you are reading this, please forgive the blandness of my writing today!

First off, Nicole made me do killer arm warm-ups. I wanted so badly to just give-up and let my arms rest...but Nicole started telling me how amazing I was and how people in her other classes always tend to whimp-out way early in comparison. And I HAD to keep going once she told me that! Ya know, now that I think about it, she probably tells the to everyone to keep them going!Hmph!

So, then I did this exercise where I held a 4lb weight, and keeping my arm straight, I brought the weight in to my lap, and out to my side. I did a set of 5 with one arm, then switched sides. I did a total of 15, each side.

Then, I did leg-lifts and knee-raises.

Next, we did a bunch of sit-ups. Some with a weight on my chest, some normal ones, some with my legs up and extended, some where I threw my arms back and then swung them forwards for leverage, some with my legs raised high and I tried to touch my toes (cherry-pickers), and some where I attempted to bring my knees to my chest with every sit-up.Super fun.

And then it was back to the killer arm warm-ups.

Nicole had me buckle my seatbelt, and *CLICK*, I was done for the day!

Oh! And I got to meet Nicole's mom! Kinda fun! But Nicole's blonde and her mamma's a brunette...so no freaky look alikes!

Remember When...,Keep On Pushing!

It was awefully chilly this morning! But luckily, it wasn't raining too hard! With my long sleeves and leggings, I rolled into the studio actually ready for some warm-ups! But Nicole had other things in mind. She got out my "file," and we set some new goals. Back in the begining of October, we had set some goals to stand-up with the TRX and to strengthen my right leg. Iam happy to say that I am standing-up with the TRX (at home mostly), and as you can see from my latest video, my right leg is much stronger and quicker than back in October.

My new December goals are to work on lowering my left hip when standing, make my sit-ups stronger, and by the end of January, I would like to go from a sit to a stand completely unassissted.

After taking a look back, and discussing where we want to see me in the not too distant future, Nicole handed me the purple tennis ball. I took the ball in my right hand, and squeezed the crap outta it! I also gripped the tennis ball, and raised my arm up, doing 10 squeezes with my arm extended. Then, I switched the ball over to the left side. And bringing my left arm down to my lap, I began swopping the ball back and forwarth from left to right hands.

Next, we did some arm torture.We did arm circles forwards and backwards, twisted invisible doorknobs, and bent the elbows in, then released them back out straight over, and over, and over again. My arms were definitely feelin' the burn!

Then, I tilted my wheelchair back just a bit, and did some leg-lifts, knee-raises, and a combination of both! I can't exactly remember the order, but I worked on "walking" (doing knee-raises) in my chair, practiced only lifting the right leg (trying to keep the left leg down/relaxed), raising my knees up, individually, then kicking the leg out straight, and lifting each leg individually, with Nicole pressing down on the foot. And every so often, Nicole would have me tilt my  chair back further, making the leg-lifts tougher.

By the 3rd tilt, I was back all the way and my abs prepared themselve for what was next! With Nicole sitting at my feet, she leaned in towards my hands, and with her holding my hands, I did a whole heap of gnarley sit-ups! I tried to use my abs as much as possible when sitting-up, but I could help a little with my arms. I definitely wanna make my abdominal muscles as strong as possible...you don't know what you got 'til it's gone! :)

My Thoughts...

K, I was talking with Nicole about my poor/critical view of my progress...I guess that I'm too hard on myself in regaurds to my main goal, to walk again. I suppose she's right, if I don't believe in myself, how are others going to believe in me? I told Nicole that I DO believe I'm going to walk/get outta this wheelchair, and that I just am keeping my mouth shut because I don't want to sound cocky. Nicole said that it wouldn't be "cocky" to speak-up about my successes...but I dunno. I mean, I'm sharing this blog with the "world." And I'd like to think that my close friends and family know that getting out of this wheelchair is ALL I'm foccusing on. If I haven't made that clear, I AM GOING TO WALK. Wow. Typing that last bit was harder for me than I thought. I just don't want to go around telling everyone that I WILL WALK, and end up failing. I am so afraid of that...cuz I don't want to fail and let everybody down. I feel like I know what all of you are thinking...People would just be proud of you for trying, Well, that's what I'm doing. I am trying...and I am making so many of y'all proud. But I truly struggle with saying/believing that I will, without hesitation, walk again. At this point, I know I won't be in this wheelchair forever, but I don't know when, so I can't make any promises. As all of these thoughts are running through my head, it's almost as though by me being afraid to securely believe in myself, has been kind of a "roadblock," keeping my butt in the chair. Huh. I almost feel like I've reached this conclusion before. Now, I'm stuck. I don't know what I need to change about myself, or rather, HOW to change myself in order to break down that last "roadblock." *sheesh.* ...Help!?

Suprisingly Good!

I made it through the rain, drenched, but alive. ;) Nicole and I huddled up next to the heater so that I could dry off, and of course, to keep us warm!

Today I brought in a wrist brace upon Nicole's millionth request (I am seriously so forgetful when asked to go buy something...regaurdless if it benefits my health!), so we tried that out right away. The brace goes on my right wrist and helps my wrist stay strong while I hold the 4lb weight. I started with bicep curl with my right arm. Then I brought the weight up in a bicep curl, then extended my arm straight up, then brought the weight back down, and finished the bicep curl. Those hurt! Lastly, I lifted the weight, palm down, arm straight, out in front of me. This was the first time I was able to do these exercises, because I had finally boughten a wrist brace! And GOOD LORD! My arms were definitely feelin' it! I don't know if I've ever worked that hard to get my arms up! Once I finished on the right side, I took a deep breath, and switched to the left arm.

Next, Nicole had me tilt my chair back, and we worked on my legs. I worked on lifting both legs up, and eventually added arm-raises to the mix. Then, I did these "jack-knife" sit ups. And we worked on raising my bent knees up. When Nicole saw how successful all of this was, she decided we should make a video for the blog! So, WATCH THE VIDEO to see how spectacular I am! ;)

Finally, Nicole and I tried this new exercise where she put my feet up on this "foot-pedal-thingy," and placed something behind my back so that I could sit a bit more forwards, and I pushed my feet and the "foot-pedal-thingy" down, so that it touched the floor. Then I raised my knees back up, and then I pushed them down again.

We did that for the last 5 minutes of our 74TH SESSION! All I've got to say is Wow.

Michelle Session 74

Storm's-a-Blowin'

The rain was coming down harshly, and the wind picked up pretty intensely this morning. Nicole said that she was worried that the wind might knock the trees out of the ground!. Lol. And she jokingly expressed her fear that the wind would tear apart the building we were in. She made sure I kept my eye on the big oak tree in fornt of the studio...to make sure we'd have enough warning to run if it got knocked over! The weather definitely caused for entertainment and amusement.

Despite the stormy weather, Nicole kept my body heated with an intense regiment of exercises! I started with bicep curls...switching off every other arm. I also lifted the weights up with straight arms, out to my sides. I did these exercises, back to back, repeatedly until my arms were burning.

Then, I rolled on over to the TRX. With my w.chair tilted back, I did a number of pull-ups, putting pressure though my feet, and lifting my butt up, off the w.chair. After, Nicole un-reclined my w.chair so that I was pulling myself more straight-up. I picked-up the speed for these pull-ups. Nicole referred to the pull-ups by saying, "The speedy ones...You know, like those one's where I made you sick!"Ahhh, yes. The ones that brought me to the brink of puking.

Well, luckily, I didn't upset my stomach, and we continued our workout with some leg exercises. Nicole had me tilt the chair back a ways, and I did leg-lifts. To make it more of a challenge, she held my foot down with a resistance band. With the restraint from the band, I felt my thigh muscles working hard! So, I did leg-lifts with each leg (the left leg much stronger than the right), and then I raised my knees straight up with the resistance band, individually.

Next, with my w.chair sitting-up, I did these arm exercises with a new, stronger resistance band. I pulled inwards with my right arm, then switched to my left arm. Good lord, that was intense!

Then, Nicole switched to the "easy" resistance band. With that, I was asked to hold the band with both hands...about 10 inches apart. Then, I repeatedly spread my arms apart with straight arms, and slowly returning my hands back "together." Nicole did the exercise with me to prove that it wasn't just difficult for me. (That was sweet, but I definitely seemed to struggle more than the PERSONAL TRAINER!)

After, I did the same thing, just above my head. I just laughed at that request, but, of course, I did it.

