Find What Works For You
What's hard about most general MS questions is that each of us don't necessarily have the same MS 'experience'. Depending on how the disease impacts us, the rate of our progression, the types of symptoms, etc. - what one person can do, the next can't, what works for one, doesn't work for another and so on.
The best answer is to do what you can and listen to your body. And as a couple others mentioned - it doesn't have to look like 'traditional' excercise.
In my current situation, I count vacuuming the floor and folding laundry while standing up as 'excercise'.
Starting a new excercise routine is actually what led me to my MS dx back in 2003. It was a very mild routine because I hadn't done regular excercise since having my daughter in 1998. I knew I had to start slow and build up. But instead of having the normal experience - as I continued to follow my excercise routine I started to steadily feel worse overall and have 'weird' and 'painful' sensations.
In the years since my dx, I've tried many times to start and maintain any kind of excercise regime. But every time, no matter how mild or low impact, etc - I have the same problem. I begin to feel worse and worse as the days/weeks pass. When I stop - I start to feel better again.
This bothers me quite a bit because I have gained some weight - luckily I've been able to manage it by what I eat so it's not gotten out of hand. But still - I would rather be able to excercise and tone things up, etc.
However, any kind of traditional, routine or regular exercise just wreaks havoc on my health. But what my Neuro just recently suggested is to do very short bits of excercise 'whenver' I can. Even if it's just a couple minutes at a time throughout my 'better' days.
When he pointed out that excercise doesn't have to 'look' like what most people consider it to be it helped me to realize I just have to do my own thing. Even if that means random and irregular short bursts of movement when I'm able.
I will go weeks in a row where just getting out of bed and getting up/down the stairs is my 'excercise'. Then I'll have a other times where I can do more. Housework is excercise for me. A short walk at whatever pace I can handle here and there is excercise for me.
But as RDMC mentioned, I'm in a situation where I have extremely limited energy/strength. So I am in a constant battle of having to choose where and on what I'm going to use that energy. I'm always behind...meaning, there's always way more that needs to be done and that I want to do than I can keep up with.
So for me, excercise is always incorporated into something else I'm doing - housework, a trip to the store (walking counts!), even taking a shower and doing my hair - believe me, it's like climbing a mountain to me! My arms are shaking before my hair is even dried all the way!
Anyway - I guess the point is - YOUR excercise doesn't have to look like anyone elses excercise. Try different things and find out what you can do and what works for you overall. Be creative - any movement is a good thing! =)
What's hard about most general MS questions is that each of us don't necessarily have the same MS 'experience'. Depending on how the disease impacts us, the rate of our progression, the types of symptoms, etc. - what one person can do, the next can't, what works for one, doesn't work for another and so on.
The best answer is to do what you can and listen to your body. And as a couple others mentioned - it doesn't have to look like 'traditional' excercise.
In my current situation, I count vacuuming the floor and folding laundry while standing up as 'excercise'.
Starting a new excercise routine is actually what led me to my MS dx back in 2003. It was a very mild routine because I hadn't done regular excercise since having my daughter in 1998. I knew I had to start slow and build up. But instead of having the normal experience - as I continued to follow my excercise routine I started to steadily feel worse overall and have 'weird' and 'painful' sensations.
In the years since my dx, I've tried many times to start and maintain any kind of excercise regime. But every time, no matter how mild or low impact, etc - I have the same problem. I begin to feel worse and worse as the days/weeks pass. When I stop - I start to feel better again.
This bothers me quite a bit because I have gained some weight - luckily I've been able to manage it by what I eat so it's not gotten out of hand. But still - I would rather be able to excercise and tone things up, etc.
However, any kind of traditional, routine or regular exercise just wreaks havoc on my health. But what my Neuro just recently suggested is to do very short bits of excercise 'whenver' I can. Even if it's just a couple minutes at a time throughout my 'better' days.
When he pointed out that excercise doesn't have to 'look' like what most people consider it to be it helped me to realize I just have to do my own thing. Even if that means random and irregular short bursts of movement when I'm able.
I will go weeks in a row where just getting out of bed and getting up/down the stairs is my 'excercise'. Then I'll have a other times where I can do more. Housework is excercise for me. A short walk at whatever pace I can handle here and there is excercise for me.
But as RDMC mentioned, I'm in a situation where I have extremely limited energy/strength. So I am in a constant battle of having to choose where and on what I'm going to use that energy. I'm always behind...meaning, there's always way more that needs to be done and that I want to do than I can keep up with.
So for me, excercise is always incorporated into something else I'm doing - housework, a trip to the store (walking counts!), even taking a shower and doing my hair - believe me, it's like climbing a mountain to me! My arms are shaking before my hair is even dried all the way!
Anyway - I guess the point is - YOUR excercise doesn't have to look like anyone elses excercise. Try different things and find out what you can do and what works for you overall. Be creative - any movement is a good thing! =)
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