Where to begin - and how to continue

[MaRo]

I have not disappeared or stopped stretching, I've just torn two ligaments and a traumatic cartilage lesion in my  left ankle...

[Kit_L]

Was this the result of that poor landing you mentioned a while ago?

[MaRo]

exactly...

[Kit_L]

Are the two ligament rears partial or full? What do the experts say is  the best course to follow?

[MaRo]

Thanks for your reply. One of the ligaments seam to be fully ripped, but in place and not far apart, the other only half, at least it looks like it in the MRI. And there is quite a bit of scar tissue - I had problems with the ligaments severalt times in my life.

The physiotherapis says that it might be possible that the cartilage does not heal as long as the ligaments do not hold the bone in place.

The doctor says that I should wear a brace/guard (sorry, I don't know the correct expression in English) night and day for a couple of weeks. Then, the ligaments should healed enough that it can be seen how the flexiblity of the ankle is (I guess, unchanged, unfortunately, as ist feels totally blocked).

The physio does some "opening movements" on the ankle which should increas the blood circulation in the ankle and this feels really helpful. He also showed me how I could worke the muscles in the foot and around the ankle and which movements I should avoid. Then, we try to work on a "sneak walk" so that there are no hard movements on the joint.

I should avoid jumping, running, uncontrolled wobbling and lopsided positions of the foot (which are mostly restrained by the brace). Basically, I should avoid everything that hurts slightly.
So no climbing, jogging, horseriding, jumps and landings in gymnastics. I was not aware how often I jump and run and wobble and go into lopsided positions...

But I can walk, bike (moderatly), swim, do yoga and stretching partly

[Kit_L]

When you feel ready, really carefully explore the foot sequences many exercises. "Brace" is the term we use in English, too; perfect. Here are two sequences:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bL6BDUR8cKI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvAto6yIGLY

Go very carefully, of course.

[janetssre]

On 5/10/2022 at 5:57 AM, Kit_L said:

When you feel ready, really carefully explore the foot sequences many exercises. "Brace" is the term we use in English, too; perfect. Here are two sequences:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bL6BDUR8cKI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvAto6yIGLY

Go very carefully, of course.

It was so nice to go through this Video. In the busy schedule of my life getting know so many exercise is like a blessing. Thanks a lot for sharing so informative videos.

[MaRo]

Hi, thanks so much! I watched the videos today and tried them after physio. It is very similar to what my physiotherapist recommends, so it's really helpful. He also says I should do whatever doesn't hurt and remain careful. The "foot activation" ist perfect!

He also recommended to stretch my adductors as he says my problems with my knees "falling in" are suspectedly due to thight (not necessarily strong) adductors. So exactly what you, @Kit_L say. Not that I don't believe you,  it is just that I feel really good taken care of if two very competent people lead me in the same direction.

[Kit_L]

@MaRo: you wrote, 

17 hours ago, MaRo said:

He also recommended to stretch my adductors as he says my problems with my knees "falling in" are suspectedly due to thight (not necessarily strong) adductors.

In my humble opinion, that may only be part of the problem. Knees 'falling in' can also be a lack of proprioceptive feedback from the soles of the feet, such that the external rotators are relatively inactive (these counter the adductors pulling the knees in so that the knees track straight), and tight hip flexors can play a role, too. In the anti-pronation thread, there's a simple but very effective exercise that makes the arch work harder, and combined with free squats (bodyweight) where you put a strap around knees and push the knees outwards against the strap as you squat (even when hanging on to something) will activate the external rotators and the glutes. The two together can change this tendency quite quickly. 

[MaRo]

You're certainly right that the adductors are only part of the problem. It was just kind of a side not wenn activating my ancle and I mentioned my problem with my knee falling in. He showed me how to move the foot in a way that makes sense.

The foot activations series is a real comfort. The right side of my neck tends to be tense at the moment, too. Apparently, a consequence of not moving my left foot properly. I found a stretchtherapy video with jaw-net stretching Exercise s that provide relief, especially in the morning.

[MaRo]

Today, I did - as I do every week - some contract-relax in "side split" position. My ability to split the legs was really poor when I started working it on a more regular basis in august 2020. I took a picture back then which showed that I was able to split the legs in a 98° degree angle. Today, it was 118° degrees! Still nothing like a full side split, but I certainly gained flexiblity!

[Kit_L]

It took me ten years to get full side splits (and I don't have it today) and external rotation was the secret for me. As well, I needed to be strong enough in the adductors to hold my whole weight while using only fingertips to hold my body above my legs. And (this was the surprising bit) my progress was noticeably faster the closer I got to the floor. Another technique that helped was to build a deformable support that I rested on for five to ten minutes at a time, after the contractions part of the session was over. It needs to be able to support most of your weight, but deformable enough to let you wriggle closer to the floor if you want to.

[MaRo]

Your words are encouraging! I don't need the full splits, but some more angle would be helpful.

At them moment, I can not hold the posiiton that long. Some muscles always start cramping. It is really had to relax into the position.
I do the turnout stuff, cossack squats nearly every day, contract-relax about twice a week and a lot of work towards pancake.

[Kit_L]

Assuming you're still doing the relaxation practise, you'll get there, in time. Pay very close attention to what happens in the instants of lowering yourself into the stretching position: what tenses up? This is protective tension, and if you catch it early enough, you can let it go. 

[MaRo]

Very well said, @Kit_L. I often sit in a stretchin position and ask myself: Why can`t I lower any further? What is blocking me? Where am I tense.

In my "difficult" positions, it is often difficult to feel why the movment is limited. I just feel that it goes to a certain point and not any further.
In some positions, I feel it very well (like in leaning forward it is the hamstrings- sometimes moving to the calves or in the side split position it is the adductors etc.). In some it is jut like blocked.

 

Well, I go on.. .day per day. I had a nice little experience on saturday, I hope I`ll get a picture of it - and will tell then...

[MaRo]

As I mentioned before, I do gymnastics (on a very basic level - most of the time, I am a coach).
I always had problems doing a standing balance due to my limited flexiblity. In the standing balance, the upper leg and the shoulders are supposed to be even or higher than the hips.

Last saturday, I had to do it again and a friend of mine took a picture. To my surprise, it was ok. Still, the leg is not straight, but it actually is "even or higher than the hips". I was really happy for this little improvement of my flexiblity!

(the old ladies don't do beam - we do bench 😄 )

[Kit_L]

In our work, we call this the "T" pose. GMB (I know Ryan well) calls a moving version of this (where you first take the leg to the front, also around horizontal, then balancing all the way, take it slowly to the position you show so beautifully here) "The Scales". 

And look at the excellent alignment of the support leg's foot. We do a lot of single-leg balance work, because it's the fastest way to get perfect alignment in the foot and establish the form of the arch. You can't balance unless it's aligned this way.