Interval Exercise success

[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.

[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.

[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]

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

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?

[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!

[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.

[Spacecake]

Article/guide is great!!

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!

Great article/guide!...really great. I needed explicit help on how to HIIT it in this new world I now live in. I had loved/crazy loved tabata & it just started not feeling so great...then diagnosis explained so much...since DDay I tried to get back on my beloved keiser spin bike but just could not figure out how to adjust & so I put my bike away... your guide/article inspired me to bring my bike back, setup 4 fans, turn the AC down, wear my Cooling vest before....& I was so thrilled to have a guide in my hands (literally) & I did it!

The advice I found here has been fabulous... thanks so very much!

Now I’m off to make some music playlists for this new spin choreography!

[alexjordanfit]

I appreciate all the suggestions you have included here in the text to help us avoid injury and make reasonable, if not surprising progress.

[Hondo]

Quick update

It's been a year since by fall/broken arm/surgery and I'm healing and in the gym almost every day. I'm just about back to where I was pre-accident.

I rotate upper body strength, lower body strength and cardio days. I can do intense sets of cardio if I keep it to 8 minutes each. I allow 5 minutes of recovery between sets, still take and aspirin, and wet the back of my tshirt to promote cooling. Hope you can too.

[heather510]

Good job Hondo! I'm sure your setback must have been discouraging but I am so glad to read that you got back on the program. I wonder how different MS would be as a disease if everyone could find the time and motivation to follow a similar routine. I salute you!

[AMFADVENTURES]

It's been a year since by fall/broken arm/surgery and I'm healing and in the gym almost every day. I'm just about back to where I was pre-accident.

I rotate upper body strength, lower body strength and cardio days. I can do intense sets of cardio if I keep it to 8 minutes each. I allow 5 minutes of recovery between sets, still take and aspirin, and wet the back of my tshirt to promote cooling. Hope you can too.

Gotta say Hondo, I do believe you have the formula for doing this stuff exactly right. Nice job.

Larry

[Hondo]

Successful new year to all

Larry,
Thanks for the kind words. I really do believe that short bouts of intense cardio followed by rest, for me its 8 min on and 5-6 off, does the trick. I'm thrilled by the results and can see functional improvements on an almost weekly basis. After all, that's what we all want. It doesn't seem to matter whether its an elliptical, a stationary bike, rowing machine, a rope pulling machine or a stair climber. At this duration I can do 5-7 sets and I can push for slightly higher intensity week after week. Please try this in 2020 if you haven't. Thanks!

[toneroni]

thanks for sharing

[Hondo]

C19 hiccup

So our gym in Washington closed last week per our governor's direction to control C19. I had been working to increase exercise duration. I was increasing 15 seconds more every 2-3 weeks. I was up to cardio sets of 10:30. I'll pick it up again when we get back to normal.

For now, I'm alternating upper and lower body weight work with dumbells at home. 5 squat sets on one day with dumbells. Next day 3 sets of bench press, curls, incline bench, shoulder presses with dumbells. The key is to DO SOMETHING EVERY DAY. Don't let a day go by without focused exercise activity. If you work hard enough, you can regenerate neural activity. Otherwise you will lose function. It's a no brainer. Stay safe.