Lastly, Nicole had me open & close both hands. The left hand can easily open & close, it was much more difficult to do so with the right hand. Nicole also had me place my hands in the prayer position, raising and lowering my hands. Of course, this sounds pretty elementary, but I suppose you gotta start somewhere! It's crazy how difficult something so basic can be for my right hand! Oh well...practice makes perfect.
  

7% Wise Words

7%

Written by a 90 year old

This is something we should all read at least once a week!!!!! Make sure you read to the end!!!!!!

Written by Regina Brett, 90 years old, of the Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio .

"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most requested column I've ever written.

My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short – enjoy it.

4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and family will.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Stay true to yourself.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye But don't worry; God never blinks.

16.. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful. Clutter weighs you down in many ways.

18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

19.. It's never too late to be happy. But it’s all up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
 
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. Accept what you already have not what you need

42. The best is yet to come...

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."

 

Welcome Back!

YAY! Nicole's back and I'm back beside her! This morning was a much needed reunion! And being that today is Monday, Nicole was glad to see me in my widget!

I started out our session with laps in the widget. Pumping the wudget-rods forwards, really helps to get my blood flowin', I made a big circle, around the TRX and between the pole and the wall. I did about 5 laps forward, 5 laps gooing backwards, and 5 laps going counter-clockwise. My biceps were definitely feeling it by the last lap!

Now, there's a good thing about having a personal trainer...and there's a frustrating thing, It's good that you are able to break-up your workout, giving specific muscle groups time to "take a breather." That's what we did with the widget laps. I gave my arms a break after the 5 backwards laps, to workout my leg muscles. I did some leg-lifts, which is much more challenging in the smaller, manual wheelchair! In my power wheelchair, I have a higher backrest, headrest, and wider, taller armrests. The widget wheelchair has a lower backrest, no headrest, and thinner, lower armrests. It's more of my "exercise wheelchair." So, with less support, I was forced to use my abdominal muscles more.

Nicole also had me raise my knees up. This exercise really works your abs! Try it. Sit in a chair with no armrests, and bring both of your knees off the chair simultaneously...Repeat 'til your abs tell you they're done!

Then, Nicole had me lift the right leg, and raise the left knee up. Like the amazing person that I am ;), I was able to do it! I held the right leg out straight, while my left knee bent up...high enough so that my left foot was a couple inches below the seat cushion. It was hard, but the results were worth it!

Remember how I mentioned that there is a frustrating part to having a personal trainer? Well, here it is: Having a pt means that exercises are never forgotten! :) Nicole had me continue to the counter-clockwise laps directly after my leg workout. I love how I feel after our sesions, but in the moment I'm thinkin' DAMN her memory! ;)

With the finality of the widget laps, Nicole pulled up a chair in front of me and I got ready for more leg workouts. This time around, Nicole had me lift the right leg and bend the lift knee up, AND switch it up by bending the right knee up, and lifting the left leg straight out. I was asked to keep one leg lifted, while I bent the other knee up for a set of 10. Exhausting!

I then tried pushing myself up/out of the widget by the armrests, but that didn't go too well...the manual w.chair is signifigantly lighter than the power w.chair, so it tiped backwards when I tried to push up/out of it! Lol. That's ok...we'll just try it again on Wednesday or something!



             

Brisk Air & Warm Bodies

 s we seep into the winter weather, our mornings are getting colder and colder. This morning, the sky was blue and the sun was out, but the air temperature was freezing! It's actually the perfect weather to workout in! And today I was stoked to get back to working out using my arms! Nicole was happy to hear that my left wrist/forearm was all healed up as well.

As it stands, Mondays are widget days, which we followed suit with, but I also got some ab and arm work in. I did some warm-up laps with my widget...pumping the widget forward, back and forwarth across the studio floor.

Then, I wheeled my chair over to the heater vent on the wall, where Nicole had cozied up.

I put the brakes on, and sat there squeezing a tennis ball over and over again. I squeezed the ball with both my left and right hands. It's harder to hold the ball with my right hand because my thumb always bends, and closes in...it's quite a pain!!! And I am constantly having to redo my grip on the ball!

After squeezing the tennis ball in each hand, I switched the ball back to my left hand, and aised my left arm up, and lowered it back down to my shoulder (muscle-man status!). After doing a set of about 15, I switched to the right arm.

Then, with the resistance band, I gripped it with my left hand, palm up, and pulled the resistance band in towards my chest. With these, I really felt my abs engaging, working to maintain my sitting balance. I did a bunch of pulls with the left arm, then I switched and did the same with the right arm.

Next, with my palms up, I grabbed the resistance band with both hands. Pulling the band in to my chest, made my abs work overtime in trying to maintain my balance! Then, I switched my grips, so that my palms were facing down. With my hand this way, I brought my elbows up and back with every pull.

When I finished with the resistance band, Nicole had me squeeze the tennis ball once more. And when I finished with both hands, it was widget time again!

I pulled the widget arms backwards for a number of laps, then I switched it to be pumped forwards. Nicole made sure to made sure to work my right arm by having me turn the widget around with my right arm...EVERYTIME!

Needless t say, my abs and arms definitely feel like they've been worked!

Love to Improve!

Because my wrist/forearm is on the injured list, I had another day of ALL leg exercises! Next week I should be good to go on the TRX, lifting weights again, and pulling on the resistance band. But right now, I'm just doing as the doctor ordered... Besides, my legs are getting a gooood workout!

Yesterday, my legs,core, and arms totally amazed me. Thursdays aren't my workout days with Nicole, but I had pool therapy yesterday, and I think my session is worth sharing! So, there's a chair that raises up and drops down into the pool. I've been getting in and out of the pool using that. My physical therapist leaves the chair down in the water to help me with standing up in the water. I face the chair and grab onto the sides of the chair while standing. Previously when I would practice standing (about 12 months ago), my physical therapist had to stay really close to me, blocking my right knee from giving out, and helping to support my hips. Yesterday was a whole diferent story! I was able to stand at the chair, with stability, by myself...for approx. 10 minutes!!! I even bent, and restraightened each knee! My core and arm muscles have gotten SO much stronger (Thank you, Nicole)!

I couldn't help but let out a big ol' grin! I felt sooo stoked just standing there...no help...didn't feel tired or like I was using up a ton of effort. This may sound trippy to some people, but when I was standing there, I felt my brother, Wes's, presence, and that's what made me smile. Wes's presence was there with me in the pool back when I first started going, directly following his death. And yesterday he dropped in to let me know that he's still with me, following my progress.

After my awesome pool therapy, my body felt whooped once I was at home, out of the water! My legs felt tired all through the evening and into this morning. Due to the rest that the doctor perscribed for my wrist/forearm, I got to kill my legs even more with Nicole! I spent the entire hour doing leg-lifts! Exhausting! I did get one 30-sit-up break to throw my abs a little workout, but the other 50 minutes, I did leg-lifts with the right leg, and leg-lift & bend knee up to my chest and then straighten back out with the left leg. My legs are officiallypooped!

I can't wait until next week when my perscribed rest is over and I get another pool therapy session!

At Least I'm Not Headed For Surgery!

I hate getting hurt! Apparently, on Monday during my iron-pumping session with Nicole, I "overworked/sprained" my left fore-arm. I have two bruises on my wrist, and it's a little swollen, but it definitely doesn't look too mangled! I thought, Great. Just when my progress starts picking up... But Nicole said that my injury is a good thing. It's evidence that I'm working hard. Besides, my injury wasn't so bad. She knew this Personal Trainer who was always hurting herself, and ended up having 12 surgeries!  

Well, the doctor told me to take it easy on my left fore-arm/wrist, so I'll keep this brief (I type with my left hand...I guess typing is bad for it).

Today, Nicole had me do ALL leg work. Nicole tilted my w.chair half-way back, and there I stayed for the remaining 55 minutes! I tried lifting only the right leg. Everytime I try this, I get overflow action in my left leg. Nicole held my left foot down for awhile, until my muscles "understood the game plan." Then, I tried lifting the right and keeping the left leg down on my own. We repeated this exercise a bunch.

I also raised my knees up off of the w.chair, each knee individually. My left knee continues to raise higher than the right, but my right knee is improving its heighth.

Nicole kept urging me to raise my knees up higher and lifting my right leg more!

An hour of leg-lifts...........fun!

Burn Baby Burn!

Monday's Widget-Day! So, guess what I did.....I worked-out in my widget! Thrilling to hear, I know. Lol. I spent the first 20 minutes or so, pumping my widget too and fro across the studio. First forwards, then backwards. I got my arms warmed-up and ready for Nicole's next workout.

