Exerceise amount conundrum

L

Lilly

Messages
17
I have read about the importance of exercises in small bouts, especially when it comes to strength training. Exercising 30 seconds and then resting for 60-90 seconds. In a lot of the same articles it says never to exercise for more than 20 minutes at a time. What I'm confused about is does it mean 20 minutes all together as in 20 minutes of 30 sec, 60-90sec for 20 minutes?
OR does it mean a cumuilative 30 secs of 20 minutes and the rest of 60-90sec just makes it longer?
 
LaurelW

LaurelW

Senior Member
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654
Location
Utah
I think that really depends on the person. Staci always told me to do an eentsy bit, then see how I felt the next day, and if okay, I could add more next time. I'd go by that rather than some number that may or may not work for you.
 
L

Lilly

Messages
17
I've been trying some of her techniques based on things that I've read here but im just starting our.
Has it helped you? If so, how much?
 
Esther12

Esther12

Senior Member
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13,774
I don't feel confident giving any advice about exercise and CFS. I think Laurel's guidance sounds sensible. It's hard to follow though, especially when there are so many other factors to be accounted for (extra tasks to be done, little extra illnesses, hormonal cycle, etc).
 
LaurelW

LaurelW

Senior Member
Messages
654
Location
Utah
That is so the truth! A million factors, which change day by day. It's like playing a game you don't know the rules to. Enough to drive you bonkers.
 
X

xchocoholic

Senior Member
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Location
Florida
I've been exercising for 3 months now and find that if I'm winded even a little, I have to wait for that feeling to go away before doing more exercises. Attempting to exercise while winded is futile since I won't have the strength I would if I wait ... I'm building muscle and endurance this way but it's a slow process. And I HAVE to do my exercises laying or sitting due to my OI. My BP drops too fast to stand up and exercise ...

Just to give you an idea of what it's been like, when I first started, I couldn't do 1 sit up and now I can do 10 at a time. I rest after 10 and then do 10 more .. So far so good ... kow ... x
 
L

Lilly

Messages
17
Xchocoholicx- I have POTS/OI too. Thats probably my primary diagnosis over CFS. Besides being able to increase the exercise what other improvements have you seen?
I'd really love to be able to do more, especially things like reading so I'm not bored all the time & can do more than lay back with my eyes closed
 
L

Lilly

Messages
17
Read through your exercise post. It sounds like in doing the best I can do right- leg exercises laying down & resting till my hear rate goes back to normal in between
I'd really love to get to a point I could do pilates! I've always been interested in it but never had the physical ability
 
X

xchocoholic

Senior Member
Messages
2,947
Location
Florida
Hi again,

ADB12 is an active form of B12. It's spelled adenosylcobalamin ... Freddd has a thread here on B12 and recommends this as well as 2 other supplements. These appear to be helping some of us.

I would think that for anyone with POTS / OI, whether you do exercises upright or laying down all depends on how you feel when you're upright. I couldn't possibly do exercises standing at this point so this is my only option. I was actually pleasantly surprised that I could do this without having a flare ... : ). I've been disabled for 21 years this month and mostly couch bound the whole time so this is pretty exciting for me. I can push myself if I have to but I still ALWAYS get petite mals and winded when I do. As you can probably imagine, I don't last long if I push myself ... lol ...

You said that you're never been able to do pilates ... Do you mean since you've been sick or your whole life ? hope you get to do these someday too ... tc ... X
 
L

Lilly

Messages
17
Mostly, I got sick when I was 12. I'm now 25. Last November it was 13 years. I never heard of pilates until after I had POTS but when I was younger I played a lot of sports & very atheltic. The past 13 yrs I've lived on the couch or in my recliner.*
I can't walk a few feet to the bathroom w/out my hr going to 140 & that's medicated. So I really don't think I'm ready to exercise upright.*
There was a time my dr wanted me to exercise upright. I never got past a few minutes & would just lay on the floor gasping for air for a long time. My mom would stand over me asking "are you ok?"
It wasn't until a few months ago we actually had the idea to try laying down exercises. I've been learning more about lifestyle management from studying CFS than I have on POTS/OI sites
 
Carrigon

Carrigon

Senior Member
Messages
808
Location
PA, USA
Even sitting exercises can make me worse with the POTS, so I have to be real careful. My main problem is not having a sense of overdoing it. Sometimes I can get away with small boughts of exercise, but then other times, I can push myself right into a crash without having ever realized I was overdoing it.

