Thursday, August 27, 2020

F$#^R& The Plateau!



Three quick suggestions to continue breaking though plateaus: 

Change things up. Do not fall into what athletes call habituation; doing the same thing and expecting better movement. Work (within sane limits of safety) beyond your ability. In other words, the same old will get you more of the same old movement. New, done correctly, will get you new movement.

Let an athletic trainer help you be a better athlete. Explore the option of working with an athletic trainer (AT). (Note: In the USA an AT is a Masters degree. They understand what a stroke is, and safety concerns). The AT may help unleash your inner athlete. Therapists sometimes focus on reducing deficits. They have to: They're trying to get you safe, "functional," and back home. ATs tend to focus on better movement, and will look at survivors the way they look at any athlete. To them, you'll just be another athlete. A "low level athlete playing a higher stakes game."

If you don't work out, plan on weakness. Never underestimate the value of the hard work you are doing in the gym (home gym, place where you exercise/ meditate/ stretch, etc.). Survivors take twice as much energy as aged-matched couch potatoes to do every movement (i.e. dressing, walking bathing). So survivors need “banked” energy to live their life. On top of that, survivors need even more energy to do the hard work of recovery. 

1 comment:

Denise said...

Yes! I've found a trainer, and go once a week. It's been over a year with her, and I was just thinking this weekend that I'm a lot stronger than I was before I started with her. My stroke (hemorrhagic) was 7 years ago.

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