I didn't do much today, but I spent the next 45 minutes doing the same thing over, and over, and over again! Nicole had me do a gazillion bicep curls. First, I did just the left arm. Then the right. Then, I did both arms simulraneously...which, by the way, I've never done before because my abs weren't strong enough to hold my upper body upright. I then went back to switching-off arms. I am DONE with bicep curl for awhile!

Nicole then had me hold the weights down by the wheelchair wheels, staight arms. And I brought my straight arms up as high as I could go, and lower them back down slowly. I didn't keep track of how many Nicole had me do (I was a lil distracted by the pain I felt!), but my shoulders were feelin' it!

I got a short break from the weights, and did arm-circles (forwards and backwards), twisted invisible doorknobs, and did this thing where I started with my arms straight out to the sides, bent at my elbows to touch my shoulders, and straightened my arms back out. Do those for awhile, and you'll want to call the firefighter...my muscle burned so bad!

Nicole attempted to get me back to bicep curls, but that didn't last long! My arm and wrist muscles were floppy now, and begging for a rest! So, I spent our last 15 minutes pumping my widget back and forwarth!

SIt-ups Hurt!

TODAY WAS A DOOZY! WELL, NOT REALLY TODAY, BUT THE WORKOUT THAT NICOLE HAD ME DO WAS DEFINITELY A DOOZY! I ACTUALLY HAD A PRETTY PRODUCTIVE DAY...I EDUCATED MYSELF ON ALL OF THE PROPOSITIONS (PROP 30-40) AND HAD A LIL DISCUSSION WITH MY FRIEND ABOUT EACH ONE! I FEEL REALLY SMART AND PRODUCTIVE! SOMETIMES, I AMAZE MYSELF.

BUT TALK ABOUT A DOOZY! NICOLE PUT ME THROUGH THE RINGER! MY BODY HASN'T WORKED THAT HARD IN AWHILE. MY ARMS AND SHOULDERS WERE SORE FROM OUR SESSION ON WEDNESDAY AND MY PHYSICAL THERAPY ON THURSDAY, SO TODAY NICOLE WORKED MY LEGS AND ABS!

FIRST, I DID LEG-RAISES WITH MY WHEELCHAIR IN THE FULLY UPRIGHT SITTING POSITION. AFTER ABOUT 10 LEG-RAISES, NICOLE TILTED MY CHAIR HALF-WAY BACK. AFTER 10 MORE LEG-RAISES, SHE LEANED MY CHAIR ALL THE WAY BACK.

I MOVED MY WHEELCHAIR UNDER THE TRX, SO THAT I COULD PULL MYSELF UP AND NICOLE COULD STRAIGHTEN MY HIPS (I WAS SITTING ALL CATTYWHOMPUS IN MY CHAIR).

ONCE I WAS STRAIGHTENED OUT, I WORKED ON RAISING BOTH OF MY KNEES UP. IT'S INTERESTING (and tiring!) TO SEE HOW MUCH HIGHER MY LEFT KNEE WANTS TO GO COMPARED TO MY RIGHT. I SWITCHED TO RAISING UP EACH KNEE INDEPENDENTLY, FIRST THE LEFT, THEN THE RIGHT.

I'M CURRENTLY ABLE TO BRING MY LEFT KNEE UP TO THE POINT WHERE MY LEFT FOOT IS A COUPLE INCHES FROM RESTING ON THE SEAT OF THE WHEELCHAIR. THE RIGHT KNEE ON THE OTHER HAND, RAISES ABOUT AN INCH OFF THE SEAT. NICOLE FELT MY HIP-FLEXOR WHILE I ATTEMPTED TO RAISE MY RIGHT KNEE UP, AND SAID THAT SHE CAN DEFINITELY FEEL THE MUSCLE ENGAGING. I GUESS THAT RIGHT SIDE JUST NEEDS LOTS OF PRACTICE.

THEN, NICOLE HAD ME SIT MY WHEELCHAIR STRAIGHT-UP, AND I USED THE TRX TO STAND UP. I'M PROUD TO SAY THAT STANDING WITH THE TRX IS GETTING SOOO MUCH EASIER. NICOLE AND I FIGURE THAT WEARING THE BACK-BRACE A COUPLE TIMES WILL STRAIGHTEN MY SPINE/HIPS OUT AND I SHOULD BE ABLE TO PERFECT STANDING-UP!

NEXT, I LEANED MY CHAIR ALL THE WAY BACK, AND NICOLE HAD ME DO SIT-UPS...I DECIDED I HATE DOING SIT-UPS. NICOLE PLACED HER HAND ON MY ABS TO MAKE SURE THEY WERE ENGAGED...SILLY ME. I ASKED HER TO DO THAT! BUT BY THE 10TH SIT-UP, I COULD HAVE JUST TOLD HER THEY WERE WORKING BASED ON THE BURNING MUSCLES IN MY CORE!

STILL LEANING ALL THE WAY BACK, NICOLE AND I TRIED CROSSING AND UNCROSSING MY LEGS. WE FIRST CROSSED THE RIGHT LEG OVER THE LEFT. THEN, I WAS ASKED TO UNCROSS MY LEGS. I THOUGHT NICOLE WAS ASKING ALOT FROM MY RIGHT LEG, BUT I TRIED, NOT EXPECTING MUCH.

TO START, I HAD TO RAISE MY RIGHT FOOT, IN ORDER TO BRING MY LEG OVER. SURPRISINGLY, MY RIGHT FOOT LIFTED. THEN, WITH MY RIGHT LEG STRAIGHTENED OUT AND MY RIGHT THIGH RESTING ON MY LEFT THIGH, I HAD TO BRING MY WHOLE RIGHT LEG OVER TO THE RIGHT. AGAIN, I WAS SURPRISINGLY ABLE TO DO IT! WHOO! IT FELT AWESOME TO TRY SOMETHING AND SUCCEED! 

I ALSO TRIED CROSSING MY RIGHT LEG OVER MY LEFT. FIRST, I HAD TO RAISE MY RIGHT KNEE HIGH ENOUGH, THEN MOVE MY LEG OVER TO THE LEFT SIDE...NO GO. I STILL CAN'T FIGURE OUT HOW TO ENGAGE THOSE INNER THIGH MUSCLES.

THEN, WITH THE LEFT LEG, I WAS ALMOST ABLE TO CROSS IT OVER THE RIGHT! I JUST NEEDED TO RAISE THE KNEE/LEG UP A LIL HIGHER, BUT I HAD VERY LITTLE TROUBLE MOVING MY LEG OVER TO THE RIGHT.

UNCROSSING MY LEFT LEG WAS BIT DISAPPOINTING. I WAS ABLE TO LIFT-UP MY LEFT FOOT NO PROBLEM, BUT MOVING LEG OFF OF THE RIGHT LEG, TO THE LEFT, JUST DIDN'T HAPPEN.

OUR TIME WAS ALMOST UP, BUT NICOLE THREW IN ONE LAST HOORAH.....SHE HAD ME DO SIT-UPS AGAIN! AS MUCH AS I HATE DOING THEM, I LOVE HAVING THAT DULL ACHEY, TIGHTENED ABS FEELING AFTERWARDS!

TRICK AND TREAT

HOORAY! NICOLE'S BACK! I DISCOVERED OVER THIS PAST WEEK, THAT I'M JUST NO GOOD WITHOUT HAVING MY PERSONAL TRAINER!

SO, TODAY WE GOT BACK TO NICOLE'S HARD-CORE WORKOUTS! I STARTED OUT ON THE TRX. NICOLE WANTED TO TEST MY STRENGTH...SEE HOW BAD I WAS AFTER HER ABSENCE! LUCKILY, I DID A NUMBER OF PULL-UPS (WHEELCHAIR TILTED BACK, HAND GRIPPING THE TRX HANDLES ABOVE ME) AND SHOWED NICOLE THAT I HADN'T LOST ANY MUSCLE-STRENGTH WHILE SHE WAS GONE. PHEW! I WAS A LITTLE SCURRED!

I DID A SET OF ABOUT 20 PULL-UPS AT A NORMAL, SLOWER PACE. THEN NICOLE HAD ME DO A "SPEED-SET" (OF 10 PULL-UPS)! BECAUSE MY VISION IS A BIT "MESSED UP," I HAD TO CLOSE MY EYES BY LIKE THE THIRD PULL-UP BECAUSE MY EYES COULDN'T KEEP UP WITH THE CHANGES IN DEPTH PERCEPTION!

