After an Injury... Gymnast's Success Story
Posted: Thursday, October 15, 2009
by Karen Goeller CSCS
Gymnastics Stuff
Here's a young gymnast's success story after a severe injury.
KC was a client of mine for over one year, four months of that were spent recovering from an injury. This young athlete came to me as a frail little girl and one year later she was a strong athlete. KC went through a remarkable physical and mental transformation in that year. KC was in an accident that caused both the radius and ulna to be fractured, one was compound. It was a difficult situation for this child because she was i n a full cast, half cast, and then brace, a total of well over three months of her young life. And that was during the summer! KC was extremely active despite the injury, camp, outside play, and training with me. KC handled this ordeal extremely well, she was a trooper!
Here's how it went... When KC was in the full cast, the cast itself was the resistance for upper body movements. KC performed movements that kept her upper body in shape without disrupting the injured area. Once KC was in the half cast we had permission to train on her elbows, in a plank position. That opened up a whole new world for KC. By that point KC was performing protractions in the plank position, with her feet on the floor and even with her feet elevated to nearly a handstand. (The elevation trained her shoulders more.) At that point KC was allowed to hold a light piece of cardboard so she learned how to perform certain movements that were later performed with dumbbells or a toning bar. KC progressed so rapidly and we were all thrilled! When KC was finally out of the half cast and into a brace, her doctor allowed some weight bearing, but on her fists. We then moved to a push up position on her fists and again, so much progress in so little time! In no time, KC was walking in the push up position with her feet on a scooter. The forward and backward walks simulated skills in her sport and involved nearly every major muscle group in her body. With this weight bearing exercise her arm built some bone density, getting closer to 100%. We trained like this until the final doctor's appointment. At the final appointment the doctor was very pleased with KC's progress and left the final step to KC and me. When would she return to FULL competition training? We continued to make steady progress, increased intensity, and in the end followed our gut. It all worked! KC was healed and back into full training with confidence that her arm was healed.
Through this ordeal, there was a careful and steady progress that led to KC's success. KC is now a stronger person, both physically and mentally as a result of her severe injury. Her mom, doctor, and I worked as a team each step of the way to help KC with her transition from an injured little girl to becoming a strong athlete. Injuries are horrible, but KC was a trooper. She came to training, worked hard, and made progress each week. KC is truly a SUCCESS story.
Let me help your daughter return to her sport from an injury, progress faster in her sport, or increase confidence. I offer sports conditioning, private gymnastics training, and gymnastics clinics for teams in NJ.
Call me at 888-496-8749 to let me know how I can help your athlete gain strength, improve flexibility, or return from an injury... Visit www.BestSportsConditioning.com for more information and to read the testimonials from clients.
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)It's an inspiring story...Please log in to respond to this comment.
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