Keen to learn more UGLY results from my Super Session? Sit back and prepare yourself, I’m about to get even more honest with just how de-conditioned I allowed my body to become before embarking on my own personal 10wk (Movement) Plan for Action, but first I’ll share some observations post session 1.2
This session I performed some lunges, low pulsing split squats and weight shifting squats (lateral moving squats), all coupled with a simultaneous upper body challenge. Again I stacked my left leg with greater volume, incrementally increased load when required and again altered one of those exercises mid-session in order to increase lower limb focus. This time by switching from a double to single arm movement, increasing the load and the depth of the weight shifting squat…. it worked by the way, my notes specifically state “hard!”.
POST SESSION 1.2
Observation #1:
Increased Left ankle mobility. Despite having undergone nor undertaken nil, nada, nothing in the way of manual therapy, stretching nor mobility exercises. (I wasn’t even wearing toe spreaders.) My left ankle felt a heap more flexible simply from having performed my 3 sets of 3 exercises…. again, just 20-25mins of work.
Observation #2:
An awareness of my medial (inside) thighs, AKA the Adductors. I suppose you could call it muscle pump, but it took me a bit to realise this was what it was. It felt weird. I was used to feeling glute and ITB (outside thigh) tightness after a workout, predominantly on the left side, usually resulting in some pretty desperate spikey ball and foam roller use. That was the norm post workout for me in the past. This time, I felt nothing on the outside of my legs, in it’s place, what I can only describe as an awareness of the muscles along the inside of my thighs. It wasn’t tight, I didn’t feel like I needed to stretch it. It was a very new sensation, almost like my body was aware of their existence for the first time. I quite liked it. It felt good, it felt right.
THE SINGLE LEG SIT TO STAND TEST (SLSTS):
WHAT IS IT?: A single leg strength test requiring balance, co-ordination & control.
HOW?: Sit on stable bench or chair so that your thigh sits parallel to the floor. Position your ankles directly under your knees ie: hips & knees @ 90 degrees.
Put your hands on your hips and lift one foot off the floor. Using one leg only, stand up & sit down, with control. Keep your ankle directly under your knee (ie: resist bringing your foot backwards towards your body) & maintain hands on hips at all times.
You may put your foot down once throughout but the test concludes upon the second loss of balance.
Resist the urge to use your trunk to swing yourself up into standing.
Record number of reps completed, if/number of falls & symptoms experienced.
TRACEY’S (UGLY) RESULTS
L= 6 reps (1x fall on 2nd rep)
JUST SIX!?! I’M ENTIRELY UNSURPRISED BUT SOOOO EMBARRASSED! I now have to admit that professionally, in the clinic, this is a test I’ve been faking for sometime. Not that long ago, I was a solid Single Leg Sit to Stand-er. Had I undergone a Super Session back in my Cross Fit days, I’d have needed to throw a heavy kettle bell in my hands to save me from having to perform oodles of reps before showing signs of fatigue, let alone failure. It was no trouble at all for me to demonstrate a body weight SLSTS to my clients during testing sessions. Fast forward a few years and I was having to (secretly) set myself & maybe cross all my fingers and toes to ensure I could execute a quality rep without demonstrating the strain it put me under. Sometimes, I couldn’t even do that. So 6 reps, it wasn’t a surprise but it was a very humbling reality check.
In conclusion, I’d managed to teeter-totter my way through 6 horrible looking reps that caused my opposite/right side quad to complain. A pretty pathetic display from someone who professes to so value human movement.
R= 25 reps (0 falls)
I concluded the test at 25 reps given I’d achieved normative values and clearly demonstrated an asymmetry. Now whilst I achieved 25 reps, they definitely weren’t pretty, I was reasonably wobbly and I felt a strain in my opposite/left side groin & quad almost immediately, which continued not only throughout the 25 reps but remained until my next test….. when it was probably replaced with some other discomfort in some other body part.
NORMS: 22 reps
WHY?
I often use this test to demonstrate safety (or lack there of) to my running clients. I find most folk down play the physical act of running. Perhaps it’s considered an easy or basic activity because it doesn’t require a gym membership nor equipment, but this couldn’t be farther from the truth. Running is a highly complex, impactful action that puts immense force through the lower limbs, particularly the foot & ankle. If you’re running and unable to achieve 22 reps on both sides, I probably don’t need to tell you, you likely already experience some sort of foot, knee, leg, hip or back pain.
MY ASSOCIATED PAIN/INJURY/RISK:
Fortunately for me, (on so many levels, it’s soooo not my favourite!) I’m not presently running. However, like most humans, I walk everyday and walking is also an impactful activity, just at a lesser intensity. Allowing my joints a little grace and a lot more time before significant symptoms might be felt. However, with this sort of asymmetry, symptoms will definitely present themselves in due course.
HOMEWORK:
Get testing!
Follow the instructions outlined above and be sure to maintain the 90/90 angle with your standing hip & knee. (See comparative pics above) Grab someone to join you & keep watch, or record yourself doing a few reps to get the feel of what’s right and wrong.
If you’re a runner with lower limb pain prepare to be humbled. And in the case you’re able to achieve the 22 reps, re-test on both sides whilst holding a load in at your chest. (see pic below) Does an asymmetry present itself?
+12KG KETTLEBELL…. AS IF!?!
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And if you’re interested in learning more about your body and how it moves, you can book an appointment below.