Grindmx number 4 Grindmx July 2015 | Page 19

Andrew Short Therapy Update Shorty has been on a four day per week therapy schedule for six weeks and progress has been steady. Lots of difficult tasks and quite a bit of pain but he has shown the maturity and understanding of a veteran athlete that has been through this before, knowing  it’s part of the sport, and you are stronger in the end.The usual schedule has been two days on, one day off, two days on. The first day of the pair is for loaded exercises, many of them eccentric. The second day is normally unloaded, free chain type of therapy with hands on manual therapy. Shorty has felt that the hands on manual therapy has been getting the most bang for the buck recently as there are some internal bracing sutures and scarring that when freed, provides immediately noticeable gains in range of motion. E-stim, cryo, passive and active stretching and other forms of active mobility are also utilized. Two weeks ago there was enough gain in knee flexion to begin road cycling. This was a huge breakthrough, not only to begin regaining fitness but also mentally for Andrew. Sitting around doing nothing is probably as mentally stressful as being injured. Now he can have a daily mental and emotional break while working on healing and fitness. I am a firm believer that mental and emotional states are just as important as physical aspects for healing, health and performance.This coming week is a big week as Andrew will attempt to begin riding motocross! We will be taking it nice and easy, just building up a base of seat time as his body allows. Send good vibes!