Gordon Hayward published a video this week of himself working out, running for the first time without assistance of an anti-gravity treadmill. It’s good news, although the Boston Celtics are still sticking to the mantra that Hayward won’t be back this season.
We’ll see about that.
Meanwhile, Hayward decided to drop a blog detailing the biggest rehabilitation gains he’s had thus far, as well as go in-depth about the struggle of coming back from such a catastrophic injury.
In a post on his personal website, Hayward said the biggest step he’s taken thus far was actually getting to do single leg calf raises with each leg. Hayward had fractured his tibia and dislocated his left ankle during the first game of the year.
Via Gordon Hayward:
The biggest gain I’ve made is in being able to do single leg calf raises with both legs.
It took me a while just to be able to do a single calf raise, by myself, with the left. It was a huge hurdle to clear. But once I did, we wanted to judge the strength compared to the right leg.
So we created a test where we marked the maximum range that I get on my left. Now when I do the test, I have to go at least 80 percent of that max range for it to count as a rep.
We also created something of a metronome that we have going, and I have to go up and down to the beat of the metronome. I get two warnings. If I don’t get above 80 percent, that’s a warning. And on the third one that I don’t get above 80 percent, I’m done.
It’s actually a really, difficult test.
Hayward also talked about how he’s doing one long training session in the morning rather than two, and how he’s getting treatment on his soft tissues constantly.
The Celtics star said his jumper -- er, shot -- is actually very good at the moment although Hayward mentioned that if he goes too hard his body tells him, “You’re not ready for that yet.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg6iE5UldUv/
Hayward’s rehab sounds like rehab -- if you’ve ever had to do it, you know what a grind it can be. The road is long but it eventually ends. It’s doubtful he returns this season as he can’t even run at full pace yet, but he should be ready for next year.