LETTING GO OF THE TRX AND KEEPING MY WHEELCHAIR TILTED BACK, NICOLE HAD ME DO SOME SIT-UPS. SHE ATTEMPTED TO SHOW ME HOW I SHOULD TRY TO MOVE/PUSH MY PELVIS DOWN EACH SIT-UP, BUT WITH NICOLE STANDING NEXT TO ME AND TRYING TO DEMONSTRATE PELVIS MOVEMENT, HER AND I JUST LAUGHED! I TOLD HER THROUGH MY GIGGLES, THAT I THINK I GOT IT!

SO, I DID A NUMBER OF NORMAL-STYLE SIT-UPS, AND THEN NICOLE HAD ME STRETCH BOTH ARMS OUT IN FONT OF ME, AND RAISE ONE SIDE UP AT A TIME. SO, I DID SIT-UPS WITH MY LEFT ABS, THEN RIGHT ABS.

ALONG THOSE SAME LINES, I GRABBED THE TRX HANDLES, AND DID PULL-UPS WITH ONE ARM AT A TIME...PULL WITH LEFT ARM, BODY TWISTED TO THE RIGHT, PULLWITH RIGHT ARM, BODY TWISTED TO THE LEFT.

THEN, NICOLE WENT AND GRABBED A RESISTANCE BAND AND WRAPPED MY FOOT UP WITH IT! WE WERE OBVIOUSLY, ABOUT TO TRY SOMETHING NEW! MY RIGHT FOOT WAS IN THE "HAMMOCK" OF THE RESISTANCE BAND, AND NICOLE HELD THE ENDS OF THE BAND UP BY MY CHEST(I WAS STILL IN THE LEANED-BACK POSITION). WITH MY KNEE BENT UP, I PUSHED MY LEG OUT STRAIGHT AGAINST THE RESISTANCE OF THE BAND,

WE STARTED TO DO THE SAME WITH MY LEFT LEG, BUT CHANGED OUR MINDS WHEN WE SAW THAT MY LEFT LEG COULD EASILY PUSH OUT STRAIGHT AND BEND BACK UP. INSTEAD, NICOLE HAD ME DROP MY FOOT DOWN, AND BRING MY BENT KNEE UP, THEN STRAIGHTEN MY LEG OUT.

THEN, I WAS TOLD TO PRACTICE RAISING BOTH FEET WHILE NICOLE WENT AROUND THE CORNER AND GOT HER PRESENT FOR ME! HMMM...WHAT COULD IT BE? NICOLE GOT ME MY OWN TRX! HOW EXCITING! NOW, I CAN WORK ON STANDING UP WHENEVER I WANT! I'M THRILLED!

 SO, I SUPPOSE THAT NICOLE DECIDED TO GIVE ME BOTH TRICKS AND A TREAT! I FIRST EXPERIENCED HER HARD-CORE WORKOUT (TRICK), AND THEN SHE GAVE ME THE FABULOUS TRX (TREAT)!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYBODY!!!!!!!!!

Good, Clean, Rosemary-Fun

Last night I found out that Nicole would be gone for 2 weeks, starting today! The late awareness of her absence is MY bad! Nicole emailed me about her upcoming trip weeks ago! She's off learning more personal training stuff at a conferance. But, no worries. Rosemary will be my trainer while Nicole's gone!

Today was Day 1 of Nicole's absence. So, Rosemary was kind enough to take over. We started out with 10 bicep curls on each arm, the I did a set of 10 pull-backs with the resistance band. I did four sets of bicep curls, three sets of pull-backs.

Then, Rosemary stood behind me holding the resistance band, and I did a set of 10 forward-presses.

Next, I rolled my wheelchair over to the TRX. I did about 10-15 pull-ups holding the TRX-handles. Rosemary said I was pulling myself up so high as to clear a head-lendgth above the head rest.

After that, Rosemary held up my left foot, and I pressed forward with my quads to do 10 leg-presses. I did the same with the right leg.

Then we worked my ankles. Rosemary held up my left foot, and I would use my calf muscle to point my toes forward. Rosemary would flex and stretch my foot and calf, and I pointed my foot forward 10 times. Then, Rosemary switched to my right foot/ankle.

Next, I did pull-ups with the TRX again.

Lastly, we had enough time to do 5 more ankle-presses.

Got a Flat Tire

Today Nicole took it easy on me because 1) my body just felt totally exhausted cuz I'm fighting off this icky cold that I feel myself starting to get...I DO NOT want to get sick! and 2) my mommy came to the studio today to see me on her birthday! Actually, she had to pick up my caregivers time-cards and give me some cash for living! But she also got to see ME on her special day! So, she's blessed on her birthday. ;)

When my mom came into the studio, I was busy doing laps in my widget. Nicole had me go back and forwarth across the studio for days.

Then, she set up an obstacle course with lots of tight turns. It was basically two rows of blocks lined up so that weaving in and out of them required a lot of concentration! Nicole threatened that every time I knocked over a block, that added on extra leg lifts for Wednesdays session! So, needless to say, I tried very hard to steer clear of the blocks!

I was finishing up the second row of the obstacle course, when my mom said,
                 "Um, don't Michelle's tires look flat?"
It turned out that I had been rolling around on 1 completely flat tire, and 1 tire that was definitely gettin' low! Nicole went next door to get some help to fill up my tires with an air pump. Nicole made us seem even more ditzy when she said,
                  "Wow...I hope we haven't been letting you roll around like that since we started widget Mondays..."
My mom laughed at our ditziness, but I have to say, IT'S NOT MY FAULT! :) I can't even really see the wheels on the widget! Well, it rides pretty comfortably even with flat tires!

I almost made it back through the obstacle course without knocking over any of the blocks! Almost. I ended up knocking the last 2 blocks over. Oops. I was so close to making it through without giving Nicole any reason to work me to death on Wednesday! So close.

The last thing Nicole asked of me, was to do a few laps going backwards.

Man, I'm kinda scared for Wednesdays hard-core workout! Oh well, bring it on!

Touch Your Toes

Winter is here! I don't know if I should be bummed for the cold weather, or excited to wear all of my cute jackets! Well, you don't get to wear your fashionable coats when you're working out, so I guess I'll be bummed for the chilly days Monday thru Friday.

I entered the studio this morning, and we started right away on my goal for next month. In the last blog, I said that my goal would be to stand-up, unassisted, with the TRX. Nicole wanted to start working on that right away...and I was glad because I wanted so badly to give it a go!

I pulled my wheelchair up to where the TRX-handles were hanging, grabbed ahold of them, and on the count of 3, I stood up. Nicole stood beside me, ready to catch me if I fell! Nicole has done one heck of a job on my arm strength, because I was pulling myself up, and maintaing a lot of my body weight through my arms. Nicole moved my wheelchair back a bit to make my legs carry more of my bodyweight. When I stood, I felt that more of the pressure was in my legs, but it seemed that a lot of the weight was being held up through my arms. My left leg wasn't firmly planting itself on the ground. That's right, my LEFT leg was bneing a pain in the ass! Nicole said that my left hip sits higher than the right when I'm just sitting in my wheelchair, resulting in my curvature of the spine. We are hoping that my back-brace will even out my hips, thus bringing my left foot down to the ground. On Monday, Nicole wants me to wear my back-brace and try standing with it.

After my attempts, Nicole had me lean my chair partially back, and do some leg lifts. First, I raised up both legs together, but when Nicole saw that my left hip was "popping," she made me switch over to raising only the right leg. Which is way hard because of the muscle overflow in my left leg! Every time I try only to raise my right leg, my left leg just slowly pops up too! And I haven't mastered how to keep it from going up in the first place, or figured out how to relax it down once it's up! I tried for quite some time, but my left leg is stubborn!

Switching tasks, Nicole had me raise both knees up for a while. I lifted each knee individually then, and Nicole kinda helped support my feet as we brought my knees up higher.Not surprisingly, my left knee continues to raise-up more than the right.

Then, we worked on my ankle flexibility. Nicole held my left foot, I pointed my toes forward, and Nicole made sure I got a good stretch in the flexed position. On my right ankle, she said I was able to push my toes forward more-so the more we did it.

This is where I wanted to cry! Nicole had me lean my chair all the way back, lift both legs, and try to lean forward to touch my toes. It was exhausting! When you don't have the strength in your abs to lift you up, touching your toes seems impossible! Nicole put her hand on my thigh and told me to take a deep breath, let it out quickly, and give it all I had to just throw myself up there! I did...and started the exercise over...5 more times! It was painful,

Last, but certainly not least, Nicole had me lift my legs while keeping my right hand relaxed. Nicole tried "pinning" my open right hand on my belly...my hand ended up curling closed into a fist by the time my right leg was fully raised. Grrrrr. So then, Nicole had me close my eyes, and she tried massaging my right hand while I raised my legs. I didn't see it cuz my eyes were closed, but Nicole said my hand did a lot better, and when my legs had relaxed, she was able to massage my hand into complete relaxation (I did see that!).

