Hello my name is Mike and I wanted to share my experience with you all about my experience with a personal trainer. I was diagnosed with MS in 2008 when drop foot on my left side became an issue.
Eventually I was diagnosed with PPMS.
I started going to the gym to strengthen my upper body to prepare for pushing myself around in a wheelchair. While working out a personal trainer took interest in my situation and said she could help me. At that time I was walking with a cane and just using the sit down machines for my workout. The 1st thing she did was get me up on my feet using free weights and cable machines. After that she got me to climb up on a bike and pedal while standing like I was climbing a hill. I made it 3 minutes and thought I was going to collapse from fatigue! She told me her goal was for me to get to the point where I could ride 30 minutes. 15 minutes up and 15 minutes sitting. As the month went on I found my legs were much stronger and I felt my stance was much more stable. The 1st of July I quit using my cane and have not looked back. By August 1st I was riding the bike for 60 minutes. 30 minutes standing and 40 minutes sitting. Sept 1st I started my first spin class and today I pedaled 15 miles!!! It’s so exciting to be able to set physical goals and achieve them. This was something I let MS take from me and I know other people with MS that just accepted this also. I’m here to tell you … You don’t have to accept this!
Fight and dream again.
If interested in learning more contact me!
Thanks for reading and best wishes with your journey.
Written by
Mb2112
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Hi Mike it’s done me good to read your story, it shows there is life after a diagnosis. I am a 66 year old female with PPMS and I used to love riding my bike but I can’t bend my knee. I know since I stopped cycling I have got weaker, but it’s great to hear you are doing so well. Keep it up, blessings Jimeka 😊
I’m sorry to hear about your knee and that you no longer can ride a bike. MS has taken so many things that I use to love to do, play guitar, go bowling etc…. Now I focus on what can I do to maintain or better my situation so I can continue to enjoy my grandkids.
Why are you asking people to contact you directly? Is it so that you can promote a private fitness or gym program to them? If that is the case then you need to be aware that doing so is against Health Unlocked's Terms of Use for this website. Given that you only joined a day ago and are asking people to contact you to "learn more" sounds a lot like personal promotion. If you are not promoting any private programs or gyms then why can't you simply share with everyone what you learnt by posting it here on the forums without requiring direct contact via private messages from members?
Below is the relevant section of the Terms of Use set by Health Unlocked.
5. Non-commercial use
"The Site is for the use of individuals for non-commercial purposes only. To use information gathered from HealthUnlocked commercially, or to reach HealthUnlocked Users with commercial interest, is strictly prohibited under these Terms of Use, unless expressly authorized by HealthUnlocked in advance and in writing. Please refer to the “7. Acceptable use” section below to understand what actions will be taken if you breach these Terms of Use.
Commercial use, which is strictly prohibited, includes, but it is not limited to:
• promotion or advertising of a company, a product, a service or a website;
• self-promotion, including of a personal cause or digital content or a service;
• promotion of a research opportunity; and
• recruitment of participants for a study or a project. "
Well that's good to know - there are few sneaky ones who only ever post when they want to promote their personal websites and they do it under the guise of "sharing" their personal experiences, and then tell people to contact them by DM for further info, or to look at their profile info for their website links. The whole point of this place's existence as a chat board and forum is to enable people to share publicly, and asking for direct private contact can look suspiciously like self-promotion.
And there is a guy called Mike who says he has MS and he's always popping up promoting his fitness programs through various social media avenues etc, so you can probably understand what's behind me questioning your original post.
omg that sounds great!! Ive gott find a stationary bike because i hate going to a gym in front of orhers. I wonder if it works with other types of machines. I do s stair-stepper i have at home and I’m having trouble increasing my time past 7 minutes
I use to have a stationary bike and wore it out! I love the gym environment. People are very encouraging and supportive. The first visit felt uncomfortable. Wasn’t sure how people would reacted to me stumbling around with my cane from machine to machine. After a few visits people would tell my how inspirational I was to them and I made some good friends. It’s become my social life.
