Overview of 2010 and hopes for 2011

A reminder of the 2 weeks of deep snow and freezing weather conditions of this December. It's a little Blue Tit just outside the patio doors, wishing he had a bit more branch to perch on!

I can't believe another year of 'rehab' has gone by....

This time last year, my body/muscles weren't capable of swimming. The most I could do was lie on my back and do flutter kicks for a short time (1-2 lengths). My frozen/dysfunctional left shoulder made it impossible to do any arm strokes (coupled with the fact that my shoulders were generally very weak and unstable). The weakness in my hips/core made me susceptible to injury if I attempted anything too vigorous or complex with my legs. I had to be careful and deliberate in all my movements.

Yesterday, I was at the pool and swam 20 lengths (10 backstroke, 10 breaststroke) (500 metres). Initially, nothing hurt, which was wonderful! After about 10 lengths, I was getting pain in the front of my left shoulder and battling cramp in both feet. But, there has been clear progress to get this point at the end of the year.

Below is the graphical summary for this year.

For the first 7-8 months, the average daily exercise continued to increase. However, I was still getting a lot of niggling pain/injuries. For the latter part of this year, I opted for a "less is more" approach and reduced the avg daily exercise to allow my muscles to grow/recover/repair between activities. I think it was important that I spent a good 18 months getting my body to do more and more - I guess it was essentially about getting my muscles/nervous system etc back 'online'. Now, I seem to be in a new phase where I can do less and concentrate on actually developing more strength.

Below is a graph showing the trend for the average daily exercise for the past 2 years. It clearly shows the steady increase until the peak and, latterly, the reduction to allow for muscle growth/repair.

The biggest issue through all of this rehab has been how to manage injuries and pain. There are a number of chronically problematic areas: the LHS lower back; left glutes/hip; right upper thigh/groin/hip and left shoulder.

I had hoped that by the end of this year the hip/back problems would have settled down but that's not the case. However, I am learning to manage them better. In particular, I think I've finally found the perfect stretch to target the LHS lower back tightness/pain:

Since I started using this stretch, the back pain has become more manageable (and, dare I say, is decreasing in frequency/intensity?!).

I definitely have more range of motion in my left shoulder now although it's still restricted and painful on abduction, in particular.

So, for 2011....let's put down some hopes/aims even if they evolve into other things...

• Be able to swim 1/2 mile (32 lengths)
• Get to a point where the back and hip pain are essentially gone
• Get full range of motion in my left shoulder without pain
• Continue to gain stability and strength in my shoulders and hips

Finally, this year, I have relished the involvement in table tennis and always felt like it symbolised tangible progress. Here's hoping 2011 has something of this tangible progress in it too.