On the way out, I tried opening the sliding glass door with my right hand. It was tricky this time because my muscles were super tired! But I did it...with just a lil help from Nicole! 

Work on refining

Let me just say that my legs (calves, mainly) are pooped! Nicole had me do leg lifts practically the entir hour...TIRING as strapping 50-lb weights to your ankles and running uphill...in the snow! Ok, ok. It probably wasn't that bad, but raising my legs against gravity (oh yeah, I should mention that Nicole has me lean my wheelchair back a bit), most definitely wears me out!

Along with lifting my legs, Nicole wanted to focus on keeping my right hand relaxed while I "turned on" my leg muscles.
            She said, "You have the strength, now we just gotta 'refine' your movements."
For instance, when I get to the point where I'll have a walker, I will want my right hand to grasp the walker, not tense and form a fist when my legs are moving forward. My brain has learned that when I engage my leg muscles, my arm muscles work as well. But what I need to teach my brain is that each limb I have, can move seperately, on its own.

After a nice long set of leg lift warm-ups, I practiced raising my legs while trying to keep my hands open and relaxed. I was able to maintain a pretty relaxed state on the left hand, but the right hand closed up into a fist. Nicole told me to ignore my legs, and just focus on relaxing my hand. So I tried that, but my right leg slowly dropped down. Eventually, I was able to improve by not closing into a tightly gripped fist...it looks like progress will happen slowly, but at least I can say its happening!

Next, Nicole drew 8 dots, spread across three sticky-notes. She placed them on a clipboard, one on the top, middle, and bottom of the board. First, she called out a number (1 thru 8), and I would find the corrisponding dot and place my pointer finger on it. I used each hand seperately. No surprise, my left hand did better at holding the pointer finger up and out than my right.

Then I opened up my whole hand, and put my hand on the sticky-note that was called (top, middle, or bottom). I did this with each hand, too.

After I accomplished the task with just my hands, Nicole had me add in leg lifts. She held the clipboard out in front of my face, blocking my view of my legs. I raised both legs and touched the sticky-notes with my left, then right hand. Amazingly, I did it successfully!

We switched focus back to just the legs. For 1.5 minutes on each leg, I brought up my knees individually. Then I tried bringing both knees up together. My left knee comes up higher than the right, but the right knee is definitely improving each time I try.

Next, I gave Nicole some high-fives with each hand. Then, with my hands open, I kept my hands up by my shoulders, and raised my legs up, trying to keep my hands relaxed. I have to say, it is so weird how my right hand tries to close into a fist, all the while I'm trying my hardest to open it up! Very frustrating. ;)

Lastly, Nicole asked me a few simple questions regaurding our workouts: What do you think is your best improvement? What is the hardest/most challenging improvement? What is something that you think we need to work on? and Your goal by end of next month?

My best improvement would be the strength in my arms.

My hardest/most challenging improvement would be my right leg...always trying to keep it up with the left leg.

We need to work on a) my hip flexors, and b) I would like a stronger core. (Nicole told me to do 500 sit-ups per day! I've done 100 today...but 500, I'll TRY!)

My goal for November is to stand up at the TRX...by myself! 

The Letter M

Writing with a pen and paper has become pretty much a joke to me for the past 7 years. There have been countless time when I've gotten the desire to draw a picture or write a note to a friend...but when I get the pen in my hand, it is like my drawing/writing becomes that of a 2 year old. I find myself drawing sqiggles for straight lines, which makes writing words difficult as well.

For those of you who know me well from back in the day, you can back me up when I say that I used to be a pretty damn good artist! For everyone else, your just gonna have to trust me! :) But that is deffinitely a skill that I've missed.

So, that is what Nicole wanted to help me with. And I totally trust Nicole with this one...she's a pro artist! FOR REAL!!! (Nicole Gaitan- artist page- Facebook.com) I've never had anyone help me to improve a drawing/writing skills throughout all 7 years of being in the wheelchair. I've just had myself to teach me how to improve. And I think I've gotten pretty good! (At drawing, mostly...My writing still sux!;))

.Today, Nicole got out some paper and a pen, and first drew a triangle, a circle, a square, and some straight lines in a row. Next to each shape, I attempted to draw a replica of her examples. I had the most trouble with the triangle and the circle.

Next, she wrote the letters of the alphabet in collumns...fist in all CAPS, then in all lower-case. Next to each letter I wrote down my attempt at the letter. I had the most trouble with G, M, O, Q, U, W, g, m, n, o,u,and w.

Then, I wrote my name a few times. I had been struggling the most with  writing the first letter, M. So, we ended up breaking down the letter M into four lines. Then we broke the M in half down the middle. After that, I just wrote the whole letter over, and over, and over, and over! In the end, I wrote an M alot more legibally than my first try.

At the close of our "art class," Nicole had me push open the sliding glass door with my RIGHT hand  & arm. Surprisingly, I did it pretty well! Yay right hand/arm! And yay abs for helping me lean forward to grab the handle of the door!
Improving my fine motor skills might make for a boring blog entry, but doing these little things will make a BIG differance in the long run.

Fine Motor Skills

Today we tried something new. We worked on my fine motor skills. Right now, I pretty much use my left hand for everything. Typing, holding things, writing, using utensils, scatching my face, wiping my butt...I do it all with my left hand! Today, Nicole did some occupational therapy with me.

First, we did some work with the TRX...I leaned my chair back some, and pulled my upper body up, out of the chair. And I did leg raises with both legs simultaneously.

Then we worked on getting my right hand to do some stuff...improve my fine motor skills. Nicole had me do a number of different things, the first of which was sticking a plant in a vase. The vase had a hole the size of a quarter in the top, and in one hand I held the vase, while in the other hand I held the "plant." I was asked to hold the vase still, and bring the "plant" over to the hole in the vase. I switched hands, trying both left and right with the "plant."

Next, Nicole put her keyboard on my lap to try typing with the right hand. My left hand has gotten to be a pro on the keyboard, so it had to sit this one out. So, Nicole would say a letter/number/key for me to push and I would go for that key. It was obvious why I typed ONLY using my left hand!

Then, Nicole proved her humanity...she ate a candycane! Now, not to  be mean, but the candycane was microscopic! Smaller than those little candycanes Santa hands out to kids at the mall! I was actually shocked she was allowing me to have sugar...it was probably secretly made out of soy beans and oats! Well, whatever it was, I was given one that I had to get out of the wrapper using my hands only. Normally, I would use my left hand, and my teeth to rip open the wrapper!But Nicole made me get my right hand involved. It seemed like I struggled forever, and finally Nicole just gave me a piece of her candycane.

Lasrly, I tried lighting a spark with a lighter. Again, I was unsuccessful. Now you know why I haven't been using my right hand!...although, I wasn't successful at lighting a spark with my left hand either!

Grumble. Grumble. I got a lot of work to do...

I Love Surprises!

It was gorgeous outside this morning! The sun made its appearance early today! Of course now it's baking hot in Scotts Valley, and I'm actually relieved to be indors, typing up my blog entry...out of the heat!

So, when I got to the studio this morning, Nicole was missing! Rosemary had taken over for her and had taught the class that Nicole usually does right before my session. I kinda thought it was weird that Nicole wasn't there, but seeing as how I hadn't heard anything from her, I just figuredd Nicole was running late. I rolled into the studio and Rosemary said that Nicole was probably on her way, so I thought nothing of it.

Well, a few minutes passed with no Nicole, so Rosemary decided that she would just stay and train me! So, not only was I in a good mood from the awesome weather, but I was now surprised with a fun training session with Rosemary!

To start off, Rosemary set up an obstacle course for me to manuever my widget through. The course was set up so that I weaved my way through 2 blocks, went in a counter-clockwise circle around a "dome," wheeled myself over to another "dome" where I did a clockwise circle around it, and wheeled myself back across the starting line. I went through the course once with Rosemary timing me.

When I completed the obstacle course, I parked my widget and did some bicep curls. I did 1 set of 15 on each arm with the 4 lb weight.

