And that means it's Breast Cancer Awareness Month!!! For all of us previvors, survivors, friends/family of a previvor/survivor let's help others to become aware and know that we are not alone in this!!!
This week ALSO marked the first week of starting my very own 12 week Previvor Exercise Guide!! It is in a VERY rough draft stage right now and I am constantly updating it and adding to it as I follow it each day. I designed it for anyone who has gone through upper body surgery (doesn't have to specifically be a previvor, could be a cancer survivor, someone who had arm, shoulder, stomach, gall bladder surgery, etc.)! It progresses slowly so that the individual using it doesn't feel overwhelmed in the beginning.
Obviously, since each person is different and each surgery is unique to the individual, each person would need to show the guide to their surgeon(s) before beginning it to make sure they are physically ready to complete the exercises required. My intentions are to help women gain back their strength, flexibility and endurance after they have had surgery using the guide as a step-by-step instruction manual on how to do so :)
For the first 8 weeks there are 2 rest days a week but, starting week 9, one of the rest days turns into a working day....just an example of how the guide progresses. Also, to avoid complications, the guide is split into 3 sections - weeks 1-4, weeks 5-8 and weeks 9-12. The routine for weeks 1-4 is the same each week so that the individual can become comfortable and improve in each exercise before moving onto a harder and more challenging exercise! The exercises become more challenging every 4 weeks and require more strength and coordination.
Here's week 1:
I initially had just a walk on Monday but I realized that I felt good and wanted to actually do work. However, since I am only allowed to lift 20lbs or less with my lower body, the machines didn't really give me a good workout....it pretty much did nothing. So that's why I added a bunch of lower body body-weight exercises on Wednesday on top of the upper body flexibility work. Initially, I only had the upper body flexibility work, but it wasn't enough. And let me tell you......I am FEELING it....my booty is SUPER sore and so are my legs and I LOVE it!!!! :)
Foam rolling out the legs - hamstrings and glutes to be specific
Since it's Friday today, that's the workout I'm planning on doing. However, based on how I feel, I might add to it. This is why I wanted to "test" my guide out myself first before I publish it so I can know what needs to change!!
One thing I do need to think about is the fact that the recovery for both surgeries is VERY different. The preventative double mastectomy recovery is much more difficult, slower and challenging than the final reconstruction. ROM and flexibility is harder to gain back after the PBM and you tend to feel weaker (or at least I did) after the PBM surgery. After the final reconstruction, you immediately have almost all of your ROM you had before the surgery (which might have still been limited since the PBM surgery) and I felt like I had more energy and strength right away (after the anesthesia wore off).
I hope you all have a fantabulous weekend!!!
Remember, if you have any questions or you would like to test out my guide and provide me with feedback, email me at:
paigeperformance.connect@gmail.com
Also, today's workout (friday) can be viewed in video form on my instagram page: fitness.paige
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