I'll let you in on a little secret...
A few months ago, I suffered an anterior labral tear in my left hip, completely changing my life forever.
It was a daily decline: my 8 minute mile became a 14 minute mile, then running wasn't a possibility, until finally walking seemed like a foreign concept when my left leg failed to move forward. The doctors told me I needed arthroscopic surgery as soon as possible, that they had never seen anyone so young with such severe damage to the hips.
Of course, being a stubborn athlete with a "too strong for surgery" mentality, I opted for rehabilitation in hopes that I could strengthen the muscles around my hips and return to my military training. Newsflash: the labrum is cartilage, and cartilage can't repair itself. My choice to try physical therapy instead of fixing the problem only weakened my body and made me move even slower!
At first, I refused to use crutches to get around, I wanted to be "strong" and let my body heal on its own. Eventually, I ended up on the sticks, drawing a lot of unwanted attention to myself in public. Strangers kept approaching me, asking "what happened, why are you on crutches?" Coldly, I replied "I got hurt." My injury embarrassed me-I had gone from being a super-strong superstar athlete, to being someone with a limp on crutches.
My first few weeks back in the gym were the hardest. Just months prior, I was squatting double my body weight, juggling 30lb dumbbells while doing jumping jacks and 50m sprints, flipping 200lb tires, running for miles and miles, and maxing out pull ups. Now I was struggling to lift 10lbs, and I had to remain seated. After getting one too many pathetic, indulgent sympathy grins, putting me over the edge and pissing me off, I decided to ween myself off the sticks and get back to prime.
Undeniably, the pain in my hip was crippling, but I started squatting, lunging and lifting at my own pace, determined to make my body stronger than it has ever been. During the first week of April, I started to walk 6 miles every afternoon in hopes that I could begin running again. By the end of April, I was running 3 miles before my hip reminded me that it was there.
Just a few days ago, I incorporated plyometric exercises (explosive, jumping movements) into my leg workout. I was totally drenched in sweat and as a former cheerleader, I was so happy to be able to jump! Because of the impact on the joints from landing after sending myself flying into the air, I used stationary exercises between each plyo, making this workout a HIIT (High intensity interval training)!
I'm sharing this workout with you to celebrate my achievements and all of the hard work I have put in to improve myself up to this point!
Trainer Triton's HIIT Workout for Lean Legs.
First circuit: complete 3x
60 seconds Sumo squats
30 seconds Forward+reverse lunges right leg
60 seconds High knees
30 seconds Forward+reverse lunges left leg
60 seconds Jumping jacks (side straddle hops for my military brothers and sisters)
60 seconds Squats (feet together)
60 seconds Mountain climbers
And then bravery came along..
Second circuit: complete 2x
30 seconds Forward+reverse lunges right leg
60 seconds Lateral (side) hops
30 seconds Forward+reverse lunges left leg
60 seconds High Knees
60 seconds Alternating reverse lunges with dumbbells
60 seconds In&out squat jumps (like a jumping jack with a squat)
60 seconds Deadlifts with dumbbells
60 seconds Sumo Squat Jumps
60 seconds Lateral (side) lunge right leg
30 seconds Russian twists
60 seconds Lateral (side) lunge left leg
60 seconds Lateral (side) hops
30 seconds Plank
60 seconds Squat jumps with 2 second hold at the bottom of the squat
Complete with 200 walking lunges. Go home.
Don't wish for it, work for it.
Change your mind, change your life!
-Meghan
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