Then, Rosemary grabbed a resistance band (one with handles) and a wooden pole/stick. She wrapped the resistance band around the wooden pole, which she held out in front of her chest, and I pulled the resistance band handles back to my chest, then let my arms out straight. I had to really try to keep my core tight and engaged so that I could keep my back rouching the backrest of the wheelchair. At the time I wasn't aware of how much core strength was being worked, but while I'm just sitting here typing up my blog entry, my abs are super sore from all the "pull-backs!"

And then, it was back to the bicep curls. 15 on each arm, and we did the "pull-backs" again.

And just cuz we could, we did a third and final round of each.

Then, Rosemary handed me a tennis ball. I grabbed the ball with my right hand, and did sets of 5 sqyeezes, dropping and flexing my wrist a few times between each set. I also tried holding the ball while simply turning the wrist, not the arm. Rosemary said that doing thede exercises should my right wrist when I'm doing bicep curls.

Next, Rosemary sat down on the ground in front of me and held up my right foot. I worked om pointing my toes forward, and then she flexed my foot a really stretched mt calf. We did 19 of these on each foot/leg.

Since the obstacle course was still up, Rosemary got her stop-watch, and sent me through one more time! This time, I knocked 21 seconds off my time! I guess doing all that hard work paid off! ;)

For our last workout for the day, Rosemary had me try doing overhead presses with the 4 lb weights. She helped "guide" my wrists so that I wouldn't knock myself out with the weight! I did 10 on each arm with Rosemary's help!

When I got back home and looked at my cell phone, I saw that I had a text message from Nicole. Apparently, Nicole tried to cancel today's session through her textmessage that she sent me LAST NIGHT! Oops...I was probably sleeping when she sent it and ended up reading it too late! Oh well, thanks to Rosemary, I got in a great workout!

Fight Tenatiously

I'm totally stoked. My body is making progress so rapidly right now! (knock on wood) I am loving it! Nicole and I have been totally impressed with the improvement I've made in 2 days It's an amazing feeling to watch all of your struggle, hard work, among a bunch of other things, FINALLY starting to pay off!

I know it's hard for y'all, the readers, to picture where I'm at physically right now, but please believe me when I write that I actually believe/KNOW that I will walk again...soon! It used to be that "walking again" meant that I would sinply *poof* just go from the wheelchair to running around like my 19 year old self. I couldn't grasp the idea that hard work pays off. I was just waiting for that one day when I would wake-up and be "fixed." Growing up, life certainly wasn't easy, but it never required perserverance, dedication, or tenacity. (I'm laughing at my writing because I used a form of the word tenatious. When I was a 7th grade cheerleader, we would joke around about a cheer that went, Fight tenatiously. Fight, Fight tenatiously.) Things would pretty much just work-out for me. I suppose the time came for me to learn a number a different things, but in this case, that I can't just sit around feeling sorry for myself. I've gotta fight to make my dreams a reality. Fight tenatiously. Fight, fight tenatiously.

Although I may hate the feeling of doing it, I am incredibly grateful that I met Nicole and she has me do torturous arm exercises! Today was bad...I started the session with my arms out, doing baby circles. I did a gazillion lil circles, and then straight from there I did arm raises. Holy crap. Those hurt! At one point, I tried to quit and just do more lil circles, but Nicole caught me and said through laughter, "HEY! You think you can just tell me what you're gonna do?"   And with that, she made me return to a few more arm raises.

And just to show me that she was listening to my needs, Nicole had me straighten out my arms to the sides, and do more arm circles!

Then, Nicole had me do repetative legs lifts with my wheelchair sitting straight up. I focused on raising both legs simultaneously, I did these leg lifts for 5 minutes.

After that, I leaned my chair partially back, and I worked on my leg muscles with more gravity. I did leg raises, lifted my right knee up over and over, lifted my left knee and straightened my leg out, and worked on lifting both knees up simultaneously. I was finally able to successfully raise up my bent left knee, and kick-out my leg straight, without having my thigh touch the seat of the wheelchair! Very cool! Nicole and I were stoked!

Next, Nicole and I worked on my inner and outter thigh muscles. We discovered that on my left leg, the outter thigh muscle needs to be woken up, and on the right leg, the inner thigh muscle needs the same. We ended up strengthening the outter muscles on the right leg by having me try and repeatedly push my right knee out. Nicole put her hand on my knee to provide resistance.

On my left knee, we strengthened my inner thigh muscle since that was the only muscle engaging in my left thigh. Nicole put a foam brick between my knees, and I tried to squeeze the crap out of it!

She didn't know any exercises off hand that would make my various thigh muscles engage, but I'm sure Nicole will have something for me to strengthen those muscles next week!

Finally, Nicole got out her vibrating masager. She massaged my ankles, calves, inner and outter thigh muscles, my hip flexors (which also need work!), my abs, my shoulders, arms, and neck. No complaints here!

Repatition

It was foggy and cold this morning, and inside the studio wasn't any warmer! Well, of ccourse it was, but I just like being dramatic! Nicole got me warmed up right away. I did arm warm-ups for a nice chunk of time. Arms went out to the sides, and first were lil circles forwards and then backwards. Then came the twisting of invisible doorknobs. Lastly were bringing the arms straight up from a bent position over and over again. The cycle repeated until I was good and warm.

Nicole told me that I would be doing everything in 5 minute intervals today. She wanted to implement repatition...something we hadn't focused on in a while!

So, for the next 5 minutes, we leaned my chair back (not all the way!) and I raised my legs, trying to get them both to come up together. It is so weird, I focused on only raising my right leg, and without even looking at it or thinking about it, my left foot suddenly pops up in my view...just to say hey! See what's going on! I guess it's just overflow action, but it's kinda funny that my left leg just comes on up unannounced and unprovoked!

Then I practiced raising my knees up to my chest. At first I brought up the left knee, higher than I was doing it before. After applauding my left knee's capabilities, Nicole had me work with the right knee. I brough my knee up about a 1/2 inch in the beginning. Then, I tried raising both knees up together. My right knee improved to raising 1-1.5 inches with both legs working at once It was as if my left leg was showing my right leg how it's done! Once we thought that my right knee got the hang of it, I rested my left leg and raised only the right for 5 minutes.

 I then did 5 minutes straight of arm warm-ups. Lil circles, invisible doorknobs, arm raises were all included. Good lord, I wanted to drop my arms at like 3 minutes! But I forced myself to stick it out for the full 5 minutes! I'm glad I did, cuz now I can brag about it!

Lastly, Nicole gave my body a good shake with her powerful vibrating massager. She got my akles, calves (front and back), thighs, abs, shoulders, and arms! My calves and shoulders got itchy, and the vibrations felt sooo weird on my abs! And when it was up on my neck and shoulders, the vibrations got into my throat, making my voice sound funny! I told Nicole that if I had one of those vibrating massagers, I'd play around with it non-stop!

Marvelous Monday

Mondays suck. Yeah, I said it. It's just so hard to really get going on Mondays. I either feel tired, or lazy, or just bleeeeehhhhh. But you wake-up Tuesday, raring to go! It's weird...Mondays deffinitely suck.

At least Mondays aren't just hard for me. Nicole hates Mondays too. Working out on Monday is always a slow going day for us. Today was as usual a widget day. Nicole had me simply pump the widget back and forwarth across the studio floor. My neck was acting up and I kept wanting to rest my head over to the right. It just felt more comfortable practically resting my head on my right shoulder.

Nicole noticed my funky, uncomfortable position, and stopped my forward progress to try and take the kink out of my neck. She was surprised to feel how tigh the muscles in the right side of my neck were, and actually felt some knots. The good news was that I had a chiropracter appointment directly after the workout session...thank goodness!

After a good amount of uncomfortable laps forward, Nicole felt bad for me, so I pulled the widget rods backwards for a while. I don't really know what it is that makes moving backwards so much easier for me, but I deffinitely think rowing backwards is so much easier!

A lap after the switch backwards, Nicole started tweeking my neck again, when she asked, "Do you have a fever?" I told her I didn't think so, but that I was feeling pretty hot all of a sudden. With that, Nicole had me take a break and we had a nutrition consultation check-up!

She sat at her desk and took notes on how I'm doing on my diet. (Side note: I hate calling it "my diet." Cuz that sounds like I'm watching the food I eat because I don't want to get fat. When really, I'm just trying to eat good, healthy things for my body. Trust me, I'm not naturally a helth-food-nut!) I was happy to report that I have been eating well. Of course, Nicole had to ask me about what I ate over the weekend...the days I deffinitely throw caution to the wind! I couldn't have been asked what I ate Monday thru Friday! Nooooo. I had to spill the beens about the Hamburger Helper I ate for dinner over the weekend, and the Rice Krispies that I ate Sunday morning! Whatever...it was good.;)

Once we did our nutritional report and my body temp calmed down, Nicole and I played catch with the tennis ball. Although some of my throw miss the target, I am certainly improving!

