Physical Therapists

January 1, 2007

Andy,

Ever since my childhood CMT foot surgery, I have had numerous

sessions of PT and PT has been excellent. (although when I was a

teen I hated it, I hated the PT and I hated the exercise)

One of the coolest exercises my original foot surgeon said for me to

do was walk in sand. Not dry sand, not wet sand, but the sand that

is in between. And my parents made sure they drove me to the beach

(4 miles away) where I walked just like that. My surgeon also said

for me to swim (and work with a kickboard) and also to bike. 3 easy

exercises for a kid, and a teen, a young adult, and as an adult.

After I had back surgery in 02, I had some great Aqua PT and it got

me hooked on aquatics - or known as " water exercise " . It is NOT

swimming. It is an entire aqua-cardio program designed for me, by

the physical therapists and fitness staff at my gym. It is stellar. My PT and

Fitness Center is at http://www.rrpt.net/

You can look in our Files section to see the list of exercises

I put there. I also have tons of new ones I need to add there. I have developed

muscle, lost weight, and am happy also do not have aches or pain

I work out in a theraputic 92 degree Swim-Ex pool about 6 days a

week. Plus I have a home exercise program that a personal trainer

designed for me that includes Pilates, some Yoga, riding an " air

bike " (frontwards and backwards), ab crunches, ad infinitium.

I have found Physical Therapists here (big city of Santa Barbara,

smaller city of Solvang) very knowledgeable about CMT and we have

had many great conversations about my workouts, with them giving me

new moves, stretches, ideas to try. Our PTs are always going to new courses,

seminars, and furthering their education. Most of our PTs have at least a

Master's degree in PT and some have their Doctorate degrees. On top of that they

are a bunch of nice, gentle people, who know when to push people, when to

observe, when to back off, and the staff is always available to answer any

question I may have. I have certainly learned alot about muscles from their

input.

Don't give up on the exercise factor, or the physical therapists. Do

you know that YMCA's have water exercise classes for persons with

physical challenges?

~ Gretchen

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