Knee Update #5
Putting my road bike on the training spinner failed. Neal's handyman skills are not to blame, my bike just had the wrong kind of axle. So we went and got a stationary seat bike from Goodwill. It's not something I would ever really want to own under normal circumstances, but considering that it is one of the few ways I can get decent exercise at the moment, I am very excited to have it. $25 is a lot cheaper than pre-surgery physical therapy.
It is powered by itself when I pedal it. It keeps track of the "distance" I "go" in miles and in times around a 400m track I have "gone." I can adjust the resistance which is helpful, because sometimes I have been turning the resistance way down so I can just pedal with my left leg, that has certainly gotten weaker than my other leg in the past two weeks since my little accident. It also keeps track of the time I have been "riding." My goal is to be on this thing a half hour each day. So far I am 2 for 2.
It feels great to break a sweat--it had been 14 days since I had and I have gained a few unwelcome pounds. When I have gotten off after a half hour of riding these past few days, with my muscles all warmed up, I could both bend and straighten my leg farther than I have been able to since the injury. Yes, exercise is good. Unfortunately "being mean" to my leg, like the surgeon had told me to do to keep up the range of motion of my leg and keep up my muscle mass as much as possible, is kind of painful. At least yesterday, my first morning after a workout on the stationary bike, I was even stiffer and more ache-y than before...
My other goal for the week is to get the needed surgery scheduled. It is proving to be a tricky ordeal to make the location decision. I need wisdom for this. And a lot more money than I ever would have imagined investing in a knee. So much for progress in getting out of post-college debt.
It is powered by itself when I pedal it. It keeps track of the "distance" I "go" in miles and in times around a 400m track I have "gone." I can adjust the resistance which is helpful, because sometimes I have been turning the resistance way down so I can just pedal with my left leg, that has certainly gotten weaker than my other leg in the past two weeks since my little accident. It also keeps track of the time I have been "riding." My goal is to be on this thing a half hour each day. So far I am 2 for 2.
It feels great to break a sweat--it had been 14 days since I had and I have gained a few unwelcome pounds. When I have gotten off after a half hour of riding these past few days, with my muscles all warmed up, I could both bend and straighten my leg farther than I have been able to since the injury. Yes, exercise is good. Unfortunately "being mean" to my leg, like the surgeon had told me to do to keep up the range of motion of my leg and keep up my muscle mass as much as possible, is kind of painful. At least yesterday, my first morning after a workout on the stationary bike, I was even stiffer and more ache-y than before...
My other goal for the week is to get the needed surgery scheduled. It is proving to be a tricky ordeal to make the location decision. I need wisdom for this. And a lot more money than I ever would have imagined investing in a knee. So much for progress in getting out of post-college debt.