I really am not proud of what I am about to write, but I do have a confession to make. For most of the summer, I haven’t been practicing what I preach with regards to giving myself adequate down-time and rest, or what Paul Chek calls, checking in with Dr,. Quiet.
I’ve been working on a number of very exciting projects including writing a new book, developing new courses, preparing to teach five courses over the next two months and developing a completely new side of my business (that I shall keep under my hat for now).
In addition to a busy work schedule I have had the busiest summer of tournament tennis. In my enthusiasm to play, I have over-committed myself to tournaments, which I now realise has left me too little time and energy to spend in the gym to keep in top-shape for tennis. Two weeks ago a got a twinge in my right knee after a match which left me limping for a day or two. It seemed like I may have slightly torn medial cartilage or the medial collateral ligament. I treated it with ice and did very little in the gym to give it time to heal.
This week I began some corrective exercise and the knee is feeling much better already. However, I have now developed pain in the left shoulder that I put down to too little postural work during my in-season and poor positioning of my left arm whilst working at the computer for too many hours at a time and lounging on my sofa on my left side after long, exhausting days. Checking my posture in the mirror, it appears I have some anterior capsular laxity of the shoulder and I’m sure I have supraspinatus tendonitis, so lifting my arm up isn’t an option at the moment.
So why am I telling you this? I should know better right and I should not get injured? I agree, and as I said I am not proud of it. In fact, it has been about six years since my last injury. The reason I am sharing this with you is because I wish to highlight how easy it can be to bite off more than you can chew at times and what affects it can have on you. So the question is, what am I going to do? Well, stay tuned and follow my progress. What I will say for sure is that I will be pulling out of the tournament I was due to play in this weekend and ensuring that I take time out to mediate and stretch each evening. And if I have to lounge on the sofa, I won’t be lying on my left side. I’ll keep you posted on my rehab efforts.
Stay tuned!
Can anyone guess what exercises I used to help rehab my knee?