I always laugh when someone I know goes on a rant about something they’re passionate about or something that bothers them or something that they wish the world would know……
And then they end it with: Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk!
You know what I mean?? 😂 I have no doubt that you have had people in your life do this – – and perhaps YOU, yourself, have even done this!! 😃 – – and I always think it’s awesome. Most unofficial “Ted Talk” rants are quite opinionated, THOUGH they do provide unique perspectives and things to think about. Which can be very insightful.
And sometimes they’re just great for a laugh, which is always a fantastic bonus with anything going on!!!!
I have never actually done that myself before…..Until RIGHT NOW. (Are you ready????) Ahem…….
Welcome to my mini-rant about my physical therapy observations and a very ignorant conversation that I had with a gentleman just today!
Okay, first things first, I go to PT to WORK my buns off. PERIOD. I plan to make the most of it, every single time I am there – – and I am up to session #53, counting this morning.
I am going to show up in workout clothes, with a towel on the side, knowing without a DOUBT that I am going to be there for an average of 2 hours, take minimal breaks, sweat profusely, and do all of the exercises with great care and attention to detail.
SO, when I constantly hear, “wow, you’re sure getting a good sweat on!” OR “you must be working hard!” OR….anything about me sweating, really, their incredulity about my sweating always leaves me in a state of disbelief!!!! Like, how do people NOT sweat, wearing a mask, (especially, because you’re constantly breathing hard into your own face 😷), lifting the weights that I’m lifting, taking those minimal breaks in-between intense exercises, and working out hard for about 2 hours every time!!!!! It’s baffling to me every time!!
And then I remember two very important factors. #1) I taught myself how to sweat.
Did you know that that was possible??? I had no idea, honestly. Before I began working as a professional dancer, I crushed workouts and I maaaaaybe had a drip of sweat down my forehead from time to time. It was not a regular thing for me – this sweaty-beast phenomenon. 😓👹
AND THEN……I began working as a dancing costumed character for Sesame Street Live and it all changed more than you can imagine!!
I spent almost 2 straight years in that costume above and another fleece costume that was similar, except it was Roxy Marie, who had the heaviest shoes, a lot more clothes, and a backpack on top of all of that. 🎒 <—-it was red one like this, too!!
When I tell you that I danced in a sauna, I danced in a SAUNA, hyped up to danger-zone levels!! Those fleece consumes felt like dancing in flames. 🔥 And I lived in that crazy-heat for a straight 45 minutes (Act 1) and then 30 minutes (Act 2) per show and often performing 2-3 shows per day. And with 6-10 shows per week for 10 or 11 months straight, your body learns how to sweat like a pro so you don’t drop dead in the 200°-desert-like temperatures inside those fleece costumes!! And I’m not even kidding!!!!! 😜
That definitely wasn’t on the Sesame Street Live contract when I signed it, back in the day. Unless it was in the small print and I totally missed it! 🤣 Who knew that that would be a skill that my body would develop over the three years that I worked for that company!! And then that I would actually keep that particular skill forever and ever, because I haven’t danced in a full costumed character outfit in over a decade. It’s not a skill that is very flattering, I know….Aren’t you so glad to know this about me?? 👋🏼😆
Sorry everyone!!!! It’s just, if everyone in my world of PT knew this “fun fact” about myself, then perhaps they would just let me and my sweaty self be!! At least I try to be considerate and I bring my own towel to keep it all in check! 😁
#2) I see people (at least 85% of people) roll up to PT wearing jeans, really nice partial suits, button-down shirts and khakis…..and doing their exercises IN THOSE CLOTHES. (Please no offense if this is you. I have a very particular reason for bringing this up, I swear!!)
And I know, people can wear whatever they want to PT and I am most certainly not the fashion police or going to judge them for their choice of clothing. HOWEVER, I am mentioning this because would you wear your really nice or “business attire” on-my-way/to-work clothes to the gym. No. Why?? Because at the least, they’re not the most comfortable to do exercises in and they don’t breathe well, and at the most, they restrict your range of motion and make everything you do much harder….
Therefore, wearing any type of restrictive clothing at PT basically guarantees that you’re not getting everything out of PT that you could be. Because everything is connected, remember – – upper body to lower body and vice-versa. So, even if you’re not prone to sweating or you’re wearing jeans because you have a shoulder injury and that’s okay because the rehabbing shoulder isn’t in jeans….well, please be super aware. The clothing that you wear from top to bottom makes a dramatic impact on how the ENTIRE body breathes, moves, circulates blood, and progresses (or doesn’t as much as you’d like) in a physical therapy session.
