Week 2 Reflection

During week two of my senior project, I became much more familiar with the range of people the Burdenko method applies to.  I was introduced to it to some degree in the first week of Laurie’s classes, even though most of the athletes participating were in the top tier of capability and were without injuries.  For example, there is one middle school boy, a soccer player, who has bad duck feet.  During the exercises he is always focusing on keeping his lower body in line, and learning to recognize when his feet are not straight.  The goal is to help train his body to stay straight all the time.  I watch him on one side of the room trying to improve his alignment, but can also look to the other side and see Laurie’s daughter, Abby, doing the same exercises, only for different effects.  Abby is a very high level ski racer, who this past season was on the US Ski Team.  Through years of competing at such a high level she has no doubt been exposed to a variety of workout methods, and the fact that she comes out to the sessions every time says a lot about the program.  She is confident that the Burdenko method has what she needs to be in the best shape possible, and it has been successful throughout her whole career.

I saw even more of this when Laurie and I went do to observe Igor.  I learned there was no huge distinction between the what Laurie had been doing with her class, and what Igor was doing with his clients.  Igor’s clients may have had injuries or certain challenges with their bodies, but the exercises were just as difficult physically as they were with Laurie’s athletes.  In both the pool and on land, they were still doing a lot to strengthen and train the rest of their bodies.  This came as a surprise to me, because I always assumed there was a big difference between training for high level athletes, and rehab for injured athletes.

What I learned this week will hugely benefit me with my motivation throughout my rehab.  While we were watching Igor work with his clients, Laurie reminded me that what I would be doing for my rehab was not very different then what she would be doing to train her kids.  This made me feel like even though I am injured, I am not missing out on all that much.  I am still able to get a good workout, but in a way that will not disrupt the healing of my knee.  The focus of my rehab will not just be to help my knee heal, but I will be working to strengthen my entire body more then ever before.