Interval Exercise success

[Adie]

Heat

Hi Beth, about 16c average but heading up on the forecast to mid 20c so it will be harder to exercise just got to knock it back a bit.
Still keep moving doing some extra Psoas stretching at the moment to see if it may help with my balance which is shockingly poor anything that may help.

[ActiveMSers]

I've been promising a HIIT and MS article, and I wanted to let folks know that it is in process. I'm pretty detail-oriented (read: anal), so it is taking time. Hope to get it done by next month!

[Beth]

Motivation

Hi Adie, thanks for asking. I'm still trying for every other day with HIIT on the elliptical. I've been doing 20 minutes, so far. I'm sure my "high intensity" isn't what most people's is, but for me, it gets my heart pumping and sweating, so I think it works for me. Plus my legs are feeling it through the next day.
That's great that you are doing your laps! I think the important thing is to keep moving, which is great for all of us! Is the heat effecting you now?

[Adie]

Motivation

Beth, how's HIIT going ? Since the weather as picked up here in the UK I have been doing walking laps in the garden up to 6 with a min rest in between not HIIT but it gets me moving.

[Beth]

Motivation I needed!!

Hello, I have been reading all of your posts following Hondo's very inspirational posts. It inspired me to get into gear and use the HIIT button on my elliptical. Probably didn't hit it as hard as an HIIT workout recommends, but I didn't want to over do it. I did 15 minutes on the HIIT setting, and pushed it for 2 minutes then backed down for 2 minutes. I followed that pattern for 15 minutes, and hope to get up to more. But, will take it slow until I know how much I can handle. Probably won't try that until the weekend when I don't have to work all day. Thanks for posting everyone. It is just what I needed!

[Adie]

Inspiration

Hey Hondo,
You have gave me some inspiration to go and get on my bike which is attached to my indoor turbo trainer, started again yesterday 6 sets of 1 min with a 1 min rest between each set a little wobbly when I got of after but felt good and legs a little sore last night.
Got to build some strength up in my legs you don't realise how much you lose, hope it helps my walking and balance which is poor, still do some weights and resistant band work for my upper body but have neglected my lower body because initially it makes my balance worse but with doing this consistently I hope it makes things better.
Check out a guy here in the UK on Twitter called @Chris Wing he as got PPMS could not walk overweight and now with consistently working out lost weight runs on a treadmill and weights trains another guy that picked him self up and changed things around.

[Hondo]

Back at it after a setback

Haven't posted in a while. Here's why. In October I walked down stairs in my house to check things before going to bed. Didn't turn the light on (because I'm sometimes an idiot). Had one more step to go, but thought I was on the ground. Took a confident step forward and crashed into the wall opposite the stairs and snapped my arm in half. A real mess, but not MS-related. Surgery with plate and screws and 3+ months later, I'm back at the gym. Slowly. And painfully. Lots of muscle atrophy with prescribed rest, so starting over almost at the beginning. I'm doing the intervals I described one day, lifting with lower body the next day, and lifting with upper body the third day, rinse, repeat.

I've been back in the gym about a month. My range of motion on the broken wing is almost back. I've put on 15 pounds due to inactivity and the Holidays and working to get that off. I have another 5-6 weeks until my surgeon will let me golf. This is humbling because I lost so much progress, but it's just time and effort, and I've got loads of those both. I guess the message here is that this is a journey and if you decide that you're never giving up, you just keep competing. Period.

[randman]

Loving this thread! indeed

[AMFADVENTURES]

Ha, congrats on the golf score, that is a biggie! Takes core and coordination to play golf, no small thing for sure. Nice job Hondo.

[Hondo]

September update

I'm excited to report that the Summer heat is breaking in the Northwest and progress is in the air. I've continued to work on the elliptical and rope, but have been able to add a bit of yoga and some dumbbell work.

The results:
1. I haven't fallen this year.
2. I've golfed since high school and at 52 with 18 years of MS, just shot my lowest round ever (81!) on consecutive Saturdays. That's about 10 strokes below my handicap. Golf combines power, balance, creativity and managing emotions so I'm really jazzed about this.
3. I'm stronger with each month.
4. I still have loads of issues, but again, when science catches up and finds a cure I want to be ready.

If you're doing this as well, let us know. It's hard, but it matters.

[Hondo]

Variety and Summer heat (oh joy)

I hope you're starting to get some cardio in. I don't think there's an alternative if you're trying to maximize your health. Some important thoughts:
1. Dial the intensity back during these hot summer days. Do your workouts, something every day if you can, but ease back on both the intensity and duration while the sun is baking us. Still try to get at least 35 min during cardio days, but lower the resistance, break up your sets, wet your tshirt a bit for evaporative cooling, drink ice water and rest in between sets.
2. Variety - To keep it fresh, do some cardio days with legs focus, some with upper body focus and some mixed upper and lower body. For example, do 4 sets of 8 min on a bike or elliptical, then another day do 4 sets of 8 min on a rope or hand ergometer, then 4 sets of 8 min on an elliptical, or have some days where you do 2 sets of upper and 2 sets of lower body work.

It's enough of a challenge to make sure you stay on track, while its hot so don't overdo it. Just keep working. On off cardio days, add some strength and/or flexibility training. Weight lifting(arm curls, bench presses, leg squats, ab/adductors) or Flexibility (yoga, pilates) make a great compliment.

[viriditasJay]

hondo, thanks for your post...was very active but at 65 and 47 years of ms have slowed down. Ocrevus has been very positive after only the first infusion, and I've regained some motion, will try your suggestion to get back to cardio level workouts. thanks

[Hondo]

15 seconds

Remember to start where ever you can (8 min, 6 min, 4 min?, whatever). Work at that duration until you can do it at least 3 sets at that time with rest periods in between. Then add 15 seconds to your time. Because whatever you can do, you can do for 15 seconds more, right? Then when that duration becomes normal, just ratchet it up another 15 seconds.

You can do this.

[Hondo]

Update

Thanks for all who have seen and included their supportive comments. They have been super motivating for me. I really want to know if anyone is trying this as well. I really think that I'm onto something, but would like other perspectives.

Here's my update. I'm continuing to improve since I last posted. The elliptical that I'm training on is a Cybex Arc Trainer. I'm still doing 5 sets of 8 minutes plus 5 sets of 8 minutes on the rope machine. The elliptical default resistance is level 15. After a few weeks I did a set at level 16, then 2 sets, then up to 5 sets at level 16. After accommodating for a few weeks I tried to move up to the next level in the same way. I'm now on level 25. It's a lot harder than level 15. There are many more levels and I will keep working up to see where this goes.

Personal Impacts:
1. I'm getting stronger and I can see a bit more muscle on my upper and lower body. I've lost a bit more fat.
2. I take an afternoon nap or go to sleep early on workout days. I also don't workout on consecutive days. I tried it, but the day off rest is necessary.
3. I'm functioning a bit better. No falls or trips. I can do more on non-exercise days. My bladder is a bit better. I really look forward to exercise days because I see concrete feedback on my physical improvement. It's inspiring.
Nothing earth shattering, but everything is a little bit better. Now ask yourself, when did you say that since being diagnosed?

That's all for now. I'll check back in a few months. I am reading comments and really do want to hear if anyone else tries this.

[Stewart]

That’s some seriously good exercise Hondo.
I found resistance training either body weight or free weights massively strengthened the core plus I dropped bodyfat from almost 30 to 23 now targeting 19. One of best simple ones for me was farmers walk on stairs with a 2 push-ups each round. Also mostly on the oms diet so ironically I’ve never been healthier since diagnosed.

I took big inspiration from something Arnie said - there’s always an excuse.