Share your workout regiment

[Tmasgio]

I thought it might help to share our workout regiment if you workout and what you find works and not works. I will go first.

I normally like to ride outside but I do have a stationary bike that does great in the interim while it is still cold. I usually do about 30 minutes. Next is the free weights. workout the arms and chest on one day and then the next day I switch to the legs. I dont have an eliptical machine so basically it is just legs lifts and squats.

When the warm weather starts I will start riding each night about 5 miles this usually takes me 30 minutes. I then stretch and walk about a 1/2 mile and then jogg another 1/2 mile. I do alternate days that I ride with weight training. My body gets to use to the exercises so I have to switch it up or the results for me do not happen.

With this regiment I have found that I am able to function normally and keep my spastiscity to a manageable level. I was hoping that by Spring I may be able to play on my softball team in some capacity, however I think those days are over sad to say.

I did get interested in another sport and that is bowling. I get to wear a glove and throw a ball in some sort of fashion. The most important element is the competition. I need this kind of excitement in my life.

This Spring I want to challenge myself physically so I may start walking with weights and such but I will have to see what I can handle because I do not want to push it to a level that will get hurt.

On another note, I am finding that eatting three bananas a day keeps that squeezing feeling at a comfortable level. I am assuming it is the increase in Potassium that is working in my favor.


Tony

[tc]

Wow, Tony. You are an inspiration to us all. I got tired just reading all the things that you do. I walk 3 miles 3-4 times a week. If the weather is bad, I ride a recumbent, stationery bike in front of the TV. I also have a 30 minute exercise tape with stretches that work every muscle. I feel best when I do that tape 3 times a week. Whenever I watch TV or a movie, I get out my stretchy bands and do stretches. I also have squishy things to squeeze to exercise my hands. I carry those on my walks sometimes. I take a lot of magnesium (I think someone at this site recommended that). My leg symptoms are less with the extra magnesium. I take a lot of other supplements too, but I think that's the supplement that made a lot of difference for me. (I haven't had surgery yet, but I am having nerve problems from my tumor.)
Teresa

[tc]

a ps to my last post: I also wear a pedometer, so I can see if I haven't been moving much by the end of the day. I try to do 10,000 steps in a day, but rarely do. The pedometer is a cheap way to keep me motivated. Keeping records of my steps and whether I do my exercises helps motivate me too. (If anyone has a Palm, try "TraxItAll" software to keep track of exercise, meds, weight, or anything.) This sounds like I'm pretty "type A"; that's probably true.

[Joel]

Hey both of you are way out of my league! Some day...
I start each weekday at the local gym; I do 5 min on the stair-stepper, then do about 12 min on stomach machines, 12 min on arm/chest machines, and 12 min on leg machines. On some good days I'll put in a few more minutes on each. These are great for me though, because I can sit down for most of these machines.
Joel

[shannan]

I'm in physio 4x/week. Spend most of my time in a wheelchair as my left leg is not very cooperative at all. I am able to do some walking with a walker, always aiming for more. Anyway my Thursday physio is spent in a pool and I find that a lot of my regained strength is largely attributed to this. One of the guys I'm in physio with has a spinal cord injury from a motorcycle accident and he also finds that the hydrotherapy has provided the most benefit. I would recommend this to anyone; especially those who have difficulty with more traditional work out equipment.

[vickie]

Okay you all make me feel guilty, I don't/can't do much of anything right now. I'm hoping with these new meds I'll be able to start walking. I would love to hear more from everyone about this because I would love to find a workout routine that I could do. My pcp says I should swim but I'm not no way no how getting in a bathing suit for all the world to see. When I was in less pain I bought one of those pilate machines not the real kind but the lesser models does anyone that do that and does it help? I was also thinking about some easy yoga is that something anyone else does? My right leg is pretty useless from the knee down and I have to wear a brace with my cane to walk. I would be really open and greatful for all ideas. I'm sure that getting some back strength would help with pain and moral.
This is a great thread.

[8338]

Hi,
I try to go 3x a week to my pt place and do open gym. What this means is that I can go as often as I want and as long as I want to. I do at least 30mins. on the eliptical, the leg press, back machines, a lot of back stretching machines and maybe 15 mins. on the reclined bike for a total of 1 hour. It has really given me strenght in my leg muscles, even though I can't feel them :-)
Barb

[john8888]

Tony

I am so impressed that you can jog.

When was your surgery?

Could you jog right before surgery?

How long after could you jog?

I am wondering about “deficit recovery”

John

[Tony]

john8888 said:

Tony

I am so impressed that you can jog.

When was your surgery?

Could you jog right before surgery?

How long after could you jog?

I am wondering about “deficit recovery”

John

John,
My Surgery was April of 2007 so I am approaching the Year Mark. I could and did jog about 5 times a week even when I had pain. It took me 6 months to jogg and feel okay doing it.

In my experience, I never got the heavy feeling in my legs but rather they always feel loose albeit still numb. Here is what I think and just my own experience.

I first learn Balance as this is the Key to anything physical. If you are off balance then most likely your body does not respond.

Right after surgey I had all of my strength in every limb. This my NS thought was amazing. However, my right knee was hyperreflexive so I had to retrain the muscles and alter the way I stand and maneuver. So I worked on strenghting my legs.

