Exercise!

[frankb]

I really envy you exercisers. I am able to bring a glass of beer to my mouth by using both hands and am very proud to be able to do
that ! ! Have given up using my recumbent bike but perhaps another whirl is worth a try. If it doesn't work I will know really fast. Thanks for the thread. It might get me back on track.

 

[Statius@]

This thread has helped inspire me to return to swimming--for years I swam with a "Master's" group doing around 3000 yds several times a week. Back pain and shoulder surgery had limited my swimming time over the past couple of years, and then of course ALS, chiefly affecting my legs thus far, reared its ugly head, leaving me unsure how much and what kind of exercise to do. At any rate I returned to the pool this morning and managed around 1200 yds, probably my limit nowadays. The biggest hurdle was dragging myself out of bed for the 6am practice. I'm planning/hoping to continue 2 or 3 times a week. Seems like a good way to get stretched out with minimal wear and tear. Besides the hot tub at the end feels great.

 

[ShiftKicker]

1200 yards! That's fantastic!

I am now doing 45 minutes weekly (the rehab folks won't let me do more- cruel!) of movement in a therapy pool. I can't say it's exercise, but it gets me moving- and has drastically reduced the edema I had been suffering. It's a far cry from the 10 to 15 hours a week of full on cardio/strength/agility I was doing in the old days, but I look forward to it anyways, because at least it's something. Though my spasticity is worse for days after, I still really look forward to it.

 

[Buckhorn]

I've been following this thread for awhile, and I too wonder about the strenuous workouts Nikki. My husband is purely LMN so far. He tends to overdo things, 1) because it is habit, 2). because he wants to remain useful & 3) because he is stubborn. I really do empathize with his way of looking at things, and truth be told, if it were me with this wretched disease, I would probably be even more stubborn / push the limits for awhile. I have basically told my husband he has to take very frequent rest breaks ..... that he has all day. I think I may have gotten him used to the idea that doing gentle exercise (light resistance like #2 or #3) if he wants is o.k., BUT, he has to rethink the old ideas about "3 sets of 10" or "3 sets 'til fatigue". Mostly I have him doing range of motion exercises, but with pauses using the weight of the limb as resistance (which is still quite substantial for most people). I also tell him I don't want him to feel fatigue with any exercise - "do 3 - 5 reps and then rest 3 min", etc. My thinking about this is that a person with ALS should not work to fatigue. You can still work the muscles gently and take very frequent breaks, etc. Just the act of walking around during the day and doing "normal tasks" works the muscles for those still able to do so. Just standing upright, trying to focus on good posture while tightening your buttocks and thigh muscle involves a tremendous amount of muscles ...... those of us able to do this with ease just don't think much about it. What Bear says above is great (IMO) ... "just keep moving" is working best for me....if I can left my arm or arms up and down a few times then I do it. Same for any other part......I just keep the brain-nerve connection maintained and send the fluids to the muscles when exercised.....I cannot see how this could not be beneficial....if for a "normal" person, if you don't exercise you will naturally atrophy".

 

[kenschatz]

For me, the part of the exercise that i believe is helping is the cardio. I measured my oxygen saturation level the other day. it usually registers a 94 or 95. I put it in my car (my wife drives to workout place) and when I get out of the "gym", my t-shirt is wet with sweat (the room is very warm) and I am breathing hard. I put it on my finger and it says 97! I'm on a feeding tube, so I have my wife load me up with water in parking lot. Seems like I recover fairly fast on breathing. Go home, take a nap, put on Bipap that I use when I nap or sleep. I'm very interested in what my FVC is at next clinic visit next month. I feel like it's going to be good, but don't know. My FVC at last visit was 65. If nothing else I feel mentally better, guess we'll see.