Personal trainer

I've been wondering about exercise.  Until I was diagnosed with PMR, I was going to a gym 4 times a week and doing an hour of weights and cycling.  I know I can't do any of that right now. Don't have the energy.

I had a trainer for a while but not much different.  She wasn't familiar with PMR.  I get best result from swimming and my own water aerobics routine.  Lots of stretching - like Tai Chi in the water and swimming laps to kick.  A lot of my issues are with walking and legs/buttock pain.  

I'm under the guidence of a phsiotherapist who is familar, but not expert, in PMR. So far, so good. Slowly, slowly catchy monkey..... :-)

I didn't bother getting a trainer and relied on the weight-training skiils that I developed as a youth and through my 20's.

My shoulder "joints", i.e. my greater shoulder muscular-sleleton apparatus, didn't much care for lifting free weights (dumbells, barbells) within the middle range of motion as when lifting from chest height to just above shoulder height.

But above and below that narrow range of motion, I was able to improve my strength and comfort with my shoulder-joint motion by lifting modest amounts of weight.  It was particularly important for me to begin with a lighter weight and move sloth-slow during the first lift, which prepares the inflamed tissues for subsequent repetitions.  It is as if the first slow lift squeezes the excess fluid from the inflamed tissues, making subsequent motons much more free-moving and painless.

I also  focused on pull-ups, not by doing pull-ups but by tugging on a bar that is not so high.  This way I could go through most of the rage of motion of a pull up but without having to lift with the force needed to make my feet clear the ground.

After several months of pull-up type efforts, sets of ten pulls that involved some squatting motion in my legs, I finally got myself to hang my full weight for several seconds, repeated several times.

From there, I did develop the strength to do actual sets of 10-12 pull-ups, something that was unimaginable just four months prior.

As with my lifting regimen, my first full pull after warming up is done in a sloth-like slowness, so as to minimize my pmr ribcage and shoulder pains.  Subsequent lifts are then free of any such sharp pains and I then do four sets of 10-12 pull-ups.

My pmr has not gone away, but adding just a few such resistance routnes to my daily exercise has greatly improved my confidence to try more now-impossible exercizes, while providing me with some good exercise to improve my general health.

So I do recommend adding whatever weightlifting and resistance exercises to one's daily routine that the pmr patient can adapt to, avoiding those exercises which cause persistant discomfort. I advise being imaginative as to the large number of different motions that each of us can possibly do, and being patient, allowing plenty of time (time well spent) to do all of this lifting and pulling.

Also, starting with light-enough weights, and avoiding stress on one's lower back, for example supporting one's upper body weight with one hand on one's knee or on a chair while the other arm is doing a set of dead-lifts or lifting a weight up to body height. It helps to concentrate support body weight with one's fore-feet when lifting anything, as this sets up good muscle-force load path up through one's entire legs and glutes whenever a weight is being lifted, sparing the lower back muscles and helping maintain spinal alignment.

I recommend discussing my recommendations with one's trainer if one is available.

Hi Karen, I've had a personnel trainer for many years and do weights and other train as well. 

I was only diagnosed with PMR in April and initially until I started on my meds I wasn't able to do my weight training. I would never stop my training. I find that after a section with my trainer I actually feel better. I can't do the heavier lifting that I was doing before I get PMR but I just do my best on the day. 

You may find some days are better for you than others but they are there to help motivate you and I find it has really help me. X

 

I've been early diagnosed in May. My disease took along time to diagnose and I'm still trying to get my prednisone dosage correct. Side effects are weight gain and my eyes are dry and red.

but I'm going to a physical therapist and that really helps and also swimming. I'm learning to exercise without hurting.

thank you for this group 

Karen - lots of good commentary here.  What I can tell you is that your body will tell you.  The most important thing to remember is that you cant beat PMR.  You cant out will it.  You cant out train it.  You cant power through it.  You have to adjust, bringing your exercise regimen to the level or threshold of your pain and inflammation and not beyond.  What we have learned mostly through this forum - and trust me when I say there are many deeply committed athletes on this site - is that exercise is good and acute exercise is bad.  As a competitive rower, I am the poster child for over doing it.  No longer.

On the North East website, under health and wellbeing, there is an article on exercise for people with PMR.  This person is a personal trainer and he had investigated PMR.

However, what does for one does not necessarily work for another.  So take care.

We have found that Nordic Walking is very good, certain aspects of Tai Chi (I did not even know there were different kinds) Aqua Aerobics - providing the instructor knows about PMR, never sitting down for longer than 1 hour.

Just remember the blood supply to the muscles is impaired, (not enough oxygen) so go gently.

You need to start with low or even no added weights and with very few reps at first - your muscles are unable to register they are being overworked so exercising to exhaustion is an absolutely crazy idea but one I have come across. They then take far longer to recover from an exercise session. By doing a very minimal amount at first you can add a small amount every couple of days - a rest day between sessions is a good idea. By using that approach I could build from 3 very short ski runs with rests on the lift between at the beginning of the season to being able to ski for much of the morning by mid February. However, while I could ski all morning on short runs with 10 min restson the lift between I could not transfer that to skiing a longer run without being very tired and having sore muscles the next day. And if I tried to do an extra run before I was really ready - I would hit the brick wall of fatigue halfway down!  

Yoga and swimming

Has anyone tried a stationary bike?