After these two were accomplished I was able to jog with practice. I practiced jogging in my basement as this was my safe haven. I also believe it or not practiced jumpling forward and backwards.

I am by no means anything special it is just my motivation and that is my kids. On the day I had surgery my son was born. I made a promise to my wife that I would get better and only I would know that I had something wrong but to everyone else I would be "Normal". I do realize now no matter how I end up it will be just fine as I accept what has happend and I am making the best of what I have.

Tony

[msweeney]

Vickie:

Here is a post I wrote about Pilates and Yoga on the old forum. I hope it is helpful:

I began group yoga classes a few years before my diagnosis and enjoyed it very much. I found it so counter to the many sports I had played both in my youth and my adulthood. I found yoga to be a very different challenge. It taught me about breathing and challenged me to master subtle movements; developing my strength, flexibility and balance. I found it especially challenging because I found that the yoga classes I attended were made up primarily of women and taught primarily by women. Women innately have greater flexibility and many of the poses and movements of hatha yoga (the yoga I was learning) were difficult for me to master. In addition I had lower back issues and scar tissue from a rotator cuff injury that limited mobility in my lower back and shoulder area. Because the instructor has to teach to the median, I found myself struggling to stay with the classes. I wound up getting some private instruction and learned modifications to poses and movements that allowed me to keep pace with and enjoy the class and more importantly to avoid injury from forcing movement and poses.

This was one of the great lessons from yoga. Yoga is far from being the competition I wanted to make it. In fact, yoga taught me to let go of the competitiveness. It is far more about surrendering into yourself than it is about overcoming. Hard to explain that idea, but there is definitely a spiritual component to yoga, though our Western culture (myself included) struggle to fully appreciate and incorporate that spiritual component. I explain all of this because if you have limitations due to surgery or the tumor you may want to take this into consideration. Private instruction is much more expensive then group classes, yet, if you can afford it, it can be money well spent. The individualized attention may very well be the difference between enjoyment and frustration. I did yoga up until the weakness in my leg (due to the SCT) made much of the movement and poses of yoga difficult.

I wound up giving up yoga and switching to Pilates because of my inability to enjoy the full range of movements and poses that are the beauty of yoga. I am sure that many yoga devotees could argue that yoga could be enjoyed and extremely beneficial to someone with disabilities, but I personally found Pilates more accessible and a better fit for me after my disabilities became more pronounced. Pilates really helped me with my back pain (brought on from compensatory movement in my running gait caused by weakness due to the SCT). It was very helpful in strengthening and balancing my core and helping me prepare for surgery. It also has been a wonderful part of my rehab. One of my PT’s was very knowledgeable about Pilates and we could use much of that terminology, which was very helpful to me.

Karen spoke of the mat classes which are part of Pilates. I also do a good deal of work on the Pilates machines. I have found these machines to be very helpful in improving areas of weaknesses I have on the left side of my body (external rotators, hip abductors, oblique’s as well as quad/hamstring). I know Karen’s PT discouraged her from the machine work but I would really look hard at the machines as well. Most Pilate’s studios would not allow unsupervised use of the machines and I have found the instructors to be very used to working with people with physical limitations. In fact the Pilates method developed out of Joseph Pilates’ work in rehabilitation of physical injuries and working with disabilities.

Pilates, especially the Stott’s method (which is the method under which my instructors have been trained) benefits many people from post-rehabilitation patients to elite athletes. The Stott’s method of Pilates is a bit broader in scope than the traditional Pilates method. The Stott’s method incorporates modern concepts into the original Pilates exercises. One of the big benefits of Pilates is how easy it is on your joints because of the subtle and controlled movements you make. Much work is done initially in building the core muscles. This allows larger movements that become smooth and controlled due to the improved strength and control of the core muscles.

In addition to Pilates I have a cardiovascular regimen as well stretching, weightlifting and walking regimens. Pilates is huge in helping me balance my strength and flexibility. Because I compensate for my weaknesses, I think it would be easy for me to fall out of balance without my Pilates work. I have found my balance, coordination and even circulation has improved significantly due to my post surgery Pilates work. The circulation improvements have come in large part due to the emphasis on breathing that Pilates shares with yoga. It has been amazing to learn how deep breathing in and of itself can be such an aid to stretching muscles in addition to learning how to deepen stretches by timing your inhalation and exhalation.

Bear in mind that Pilates is about mastery of movement. You are performing exercises in a very controlled manner and though the work can be very challenging physically, it is not the sweating, grunting, get your heart beat racing type of workout. Initially you may feel that you are not doing much or seeing dramatic progress. You need to stick with the process. It builds on itself and if you stick with it you will notice the improvements I have mentioned above. I would highly recommend Pilates work for rehab, strengthening and maintaining pre and post op. physical conditioning.

As so many people have discussed physical movement and exercise are huge parts in managing the stiffness and pain that are parts of dealing with the fallout from SCT surgery. Yoga and Pilates can be wonderful components of such exercise. Both require knowledge and training in order to derive full benefit and to avoid injuries that can result from bad execution and form. I am by no means an expert on these subjects; rather I am a devotee who has greatly enjoyed the benefits. I have individual Pilate’s sessions twice a week as well as exercises that I do as part of a home program. I still use much of what I have learned from yoga in my stretching program and try to incorporate much of what I have learned about breathing from yoga.