I do a slightly different form of exercise these days - I lift weights (obviously I dont have significant OI issues most of the time)
I lift weights because I've tried walking - I've tried gentle exercise - I've tried stretching - I've tried gradually increasing the amount I do - you get the picture - all failed - because of several years of this sort of approach I can, even now, barely walk without pain and am barely mobile most of the time. I find an hours training less demanding, less painful and most of the time less likely to cause PEM than walking 100m to my corner shop and back (100m total journey).
I lift weights because I've tried walking - I've tried gentle exercise - I've tried stretching - I've tried gradually increasing the amount I do - you get the picture - all failed - because of several years of this sort of approach I can, even now, barely walk without pain and am barely mobile most of the time. I find an hours training less demanding, less painful and most of the time less likely to cause PEM than walking 100m to my corner shop and back (100m total journey).
I used to push through PEM, I used to just keep going until it was impossible, I've kept pushing until I've taken 2 hours to get a couple of hundred yards and another hour to haul myself up the stairs to my flat. In my case pushing on and ignoring PEM simply results in a decrease in ability not an increase - normally a marked decrease.
In terms of weights trying to lift whilst PEM'd results in a 60% decrease in strength at the same perceived exertion level and a 40% decrease going all out - weights have numbers on - it's easy to tell - but the dangerous bit is that it results in a complete failure of endurance - whilst when not PEM'd I can train for an hour when PEM'd I can lift once, maybe twice and then thats it - the next 2-3 days (sometimes a lot longer) are a total write off.
PEM should be taken seriously, it's an indication your body cant cope with simply surviving, giving it more to do when it cant cope will not improve strength or fitness - it will decrease them - at least in my experience.
In 16 months I've gone from being barely able to get off the bed/sofa (or occasionally floor) during a bad patch to being able to function minimially even during a crash - raw strength helps - before a 40% drop in strength was enough to completely incapacitate me, now I'm stronger the same drop isnt.
However there is no way I will ever be able to do 25 situps without consequences, last time I tried 2 sets of 5 was bad enough to convince me it was a bad idea - and I do have abs of steel (they are currently operating under cover tho lol)
All I can say is PEM shouldnt be ignored, whilst at low levels most of the time it's possible to exercise it's ultimately fairly pointless as your body isnt in a condition to benefit - a bit like it's possible to do a 10 mile run with a broken ankle - but it wont improve your fitness at all and stands a chance of doing significant injury.
BTW the reason you can feel better whilst and for a few hours after exercising even PEM'd is because your body produces endorphins in response to exercise - in fact when I first started I used to train at least partially because it actually gave me a few painfree hours - which was a novel experience then. That doesnt mean it's good to exercise PEM'd - it just means your body can be a bit thick at times.
Anyway, I wish you every sucess with your endevour - but please dont push too hard - even if it feels good lol
Anyway, I wish you every sucess with your endevour - but please dont push too hard - even if it feels good lol
edit - just read your post at the top of this page - more or less any leg or core exercise should help with OI - at least in theory - as functioning muscle should help prevent blood pooling in the legs - pretty sure I've read somewhere that fighter pilots use leg muscle contractions to help conteract blood pooling caused by high G manouvers.
tc ... x
PS ... I'm still under the weather and fuzzy headed from having severe allergies this week and taking anti histamines so I hope this makes sense ...