Better, Stronger, Faster

I keep thinking of the 6 Million Dollar Man TV series where Col. Steve Austin, astronaut, was given bionic body parts that made him better, stronger, faster. Here's the series intro on YouTube. Okay fine, hokey now, but that was good TV back then. There was also the Bionic Woman but the intro is more sappy.

Last Friday during I Ho Chuan, I had a good conversation with Sifu Michael Playter regarding shoulder injury recovery. What stuck with me the most was: (at least) 6 months for healing and the same amount of time for rebuilding. Yeah, I forgot about the time frame for the last part. So now I am in the re-build and re-strengthen phase for my shoulder and no, I will not end up with bionic parts , but I do anticipate a better, stronger shoulder out of the deal.

The easy assumption is that I will be doing a million pushups as rehab. Well no. Pushups, in the form of tricep with my hands flared out and elbows right close in to my body, are part of the program but certainly do not dominate it. What I am doing is GSP Rushfit for rehab. Rushfit has a lot of shoulder strengthening exercises as well as a huge focus on core. There are pushups involved, but more so a lot of shoulder weight bearing and movement exercises that I have found very beneficial. Even though right now I cannot do the exercise as per video, I am doing a modification for me that works and yes, I can feel the work.

I mentioned the word "program" in regards to re-building. Exercise/strengthening is only a part of the rehab. What's even more important is adequate rest and sleep because that's when the re-building actually takes place. Acupuncture, clean diet, lots of water, and my Spiritual practices are also very much included in my re-building program.

I have learned through my injury who's really in charge and it's not me (aka ego). It wasn't easy to rest when I wanted to go, but I learned and it has paid off in spades. Step by step I will have a shoulder like I had before with the exception of being better, stronger, faster and I will have no issue going through the x-ray machines at the airport.
Sherri Donohue
My Blog