*Health Improvement: It's 5 months after abdominal surgery, and my abdominal muscles are still very weak and painful if used too hard (like a crunch). My arms, legs, and back muscles have atrophied noticeably. Also gone is my flexibility and endurance. I have snapping hip on my left side which is much worse. One surgery was on my small intestine and I still have problems with digestion and elimination. I also secretly hope that the T-Tapping will help with very painful menses.
Thanks to the motivation of this contest I was able to T-Tapp consistently for the past 60 days and recover much of the strength, flexibility, and endurance I lost after 2 abdominal surgeries last December. The evidence, however, isn't reflected much in the pictures or my measurements.
On May 1st, I did one crunch and had sharp shooting pains in my abdominal muscles for 5 days after. How do you strengthen your abs if you can't do a single crunch? A friend suggested balance exercises, and the light bulb went on in my head. I had found T-Tapp in October 2002 and have always had great results, but somehow I always let life get in the way and failed to be consistent.
This time I discovered that the balance sequence of T-Tapp left me only a little sore the next day without shooting pains. Then the 60-Day Challenge began – perfect timing.
At first I couldn't do all of Tempo, and my legs needed many breaks during Thread the Needle. Over the first 10 days I was able to increase to doing the whole workout. At this point I went to every other day until mid-June.
By June 15th, it was obvious I wasn't losing many inches or pounds. How else could I measure my improvements? I tried and was able to hold my head up in the crunch position for 40 counts (the Pilates hundreds). I also noticed better endurance and strength in regular one mile walks, bringing my time down from 17:30 to 16:30 minutes per mile. My lung capacity also increased by 14%. Like many others, neck, shoulder, and back pain were noticeably improved within the first couple of weeks. At this point, unfortunately, complications from the surgery flared up, and I went to twice a week workouts due to my limitations.
Despite the less frequent workouts, on July 12th I was able to do a full set of hundreds! The first time in 8 months! I was noticeably sore the next couple days, but nothing very painful. Also my lung capacity has now improved by 29% since May 15th. I plan to return to my favorite Pilates class, in addition to T-Tapp, in August.
These past 60 days I've only done the Tempo Workout and walking. I'm not strong enough yet to do any of the floor exercises. Also my diet has remained the same.
As my abdominal issues continue with the threat of further surgeries, I'm trying to see this time not as one for losing inches but for building as much strength as possible. T-Tapp has proven the perfect tool for just that purpose. I obviously still have a long way to go to return to normal, how I was before the surgeries. But now I feel like I'm actually on the road to recovery, instead of standing on the shoulder trying to figure out what to do.
Why do I deserve to win? I've read on the forums of people working out much more frequently than I have and losing many more inches. I wondered if I should bother to submit my results at all. Also, I feel like I've already won, already been given my prize in the exercise videos and my much improved health. However, I wonder if maybe there are others like me out there, desperate and frustrated after surgery, wanting to find a tool to help them recover and find their way back to health. Maybe folks who also are slow to lose inches or pounds will seek creative ways to measure their improvements, as I've had to do, to help them maintain their motivation and commitment. T-Tapp has worked for me, despite my doubts, concerns, and limitations, I can only hope that others in a similar situation will give it a try and find that it helps them on their road to recovery too.