Before we wrapped up our session, Nicole had me squeeze the tennis ball in each hand. I think I did about 10 squeezes in each hand.

And that was it! See how exhilirating Mondays are?!

From Wheelchair to Wakeboard

MASH is one of those super fun, silly childhood games where you write "MASH" (Mansion, Apartment, Shack, House) at the top of a piece of paper, under that write down the names of 3 potential husbands,3 potential ages you're gonna get married, 3 potantial careers, 3 potential pets, 3 potential cars you would like to have, and 3 potential number of kids you'll have. At the bottom of the page, you write RAP (Rich, Average, Poor), and one person scribbles dots until they hear "stop!" from the other person. The number of dots drawn, is the number you use to go through all of your potentials, crossing out the one that you land on each time. Continue until there is only 1 husband, career, pet, car, and number of kid(s). Do this over the letters in the words MASH and RAP as well. The game is supposed to determine your life for ya. After our workout, Nicole and I played MASH cuz it's friday and cuz it's fun! We only had time to do one round, so we MASHed my future.

BUT, before I share with y'al what I have to look forward to, I gotta share my workout with Nicole.

Today was an arm day. I started out with bicep curls using the 4 lb weight. I did a whole heap of bicep curl with left arm, the the right, back to the left, then the right again. I did so many, that I thought my arms were going to fall off!

Then, Nicole had me squeeze a purple tennis ball with each hand individually. It doesn't sound like much of a workout, I know. But doing this action repetatively BURNS! And holding the tennis ball in my right hand is challenging, for sure. Whenever I would squeeze down on the ball, my right thumb would slip inward and ruin my grip on the tennis ball, I had to keep asking Nicole to re-position my thumb around the ball.Super annoying!

Next, Nicoe wanted me to try something new. We tried doing arm raises with the tennis ball first. I pushed my arm up, then brought it back down, bending my elbow. We tried these on each arm individually with the tennis ball. Then, we did the arm raises with the 4 lb weight. I am happy to say that I successfully did my first set of overhead arm raises. :)

  It was back to the bicep curls. Only this time, I switched back and forwarth between the right and left side. Nicole couldn't help but grin at the thought of how sore I was gonna be tonight!

Then, we played catch! We threw the tennis ball back and forwarth, all the while working on little things like when I should release the ball, my throwing direction, and my follow-through.

And as our session wrapped up, we reverted to our 6th grade selves, and played MASH! My Exciting Future:

Husband: Jason Stackhouse


Marriage Age: 28

Career: Pro Wakeboarder


Pet: Cat


Car: Porsche


Kids: 2

MASH: Shack


RAP: Average

Mmm-Bop!

Another brutal workout today. My abs are sore already, both of my arms hurt, and my legs are majorly tired after todays torture session. ;) With the workouts I'm doing, my body is without a doubt developing so much strength that I didn't even know I was lacking. It is awesome to see my thigh muscles, for example, go from a mushy pile of muscles and fat, to a firmer, more toned beauty! My legs are looking ready to walk...it's very encouraging I can actually SEE the progress I'm making in both my arms and thighs. Besides the wheelchair, I'm lookin' gooood! ;)

So today, Nicole wanted to give me a full-body workout. We started with a resistance band, working my arms and abs. I grabbed the middle of the band with my wrist facing up, Nicole held the ends, and I pulled the band in (bicep curls). I felt my abs engage every time I pulled in. I was told to focus on pushing my lower back into the backrest of the chair. This would help me prevent my upper body from falling forwards. I switched over to the right arm, which impressed Nicole with its strength and sturdiness in the wrist! It was an awesome feeling to have my right arm be so reliable! My right hand found a strong grip  on the resistance band, my wrist didn't give-out and bend, and my right bicep is sore now from working so hard!

  Then, Nicole tested to see if I could use my abs to lean me forward and sit straight back. She had me place my arms/hand out in her arms/hands. She had me use only my abs to move myself back 'n forwarth. I could use my arms to push me back.

Once I passed Nicole's test, she said that she could use a resistance band, instead of standing next to me. holding my arms. She would hold the resistance band from behind me, while I gripped the center of the band, holding the band with arms straight out. Keeping my arms relatively straight, I lowered the band, bringing my core forward too. Unfortunately, doing this exercise with my arms straight up, gave me a painful kink in my neck. So, we ditched that exercise and went back to the "test" exercise.

Next, we leaned my chair back (not all the way) and worked on sit-ups. At first, Nicole had me working on engaging my abs. Nicole put on a lil Hanson, Mmm-Bop, to inspire me. I was just crackin' up every time Nicole sang along...which apparently, is good for your abs during sit-ups!

 Then, she had me raising my legs out straight while I sat-up. And to make it super challenging, she had me pulling on a resistance band. I wasn't allowed to pull myself up/forward with the r.band using my arms, not until I got past a certain point using only my abs. Once Nicole gave me the green light to use my arms, I pulled on the r.band give my abs some assisstance on sitting me up.

Holding my legs up during all of that was SO hard on the right leg. I don't think I even had to give my left leg a second thought! Bringing it up was easy, and keeping it up cake compared to my right leg. My right leg struggled to come up, and then once it was up, my leg was just super heavy to keep up. I fought the feeling I had to just let it drop, and pulled out a good number of those impossible sit-ups!

We ended our session on a good note. I raised both of my legs up, and Nicole had me bend my left knee. Now, I know this is going to be hard to imagine, but I was able to bend my knee up the farthest I've ever seen it! And, I bent it like a champ WITH my right leg out straight! Impressive, I know. ;)

Let's Do This

Here we go. The start of another week. Another week to continue my progress. Another week to share my story with who knows how many people. So, let's do this!

As you probs figured out, Mondays are my widget days. I started out the workout with doing 2 laps forward, and 2 laps backwards. With my arms getting stronger, these laps are feeling more like simple warm-up laps, rather than exercise laps like earlier on!

Nicole had me then do 4 laps holding my legs straight out. This is deffinitely a workout! My legs strat to feel super heavy, and my feet start to drop down half-way through 1 lap! Nicole let me rest after the first two laps, but I had to go non-stop for the second two laps! I am super motivated to keep working on this exercise, so that my legs can grow stronger and doing these straight legged laps will be nothin' more than a warm-up!

Next, I wheeled under the TRX and put on the brakes. Nicole wanted to try getting me to stand-up with the TRX. We had tried this before, so I was familiar with what she wanted to try. With this familiarity, I think I was able to try with more confidence. Plus, I had just been told to remember not to second-guess that God's got my back! I need to not be full of fear, but full of confidence, knowing that God isn't going to "let me fall." That's something that I have been struggling with because I'd like to think that God would will give me some sort of "heads-up" when something bad is going to happen. But God most certainly didn't warn me that I was going to get horribly sick and end up in a wheelchair. And then I try to give God the benefit of the doubt, and just assume that I missed the "warning signs" when I was 19. I wouldn't think that I was so self-consumed that I would just be oblivious to God's "heads-up." But I didn't think I would blow off a $6000 college scholarship to Whitworth, but apparently I did! So, I guess I can't trust my 18/19 year old self. Grrr...so confusing!

Anyhoo, Nicole held my feet down on the ground, while I pulled myself up with the TRX. I struggled with straightening my knees because, when I put out the effort, my left leg slides/pushes out. Rather, I need to figure out how to push straight up on my legs.

After trying to stand-up a couple times, Nicole sat down on the ground, directly in front of me, and had me do some leg exercises. First, I did some leg presses with the right leg. I feel, and Nicole tells me, that my right leg is getting so much stronger.

Then, I worked the left leg. My left leg is a lot stronger than the right, so I tried raising my knee, then straightening my leg from that raised position. I bent my knee up, then straightened my leg over and over again. Our latest goal is to get my left leg stright while my thigh is off of the wheelchair.

My right leg totally got worked out with overflow muscle activity! This was actually surprising because it is usually my left leg that is constantly affected by overflow.  So, I guess you could tell that I was working really hard!

Then, we had to stop. I had to go pee...bad! I wheeled myself over to bathroom. It was like an obstacle course trying to wheel around the tredmills and corners...and if I could cross my legs to hold in my pee, I would! Luckily, I made it to the toilet where I urinated for a solid 10 minutes! J/K...TMI, I know!

