Dechi
Senior Member
- Messages
- 1,455
I used to weight train also before being sick. And yes, seeing your body lose all its muscle is very hard. I have managed to keep going to the gym. I had to completely stop for 4 months, I was crashing and it was making me worse, but now I am back on it.
Here's what I do. I use a heart monitor, polar a360 and I have it programmed to vibrate when My heartbeat is too high and when it's back to 60 (my resting heart rate is 48, so 60 is close enough). I started with doing 10 seconds on, then resting until my heart went back to 60. Now I can do 15 seconds, then rest until my heart goes back to 60. The resting period is at least 1 minute, sometimes 2 minutes. You need to adjust the weight so that doing the 10 seconds won't put you too much over your anaerobic threshold. If you don't know it, use this formula : (220-your age) x 60%. If the watch beeps bcause you're over your anaerobic threshold, you stop and rest until your heart goes back to your normal heart rate, close to your resting heart rate.
Here is an example of a specific ME program for 1 day. It will add up to about 3 minutes of continuous exercises for a total of 45 minutes gym time. Yes, exercising 3 minutes and resting 42 minutes ! But it works and you will keep some muscle mass. Day 1 : legs, 3 exercises, 2 series of 8 reps each. Shoulders, 3 exercises, 2 series of 8 reps each. Abs, 1 exercise, 2 series, 10 reps. Easy stretching if you want. Day 2 : same thing, biceps, triceps and abs. Day 3 : chest, back and abs.
Never go on 2 consecutive days. Go max 3 times a week, only if you feel up to it. I recommend you start with 1 exercise per muscle group, 1 serie and 6 reps only and slowly increase to 2 over a period of a few months. If you can tolerate it, have a protein shake after your workout. A good quality one.
Like others said, go very, very slowly. Last thing you want is to crash ! Don't expect to improve a lot. I am now at 3 exercises, 10 reps (15 seconds), 2 series per muscle group, but I don't think I will ever get better than this. And my resting time has to stay the same, almost 2 minutes sometimes, or else I risk fainting right in the middle of the workout. If I push too much, I get very dizzy, shaky and weak. Not a very pleasant feeling.
Here's what I do. I use a heart monitor, polar a360 and I have it programmed to vibrate when My heartbeat is too high and when it's back to 60 (my resting heart rate is 48, so 60 is close enough). I started with doing 10 seconds on, then resting until my heart went back to 60. Now I can do 15 seconds, then rest until my heart goes back to 60. The resting period is at least 1 minute, sometimes 2 minutes. You need to adjust the weight so that doing the 10 seconds won't put you too much over your anaerobic threshold. If you don't know it, use this formula : (220-your age) x 60%. If the watch beeps bcause you're over your anaerobic threshold, you stop and rest until your heart goes back to your normal heart rate, close to your resting heart rate.
Here is an example of a specific ME program for 1 day. It will add up to about 3 minutes of continuous exercises for a total of 45 minutes gym time. Yes, exercising 3 minutes and resting 42 minutes ! But it works and you will keep some muscle mass. Day 1 : legs, 3 exercises, 2 series of 8 reps each. Shoulders, 3 exercises, 2 series of 8 reps each. Abs, 1 exercise, 2 series, 10 reps. Easy stretching if you want. Day 2 : same thing, biceps, triceps and abs. Day 3 : chest, back and abs.
Never go on 2 consecutive days. Go max 3 times a week, only if you feel up to it. I recommend you start with 1 exercise per muscle group, 1 serie and 6 reps only and slowly increase to 2 over a period of a few months. If you can tolerate it, have a protein shake after your workout. A good quality one.
Like others said, go very, very slowly. Last thing you want is to crash ! Don't expect to improve a lot. I am now at 3 exercises, 10 reps (15 seconds), 2 series per muscle group, but I don't think I will ever get better than this. And my resting time has to stay the same, almost 2 minutes sometimes, or else I risk fainting right in the middle of the workout. If I push too much, I get very dizzy, shaky and weak. Not a very pleasant feeling.
