Those with chronic illness -- what do you do for execrise

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 70 year old mother, who has had MS most of her adult life, loves to walk. Her handicap has spared her legs, although she has increasing balance issues and is at risk for falls. My father holds her arm and they walk an hour a day. They like nothing better than to go on walking holidays. She nearly drowned when she tried swimming, because of sudden and unpredictable inability to move her limbs, so swimming is out of the question. Brisk walking might be all the cardio you need, perhaps with small weights for your arms!

I heartily recommend yoga, OP. It makes you use all kinds of muscles you didn’t know you had. I love it. Hate cardio.

I have a mom with MS in her 70s who never exercised. She can’t walk, sit unassisted, or even feed herself today. Keeping in shape is even more front and center in my mind now after reading your post. I have long felt she should have exercised. I have RA and exercise 30 minutes almost everyday in hopes of maintaining mobility, strength, and stamina. Good for your mom!

I’m sure exercise would have helped your mom somewhat, but she does have MS. Please don’t blame her for her disabilities.

I don’t blame her for having MS. She made excuses for not wanting to keep active or to do the PT and other things her doctors suggested. The role of exercise/maintaining muscles for stability is really important as we age and even more so with some chronic diseases. Truth isn’t always warm and fuzzy, especially when I’m left to see she gets round the clock medical care.

Gentle muscle-building and range-of-movement exercises are actually critical for Multiple Sclerosis sufferers. I'm the first PP with the mother who has ambulatory MS. It's interesting that she loves walking and this has probably contributed to her ability to continue using her legs, BUT - she has refused all physical therapy and other forms of exercise, and as a result her arms and hands are greatly impacted by her disease. So I sympathize with the other poster whose mother is very disabled by her MS.

[Anonymous]

I have a different chronic illness so this may not be helpful, but I second pool aerobics. I can tolerate (slow) lap swimming which really does build stamina and muscle strength. I too have avoided pools bc of covid, so that’s been a loss.

I also like barre classes. They make me feel stronger.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a different chronic illness so this may not be helpful, but I second pool aerobics. I can tolerate (slow) lap swimming which really does build stamina and muscle strength. I too have avoided pools bc of covid, so that’s been a loss.

I also like barre classes. They make me feel stronger.

OP here. Thanks, I will look at pool aerobics.

My biggest problem is not my conditioning, I can hike several miles without a problem, it's muscle loss. Thanks to my medication, I am actively losing muscle mass.

[Anonymous]

Can you swim, row, or do pilates with the reformer?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can you swim, row, or do pilates with the reformer?

Also, dance. Barre work should be doable.

[Anonymous]

I understand OP. I need a way to build my arms back up.

[Anonymous]

OP--which meds are you on?