Gordon Hayward's rehab - a detailed, and much-appreciated, update


As my readers are aware, I have been following Gordon Hayward's rehab as closely as I am able with the limited information to which I have access. All of the following quotes are in Gordon's own words via his site, gordonhayward20.life. It adds to my knowledge and experience rehabbing clients, while getting a clearer look at what Hayward is going through and how he is progressing. I appreciate him sending this out to his many thousands of fans who realize his value to Boston and the Celtics.


Monotony, hard work and grind all define what he is going through. I would expect the "stuff on the court" would be the reward.

Every morning is basically the same. Massage work. Balance work. Lift. Low Load circuit. Conditioning. Stuff on the court. Four or five hours go by. It’s pretty monotonous, and it’s not fun. I’m just trying to get through it.

Gordon mentions being out of a brace and walking normally. Two-legged calf raises using a weight vest is a big step, but the work on the AlterG treadmill is critical to success. I knew about the machine but really delved into it for this article. Your lower body gets encased in a bubble-like skirt and gets subjected to high air pressure while your upper body experiences normal, and lower, atmospheric pressure. As you walk or run, the pressure differential causes a lifting effect, somewhat similar to partial weightlessness in space, thereby lowering the impact on joints, including Gordon's injured ankle. The pressure surrounding the lower body can be lowered over time to increase impact as the user progresses.


The biggest change is that I’ve been out of the brace for a couple weeks now, and everything is feeling pretty good. It definitely feels good to walk around the house without the brace. The act of walking finally feels normal. That’s really nice.

Some of the balancing activities that I’m doing now are kind of an upgrade from the balance activities I was doing before. I’m able to do it for longer periods of time. I’m able to do calf raises for more reps and some weight, like wearing a weight vest. And I am slowly progressing with the AlterG.

Hayward's next step is doing a single, left-leg calf raise with no assist, and as he stated below, he is close to doing that. Multiple repetitions of left-leg calf raises are next, followed by the elliptical and then running.

The next phase of my progression is to be able to do a single-leg calf raise, and do repetitions of it, and not have fatigue or any pain or anything. And so, that’s kind of where I’m at, like slowly progressing on the AlterG. I started at like 30% of my body weight, doing a single-leg calf raise. And now we’re slowly up to like 70%, 75%. And so, I’m almost there, being able to do a single-leg calf raise. Once I am able to do that, then I can do the elliptical.

And once I’m cleared doing the elliptical for a certain time and distance, then I’m able to start running.

All of this gives us a close view of what we would never get to see in person, and I thank Gordon sincerely for posting this information and his message. I encourage our readers to take a closer look at the entire article posted by Hayward. It contains much more information than you have seen here. Despite protests to the contrary, I still feel there is a significant chance of Gordon returning prior to the playoffs. Right now, I am waiting for him to accomplish 12 repetitions of a single, left-leg calf raise. Then the elliptical, and then running. Great to see the progress and the information on how Gordon is doing.

Follow Tom at @TomLaneHC

Photo via Kent Smith/Getty