OttoBock Fitness App Day 3

Day 3 of my 12 week OttoBock fitness app trial.

Today I did the coordination and balance exercises. These were actually more difficult than the strength and endurance exercise because for some of the exercise you have to shift your weight onto the prosthetic side. My socket is too big, which means that I am putting more pressure through the stump and on the soft tissue, which is uncomfortable. I also found that when I transferred the weight onto the prosthetic side it was hard to keep my leg straight, with the prosthesis shifting to the outside at an angle. Through trail and error, I found that be focusing on my core muscles and keeping them tight I had more control over the prosthesis to complete the exercises. I also found that if I tensed the muscles in my residual limb on the prosthetic side it also gave me more control and reduced the shift, keeping the prosthesis straighter and making the exercises easier. Make sure you do the exercises standing on a towel as this gives you legs more clearance from the floor for the exercises which I needed. If you are an above knee amputee the steeplechase is more difficult as you need to step over the blocks. This is hard if you don't have a free knee. I lifted my leg up and around the blocks. I will try the exercises again with a free knee and see if this makes them any easier. The total time I spent to complete all eight exercises was only five minutes. No where near the recommend twenty minutes. In two days time I will do both sets of exercises on the same day, which combine should give me the commended 20 Minutes three times a week. I haven't noticed any physical difference yet, but I do feel slightly better.