i used to belong to a gym and went about 4x per week and was in great shape. I gradually got worse ad worse wit MS and it feels embarrassing how different i am now. Had made friends there too and it’s embarrassing for them to see me like this. I guess i could join somewhere else but I’m doing things pretty regularly at home right now
I have suffered with MS since being diagnosed in 1986-and consider myself fortunate, loss of sensory abilities, muscle spasms, weakness and loss of balance have all affected me but it is only within the last 8 years that I can’t drive and only within the last 5 years that I have had limited individual mobility, I am now in a wheelchair. MS is an insidious autoimmune disease with no cure it effects everyone differently and the progression is different for everyone that is affected. I had tried the sitting in a chair routine but as MS progressed it was easier for me to have a local trainer stretch me 2 or 3 times a week stretching shoulders, arms, legs and doing core exercises I had emailed the MS Society requesting any books on stretching receiving a small library of information. I met with the trainer, and we planned a half hour routine. I make an appointment with a physical therapist who specializes working with MS and Parkinson’s patients to evaluate me each year and we then adjust the stretching routine it certainly helps with spasticity and muscle cramping.
Dear Mike, I don't want to diminish your success, but I think it is very important to remember how individual our journey in life, and with MS is. I was an avid distance cyclist, and took part in the MS society's 150 ride in NW Ohio for 16 years ( 8 before diagnosis and 8 after) after about 10 years I was not able to ride my favorite bike anymore ( a recumbent) however I am still riding an upright bicycle, and hoping to join bike to the bay again next year. Although I know others who have not been so fortunate and despite their best efforts are no longer able to ride themselves.
It's entirely possible you gave up too soon and that could well be why you had such strong results in such a short time. While it's important to remember that if you don't use it you'll start to lose it, it's also even more important to remember that everyone's MS is different and neuroplasticity will not always build the right pathways for signal transmission for everyone in the same way. If a jumbo sized lesion or just a smaller very awkwardly located one is blocking signal traffic to certain muscles then no amount of using it will work. Yes, exercising is important for all of us, but it's essential for people to be realistic about what is achievable and not build up false hopes based on other people's anecdotal experiences. MS is not called a snowflake disease for no reason.
I’ve had MS for 20 years. My oldest brother was diagnosed 45 years ago. I also have 3 1st cousins with this horrible disease! I do know it affects each person differently. I know many people will not be able to do the things I can do and I can’t do some of the things they can do.
But… when I find something that works for me I’m going to share for the people that still can or want to try.
You know what you can and can’t do. If the work you are putting in is not helping and causing problems for you then you should quit bashing yourself against that wall. I wish you the best and hope you can find other things that might help you. Facing reality is a hard, difficult and a necessary thing we will all face!
I'm a believer in God first; then you my friend!!!! My hubby keeps telling me the same about exercise and fatigue! He says exercise does wonders, and I was doing well when did keep a regimen going! Thanks for sharing....continued good health, we're stronger together!
Thank you for inspiring me to look for a personal trainer near me! I made an appointment for consultation this Wednesday. They have exercise bikes with feedback and vibration plates. I am sure they have other exercise equipment too. The website says their method gets a high intensity work out in a shorter period of time which is what I need. I tried MS Workouts online but the videos took too much time so I didn't stick with it.
kdali I will let you know how they use the vibration plate. I did get the Rumblex but have only used it sitting in a chair with my feet on it to try to get used to it before standing on it. I am afraid my poor balance will cause me to fall off. Looking forward to see how this trainer uses it so I can use mine more effectively.
Yes, please do! I believe the ones at the gym have bars you can hold onto. I put my plate near a wall and dresser in case I'm feeling wobbly. I would also try standing in one mode on low first, with feet in the middle. Feet on the farthest sides on the highest of 3 nodes hurt my weak hip flexors when I started, but it's good now. GL! 🎉
i did it standing today on level 10 without a problem 😁 I had it close to the wall just in case and kept my feet on the first set of dots from the center dot. I was happy that it was easy to do and didn't feel off balance. Will increase it next time. Will see how my legs and hip flexors feel tomorrow
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