Sue Velott

Sue has been a client for the past year, and came to me with goals similar to many clients. However, in early April, she ruptured her Achilles tendon, and her goals changed drastically. For those who don’t know, the Achilles tendon is the thick cord in your ankle that runs into your calf muscle and attaches to your heel. It is generally one of the most difficult injuries to recover from, sometimes taking up to 18 months.

Sue is used to being active. A collegiate volleyball player, she is currently a coach for the boy’s team at Moorestown High School (where she was injured), and still competitively plays beach volleyball. With this background, she was determined to hasten the recovery process as much as possible. Within 48 hours of surgery (fully casted,) Sue was already doing leg exercises on a stability ball! She learned to safely push herself every step of the way, getting a little more out of each step of the recovery process. As soon as the cast came off, Sue pushed her body to get the most out of her therapy and work outs. Constantly in motion, she was able to avoid many common setbacks in recovery. Despite a few personal issues that may have slowed others (including myself), Sue managed to stay on track. At exactly 4 months after the surgery, Sue was able to lightly practice volleyball.

All of this hard work culminated in mid-August. She was given the green light by her doctors and physical therapists. Keep in mind that despite the tendon’s relative health, Sue’s leg and ankle had been relatively inactive despite all the rehab work, and it will be months before she is completely pain free. However, in that first week, we went out and ran/walked a little over 3 miles in under 45 minutes! Despite being a little sore, she entered a semi-pro beach volleyball tournament against athletes that have not only been healthy all summer, but have also been practicing for the last five months. Despite virtually no practice, and a newly “healthy” ankle, Sue managed to take 3rd place in the tournament, a mere 4½ months after the injury! To put this in perspective, Todd Pinkston of the Philadelphia Eagles suffered the same injury last August, and has yet to play football again.

I would like to congratulate Sue Velott on persevering through all the obstacles, and coming back from a severe injury successfully faster than anyone I have ever seen!

  • Tip of the Month

    June 2010

    Abdominal Workouts: Frequency, Intensity, and Duration

    Over the past 15 years, there has been countless advice on how to “properly” train your abdominals, or core.  There isn’t a fitness magazine out there that doesn’t publish a different abdominal workout each and every issue.  Opinions and research may change over time, but there are a few things you should look at before you alter your workout with each Fitness Magazine you read!
    First of all, it is important to know what your overall fitness and health goal is before designing a strength program for any body part, especially the mid-section.  For overall fitness, it is smartest to treat your abdominal muscles as you would any other muscle group.  The tried and true guidelines for most exercise programs is to work specific muscles to fatigue within a 30-60 second set time limit (intensity and duration,) while giving the worked muscle group at least 24-48 hours of rest (frequency) before working it again.  The amount of sets you do in a given workout (frequency again) can vary from as little as 4 sets to up to 12 for the average workout.  The science behind these theories is sound.  While exercising, pushing your body significantly past the 60 second mark without fatigue generally incorporates aerobic energy, thereby not stressing the muscles most efficiently.  And rest is necessary so that your body can properly rebuild the muscle fibers that you have broken down.  Additionally, you want to be at 100% energy levels for your next workout!

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  • Recipe of the Month

    June 2010

    Ham and Cheese Breakfast Casserole

    This healthy update of a traditionally rich ham-and-cheese breakfast strata is made lighter primarily by losing a few egg yolks and using nonfat milk. Gruyère cheese has a delicious, nutty aroma and flavor, which means that with the relatively small amount in this recipe you still get a big impact. To finish the makeover use nutritious, fiber-rich, whole-grain bread instead of white. The results: plenty of flavor, half the calories and one-third the fat of the original.

    4 large eggs
    4 large egg whites
    1 cup nonfat milk
    2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
    1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
    1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
    5 cups chopped spinach, wilted (see Tip)
    4 cups whole-grain bread, crusts removed if desired, cut into 1-inch cubes (about 1/2 pound, 4-6 slices)
    1 cup diced ham steak, (5 ounces)
    1/2 cup chopped jarred roasted red peppers
    3/4 cup shredded Gruyère, or Swiss cheese
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