Working on New Exercises

Throughout my years in high school, I have developed my understanding of different exercises and how they can be incorporated into a workout to achieve results. This skill has helped me at Cardinal. After a few days into the project, I talked with Marie about different exercises that a patient could do to work on their ankle mobility and stability. It was a busier day so, she did not have time to write up the new exercises, so she assigned me the task of writing up an ankle routine for this patient. One of the exercises I thought of consisted of ankle mobility work on the rocker board. This was a new exercise they were not using at the time, but now they use it with a few of their patients. This situation has given me the confidence to step out of my comfort zone and recommend specific exercises to the therapists. Of course, I don’t know it all. I am constantly learning new methods that they employ with their patients. A lot of the time, I will work with individual patients on exercises. Typically, with band exercises, I will help put the band on the patient and take it off. I will assist them by holding the band, so they can get the stretch they need to make the exercise effective. One thing that I want to learn is how therapists assign different treatments to new patients. I don’t know if they assign basic exercises in the beginning or specific exercises based on the patient's needs from the beginning. I have enjoyed learning from these therapists over the last three weeks. I have also loved working with the patients. These are some of the most fun-loving people I have ever met, and it’s hard to think this is the last week.