Back to work

Knee feels a lot better after Friday's ultrasound injection. Still a slight twinge once in a while, but it hasn't felt this good in months. We have a Mazda 6 sports car that sits low to the ground, and getting out of that thing has been an adventure, but today when I got back from the gym, I stuck my left leg out, foot on the ground, and boom! popped right up, no pain, no bracing against the door jam, no grunting like an old man. 

Just up and out like a normal person.

Very cool.

I was concerned maybe I'd lost a lot of strength on that side, but apparently it was just the pain holding me back. The doctor told me to avoid any high-impact activity until Wednesday, but I think I'm going to go a while longer than that, and really ease back into things. I am excited, though, to see how a pain-free take-off leg reacts next time I do some vaulting. 

Look out, 10-foot crossbar. Here I come ... 

OK, slow it down a little, Johnny boy. Let's get that first 9-foot bar, and go from there ... 

Today's workout was pretty good. I stayed away from anything that put any pressure at all on my injected knee. I did some incline dumbbell chest press, alternating with hanging high-bar knee raises. Man, I need a lot of work on my grip strength. Then, I did some machine shoulder presses, alternating with cable lat pulldowns and machine bench press. Did some cable flyes, some dumbbell curls, triceps press, and then it was time for the noon staff meeting. 

The next few days, I'll continue working on the upper body and leave lower body alone. At some point late next week or early the next week, I think I'll start running some easy sprints and weighted sleds, maybe some vaulting plant drills. Maybe some light leg machine press, and leg extensions and curls. 

And definitely a lot of stretching.  Whether I like it or not -- and I don't -- I have to learn to do a lot of daily stretching and flexibility, not only to try and avoid further damage to various body parts, but also to try and make this knee stronger and healthier, and keep it that way as long as possible.

For a really good and some say inspiring story about an old guy learning to pole vault for the first time in his life at age 60, click here to find a copy of "Finally Fit: It's Never Too Late to Achieve a Dream." 

​Ciao,  y'all ...