To wrap up our session, Nicole stretched out my arms and shoulders. It was needed...fo sho!

That's Gotta Hurt!

OMG. I witnessed a pretty intense OUCH! today at the studio. This woman smacked her face on the closed sliding glass door! I was sitting outside waiting for the class that Nicole was running to wrap up. One of the women turned to run outside to grab something for Nicole, and ran right into the door! There was a massive BANG! and everyone thought for sure that she broke her nose! She didn't, but Nicole was saying that she has like a runway show that she's a model for this weekend! Man, I hope she doesn't gnarley black eyes from her impact! No one was laughing when it happened, but ya gotta admit, it makes for a pretty funny story! Nicole said that was the second person in 2 weeks to run into the door. Apparently, that guy used more colorful language on impact. ;) Atta boy!

After the brutal slam, I started my hard-core workout. It's interesting...I think Nicole is on this torture-workout kick with me! She has deffinitely sent me home EXHAUSTED each day this week! Don't get me wrong, I love that she's pushing me so hard...but, let's just say I'm sleepin' goooood!

So, Nicole had me start on the TRX. I'm startin' to dread the TRX because, although I am getting stronger, Nicole continues to make the exercises more challenging! For example, Nicole hung the handles higher, so that with my chair tilted back, I would have to use my abs to help lift me up to grab the TRX handles. It's so frustrating to see your hands so close, yet they're so far when I gotta use my abs!

I did a number of pull-ups, in a couple different positions, and some different holds...ya know, like turning my wrist in, out, or facing me. Then Nicole had me raise/staighten my right leg endlessly! One thing that my left leg likes to do, is raise/straighten when I'm putting effort out into the right leg. This is known as overflow. So, as I was raising my right leg, I tried to focus on keeping my left leg relaxed.

My right leg is deffinitely getting stronger. I'm able to raise the foot up higher, and I'm still working on the speed at which I can raise my leg up. My right leg is deffinitely slower than the left, but it's steadily gaining speed!

With my left leg, I worked on raising the leg up, bending the knee up towards my chest, straightening my leg back out, and releasing/dropping my leg back down. As of today, I can only raise my left knee a couple of inches, but that's why I'm working on it! Nicole also had me try lifting my left knee from the sitting psition, and then try straightening my leg with my knee up.Then, I switched over to the right leg. Because my right leg isn't as "advanced" as the left, I simply tried to repeatedly lift up my knee from the sitting position.

Then my Gramma came for a visit! She pulled up a chair and watched the show! Can I just say that when you're looking for encouragement and an amazed reaction, just invite your grandma to come watch you workout!

Nicole had me show my Gramma my leg and knee raises. Then, she set me up with the TRX again. My Gramma felt that my shoulder blades were coming together during my "pull-ups." She liked that ;). She also followed Nicole's lead, and placed her hand on abs. Apparently, that was a crowd pleaser! 6-pack here I come! ;)

Next, Nicole had me do leg-presses. I think she tried extra hard to restrict my legs for kicking straight out. Again, the difference in the strength in my right and left legs was noticible.My left leg was so much easier to kick straight than my right.

Lastly, Nicole got a resistance band. She had me grip the center, and she held on to both ends of the band. My chair was slightly tilted back, and at first, I pulled the band back to my chest, and straight back out. Then, I leaned forward/sat up, and pulled the band to my chest, and released. Nicole was impressed with how much stronger my abs were in this exercise. I was stoked too, that my core was strong enough to pull me forward and hold me upright while I was doing the arm exercise!

And I gripped the r.band one arm at a time, wrist turned up, and did bicep-curls. I was told that with the resistance band, it was like I was doing 10-lb bicep curls!

Woo-hoo! I'm gettin' buff! 

Felt like I was giving birth!

 Today's workout was a killer! Nicole had me laying on the floor the entire time. I layed on my back on a yoga-mat in the middle of the studio. I was doing a lot of hard work, hopefully "waking up" muscles that have just been dozing for the past 7 years!

Nicole had me "vocally pushing" my leg and ab muscles for practically every exercise. I was surprised by the noises that were coming out of my mouth...it was like I was giving birth! Or what I imgine it'll sound like!

My memory is deffinitely not working at full speed ;), so we're just gonna pretend that I'm recalling these exercises in the right order!

I started out with knee-lifts. I started with my knees bent, feet on the mat. I tried raising and bending my knee as far up as I could. I was able to do a better job raising my left knee up all on my own. My right leg needed more assistance from Nicole.

I also did this thing where I pressed the arch in my lower back down to the mat. Nicole placed her hand under my lower back as a reference point for me. I had my knees bent up, and I focussed hard on trying to push down and squeeze Nicole's hand with my lower back.

We also worked on bridging, where your hips/butt come up off the floor. So, with my knees bent up, I tried pressing down with my feet, as well as pushing into the floor with my hands and shoulders. While doing this, I worked on raising my hips up.

Then, I did leg presses. Nicole held up my foot (right foot, then left) and used her chest to provided extra resistance when I needed it.

Nicole assisted me in the beginning when it came time to open/spread my knees apart, ankles stayed together. I felt my left inner thigh muscle engaging, but not the right. So Nicole had me try just the right leg, moving the knee in and out. I was able to feel the right leg start to engage when I was moving it independently.

From there, I tilted both of my knees from side to side. Not surprisingly, moving my knees from the right side over to the left, was more difficult because of the weakness in the right leg. I'm surprised the neighbors didn't call the cops...I probs sounded like I was getting murdered!

Doing sit-ups was good. I attepmted normal, fully-on-the-ground sit-ups first. I deffinitely feel my abs working a raising me higher than before. Nicole also had me leaning back on one of those half ball thingies, and pulling myself up/forwards to my knees, using my arms and abs. I was given a strap to aide in pulling myself up with my arms. Nicole didn't want me using my arms too much, so she held on to the other ends of the strap, controlling the amount of resistance I was given.

To end our session, Nicole held up one leg at a time, and gave me one of those painful but good stretches.

Charriots of Fire

Ugh. Mondays are always so hard to get going. It doesn't help that I stayed up late last night catching up on True Blood episodes! What? It's such a good show! So going into todays workout sleepy, was me just asking for Nicole to send me home exhausted!

Today was a widget day, and Nicole decided to get creative with my workout. I started out with the simple pumping forwards laps across the studio floor. Then I switched directions, and pulled the widget rod backwards for a couple laps.

Here's the "fun" part: Nicole wrapped a resistance band around my torso, under my arms. As I pushed my wheelchair forward, she held the resistance tightly and pulled back as I struggled forward. I wore a shirt with horses on the front today, so we totally felt like Charriots of Fire!

I made my way across the floor, one arm pumped forward at a time, and then Nicole had me try part 2 of her creative exercise. She released me from her reigns, and had me straighten out my legs (so that they were straight out in front of me) and simultaneously pump the widget rods forwards, across the studio and back. I had never tried doing two different things at once, but I was able to do it, no problem. Except I did face one problem...The widget rods kept slipping out of gear! It was so frustrating  because every time the chair slipped out of gear, I had to fix the settings keeping my legs out straight still!

When I reached the end, Nicole said "Great! Now let's do 'Charriots of Fire' while you're holding your legs out!"
Boy-oh-boy, was I excited. Nicole wanted to combine the two exercises to make it extra challenging for me! I inched my way down the floor and back, impressing even me!

Then, Nicole decided to get me on the stationary bike. I was super nervouse to be transferred from the wheelchair onto the bike by Nicole...I didn't want to hurt her and cause another neck injury! But I kept my mouth shut, and she transferred me successfully! I guess I showed a lot of improvement in my transfers. Nicole was impressed with how easy the transfer was for her. I don't get feedback on my transferring skills very often, so hearing that from Nicole made me feel good

Because it has been so long since I rode the recumbandt bike, my leg muscles were confused at first on how to pedal. It took a little bit, but my legs soon remembered what they were supposed to do. I pedaled forwards and backwards, then Nicole wanted to work on my inner thigh muscles.

She stuck a block between my knees and told me to squeeze it with my legs. I was able to engage my left inner thigh muscle, but not my right. I then tried moving my knees out. This time, my right side engaged but not the left.

Lastly, Nicole replaced the block with her hand, and had me try to squeeze in the right knee. I tried extremely hard, and got the inner thigh muscle to engage. I obviously meed to continue working on the thigh muscles so that engaging them doesn't take so much effort!

With that, our session was done and I wheeled myself outta there! Be back Wednesday!