Earth Mama
New member
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2006
- Messages
- 9
- Reason
- PALS
- Country
- CA
- State
- British Columbia
- City
- Comox
I have bulbar onset sporadic ALS with a lot of muscle atrophy in my hands.
I am a personal trainer by trade. I have not worked or worked out since my 20th week of pregnancy in 2005.
My symptoms began in Dec. 2005 when I was considering getting back in training (as a body builder) but my instincts told my to take more time off.
I was diagnosed last month and am still able to take long walks (2 hours) and get my heart rate up which feels better than being sedentary.
My fasciculations get worse in the evenings the days I walk farthest and the muscle soreness the next day seems out of proportion with my exertion. I've given myself a rest day or two after every day of exertion and seem to recover fully but my muscles seem to be diminishing faster than the tighten that happened when I worked out in the past. I have noticed that my gluteus maximus is flat, very unusual for me!
I've considered the idea of training heavy again, to build up the working muscles but I haven't touched my free weights. I'm concerned about my joints, but also I'm scared that I will 'use up' my muscle if the nerves aren't feeding them any more. The old tear rest and repair method that I used in body building may be affected, eh?
Can strength training benefit my working muscles?
I've increased my calorie intake after losing the baby weight and am trying to eat lots of complex carbs and good fats to protect my muscle mass. I've actually gained 10 pounds-on purpose- as a buffer, since the diagnosis.
An OT recommended a high protein diet, but as far as I know an 'atkins' type diet causes ketosis and then catabolism of the muscles, including the heart, and that is the last thing that some one with ALS would want.
Is there a higher requirement of protein for PALS?
The OT said I need the extra protein so that my body "could fight this disease". From my point of view my body does not appear to be fighting.
I am a personal trainer by trade. I have not worked or worked out since my 20th week of pregnancy in 2005.
My symptoms began in Dec. 2005 when I was considering getting back in training (as a body builder) but my instincts told my to take more time off.
I was diagnosed last month and am still able to take long walks (2 hours) and get my heart rate up which feels better than being sedentary.
My fasciculations get worse in the evenings the days I walk farthest and the muscle soreness the next day seems out of proportion with my exertion. I've given myself a rest day or two after every day of exertion and seem to recover fully but my muscles seem to be diminishing faster than the tighten that happened when I worked out in the past. I have noticed that my gluteus maximus is flat, very unusual for me!
I've considered the idea of training heavy again, to build up the working muscles but I haven't touched my free weights. I'm concerned about my joints, but also I'm scared that I will 'use up' my muscle if the nerves aren't feeding them any more. The old tear rest and repair method that I used in body building may be affected, eh?
Can strength training benefit my working muscles?
I've increased my calorie intake after losing the baby weight and am trying to eat lots of complex carbs and good fats to protect my muscle mass. I've actually gained 10 pounds-on purpose- as a buffer, since the diagnosis.
An OT recommended a high protein diet, but as far as I know an 'atkins' type diet causes ketosis and then catabolism of the muscles, including the heart, and that is the last thing that some one with ALS would want.
Is there a higher requirement of protein for PALS?
The OT said I need the extra protein so that my body "could fight this disease". From my point of view my body does not appear to be fighting.
