When going to an activity-based therapy clinic like Project Walk Twin-Cities, which I’ve had the fortune of going to these past couple of months, it’s easy to get caught up in the prospect of getting below-injury movement back … ya know, walkin’.

But you don’t hear a lot about people working on what they already have movement-wise above-injury. The truth is that Project Walk works with this with all of their clients, including me, and even though it’s important, holy cow has it been a daunting process. I have discovered something I bet many of you can relate to — I’m not as strong as I think I am, and this became evidently clear last week.

As you go to Project Walk, they vary the exercises each time you visit and then slowly work you up to a more rigorous workout. Last week my trainers decided to try what they call a “wall workout” where they have you use a wall as a piece of equipment. They transfer you out of your wheelchair and onto a mat, and then have you lean against a wall as straight as you can.

While in this position, this is where the real magic happens and discoveries about your true abilities can be made. While sitting as upright as possible, they had me put my arm directly in front of me completely straight, using only my shoulder muscles, and then from this position they had me go up and down with my arm. It sounds like a simple movement, but it was not. I could barely move it. WTF indeed.

While my right side is as strong as it was the day I left rehab, my left arm has shockingly become 30 percent weaker. To this day I’m not sure how this happened, but I do know that I’m mortified. The only thing I can think of as the culprit is years of hooking my left arm for balance; using it as a secondary arm and not a primary.

All I know is that while it was horrifying to discover that my arm had really gone downhill, I was grateful to know it. Who knows if I had not discovered this, where would it be one year from now? Declining weakness with a spinal cord injury is never a good thing, which is why my therapist sent me home with an at-home exercise to do increase my arm strength. Simple arm lifts to do every other day.

I just started these exercises a couple of days ago, but I can already see a difference in my ability to move more freely. In bed last year, I noticed it had become harder for me to get the covers where a need them. But with this even small amount of increased strength in my arms, I’m now able to keep my arms elevated just long enough to put my covers where I want them; a huge improvement in quality of life.

I am just so glad the muscle in my arm that has been causing issues over the past year has been pinpointed. I’s no fun having your independence being slowly chipping away. Not even my occupational therapist was able to do this, and that is saying something huge.

Have you gotten weaker post-injury?

Photo courtesy of Flickr CC https://www.flickr.com/photos/digioreo/14913085221/sizes/n/

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