I badly hurt my back recently cleaning snow off my car, so now I'm forced into doing upper body exercises to try and strengthen the muscles around the disc. So far, I seem to be kind of tolerating the exercise, but I have had to sleep alot more.

Everyone is different with this disease, so no one can really say what our thresholds are.
 
L

Lilly

Messages
17
I have that problem too. Sometimes the next day is only a little bad & it's the 2nd &3rd day that are the worst
 
X

xchocoholic

Senior Member
Messages
2,947
Location
Florida
Lilly said:
Mostly, I got sick when I was 12. I'm now 25. Last November it was 13 years. I never heard of pilates until after I had POTS but when I was younger I played a lot of sports & very atheltic. The past 13 yrs I've lived on the couch or in my recliner.*
I can't walk a few feet to the bathroom w/out my hr going to 140 & that's medicated. So I really don't think I'm ready to exercise upright.*
There was a time my dr wanted me to exercise upright. I never got past a few minutes & would just lay on the floor gasping for air for a long time. My mom would stand over me asking "are you ok?"
It wasn't until a few months ago we actually had the idea to try laying down exercises. I've been learning more about lifestyle management from studying CFS than I have on POTS/OI sites
Click to expand...

Hi Lilly,

Sorry to hear that you got sick at such a young age. HUGS ... that must've really been tough. Have you looked at your diet yet ? I ask because, I've had nuerological problems since I was 2 and it turns out that this was probably related to eating gluten. My mother was told it was because I was born with the cord wrapped around my neck ... lol ... Trust me, she'd choke the doctor who told her that if she was alive today ... lol ...

I've been monitoring my reactions to different foods for over 5 years now so I've eliminated several known food intolerances. But, I'm finding that several foods get my heart racing. Gluten and High fructose corn syrup for sure .. but I'm also looking at others. Casein causes me to get raccoon eyes but no other symptoms as far as I can tell. Soy makes me feel like I have the flu ... Corn just makes me feel weak as do most grains ...

Like you, I get too winded standing up to exercise. Are you taking chelated minerals ? They seem to help my heart .. I'm taking Solgars chelated minerals now but Enzymatics Kreb's cycle helps me too ... I'm try not to take too many supplements but this one seems necessary.

Isn't it great the we have message boards like this so we can learn from each other ? I'm here reading at least once a day ... tc ... x
 
X

xchocoholic

Senior Member
Messages
2,947
Location
Florida
Carrigon said:
Even sitting exercises can make me worse with the POTS, so I have to be real careful. My main problem is not having a sense of overdoing it. Sometimes I can get away with small boughts of exercise, but then other times, I can push myself right into a crash without having ever realized I was overdoing it.

I badly hurt my back recently cleaning snow off my car, so now I'm forced into doing upper body exercises to try and strengthen the muscles around the disc. So far, I seem to be kind of tolerating the exercise, but I have had to sleep alot more.

Everyone is different with this disease, so no one can really say what our thresholds are.
Click to expand...

Hi Carrigon,

I have trouble sitting and exercising to so when I've done a few and I'm feeling a tiny little bit fatigued, I lay down and rest till my heart rate normalizes again. Sucks really ... but if it means we can build strength without crashing it's worth it ...

I think we all have that tendency to overdo it. It's hard to unlearn pushing ourselves ... And with CFS brain, it's even harder. It just dawned on me recently that I shouldn't be pushing myself past the state of feeling winded or light headed. If I'm that far gone, aka the blood isn't reaching my brain and my lungs aren't keeping up, then my body can't be dealing properly with those toxins that are created when we exert ourselves ... IMHO, this may be how we get PEM.

I have upper back problems too and am in PT learning what exercises are healthy and which ones to avoid. Are you using ice afterwards ? Is everyone ? It seems to help me not get as stiff ...

Good point about everyone having different thresholds. In fact, on some days we may not have the thresholds we had the day before. I'm finding though that if I pay close attention to my breathing and rest when it gets too labored, I can do these even if I'm not feeling up to par ...

good luck with this ... x
 
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