I promise, your body will thank you with greater and faster results if you treat physical therapy like a gym session and wear comfy and breathable material to your appointments! As opposed to something like this:
Just something for you to consider or keep in mind for another day or to share it with someone that you love who is going through PT!! If they must spend their valuable time and/or money going to multiple PT sessions, we definitely want them to get the full benefit of being there!!
And now for my story of the day at physical therapy this morning:
I had just finished my 15-minute interval session on the Curve, a self-propelled treadmill, which was the finisher to my 90+-minute workout that I had just completed previously. I was in an open space of the facility, stretching.
A man, doing shoulder exercises next to me, says, “why are you working so hard? Are you even injured?”
Uhhhhhh…..What was that??! Snarky-filled comments raced through my head! 🤓 Though, I refrained, skipped the first question, and instead replied, “yes, I tore my ACL.”
He then goes on to tell me that an ACL injury is NOTHING because he had an ACL injury back in 1997 and he got over that BUT NOW he’s going through a torn rotator cuff and THAT is MUCH WORSE than an ACL injury….
And that HE never had to work THAT HARD, like I was doing, to get over an ACL injury, back when he had HIS knee injury (24 years ago)…..and then on and on about how a shoulder injury is so much harder than an ACL injury once again.
This is what I like to call a “quick to judge” conversation. This man, who I’m sure is a very nice individual, can’t see beyond his own experiences. It sounded like his ACL experience was quite simple. So, I’m gonna go on a limb and say that he was NOT an athlete trying to get back to his sport back in 1997. And therefore, yes, things for him would be much simpler.
See, he has no idea of my background and my goals for myself. He does not know about my desire to get back to an elite level of performance. Nor does he understand that this is my THIRD ACL injury, surgery, and recovery and therefore that I do not agree that an ACL injury is “NOTHING.” Rather, it has been a very ginormous “SOMETHING” that has taken over my life for multiple years. Hence me working my booty off to build up my confidence and working towards getting better and better. THAT is why I’m “working so hard,” if I must answer that particular question!!!! 😉
Next is the whole “my injury is worse than your injury” debate. REALLY?!?!?!?!
All injuries are AWFUL. Why would this guy go out of his way to minimize my injury without knowing ANYTHING ABOUT IT! Let’s just say that this is a weird-🍑 compliment because he doesn’t get why I’m still in PT if I can “work this hard.” Thank you?? However, he was SO sure of himself and everything that he was saying, it was quite amazing. The majority of the time I just listened and gave the occasional nod, while thinking in my head, “you don’t even KNOW!!”
Final Thoughts: It’s never kind to minimize anyone’s experiences, trauma, injuries, or anything, really. That’s usually a sign that the minimizer has never actually experienced whatever it is that they’re minimizing, at least to the degree that it happened. If they had, they wouldn’t be minimizing it!!! 🤪 Honestly, I have never torn my rotator cuff and I hope that I never do because I am fully aware how painful and all-consuming of a process it is. And I would still never presume that an ACL injury is better or worse than a shoulder injury, even though my own experiences with an ACL injury has been nothing short of soul-crushing torturous for me.
And, if I may be so bold, when it comes to what is “harder,” a knee injury or a shoulder injury…which the guy at PT was trying to get me to agree with him that his shoulder injury is way harder than my knee injury…….well, without looking at history, background, the pain factor, the intensity and complexity of the injury, and only comparing one to the other, here is my answer. You can put your arm in a sling with a shoulder injury. You need help when it comes to a knee injury, like crutches or a wheelchair because we, as humans, walk on our legs. We do not walk on our hands, unless we want to do so. Therefore, from this VERY simple perspective, a knee injury is “harder” when it comes to daily life than a shoulder injury.
Of course, this does not take ANYTHING ELSE INTO ACCOUNT!!! (And it also doesn’t really matter, now, does it?!?!)
Even still, I’m sure the guy at PT would have disagreed wholeheartedly with me, had I tried to tell him my thoughts. Which is why I didn’t!!! You gotta know your audience and try to get a little more info before you throw your own two cents in regarding someone else’s life. That is something I wish this man at PT would have done before confronting me with this unappealing conversation!
So, there you have it. I’m a professional sweat-er, I invite others to be more aware of what they wear to PT so they don’t mistakenly self-sabotage their results, and I kindly ask the universe to send a gentle message to this guy at PT: To please calm the “quick to judge” tendencies or keep those thoughts he has about me or anyone else (with zero information or facts behind them) to himself. Please and thank you. 🤓
And that concludes my ranting about my observations at physical therapy!!!! I appreciate you sticking around and reading all of the ridiculous stories that I just told. You guys are the BEST and I thank you for being here. AND, I can’t leave without saying one more thing:
Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk! 😃🥸