“Five years ago, I wasn’t as strong as I am now because I wasn’t doing a whole lot. Now I’m active and busy, I just can’t sit. If you told me five years ago that I’d be able to do a bootcamp the way I do now, I’d never have believed you. I’ve learned it’s important to always give things a try, don’t ever say that you can’t.” — PERRY, Living with MS
All movement counts! You do not need to be doing structured workouts in a gym to reap the benefits of physical activity for brain health. The two words to keep in mind are moderate and consistent. Think about how you can move your body in a way that you enjoy without wiping yourself out for other activities or the next day.
The amount of activity that you can do probably won’t look the same from day to day and that’s ok. Be honest with yourself about what you need today, and move from there. If you’re feeling super fatigued, you don’t want to go crazy and over do the exercise. But if you’ve got some extra energy to spare, increase your activity a little. Remember that movement actually helps fatigue over the long term. You can build up your stamina over time.
Pace yourself. Don’t be afraid to break up periods of activity with periods of rest. Three 10-minute sessions of activity add up to the same amount of movement as one 30-minute session, perhaps even more if you’re able to work harder in smaller doses.
Plan ahead for your specific limits or concerns. This may mean taking temperature into consideration, or planning a route that involves spots to rest at if your leg muscles weaken over a distance. Is balance a concern? You may enjoy a stationary bike more than cycling outdoors on the road. Consider seated yoga instead of standing. There are so many adaptations that can be made, you do not have to forgo an activity you enjoy, though you may need to change how you do it.
Sometimes, the habit of the habit is more important than the action. If you’re trying to get more movement in daily, consider a plan for the days when you’re particularly low energy, fatigued, or in pain. Can you stretch for 10-15 minutes instead of your daily walk? What about doing some mindful movement like seated tai-chi that may be more accessible? Can you choose a fitness video to watch from the couch? This will keep you in the mindset that you always do something movement-related daily and it will familiarize yourself with the video so that the barrier to actively doing it later is lowered.
Everyone enjoys different types of movement, and they’re all valid. Perhaps you would enjoy hydrotherapy in a pool more than walking outdoors? Water provides buoyancy which reduces the effect of gravity and can feel easier than land-based exercises for someone with mobility or balance concerns. Water also offers beneficial resistance to movement. Moving through water requires pushing through this resistance, which helps to strengthen muscles and improve cardiovascular fitness. If you’re more social, consider joining a class either online or in-person which can also have the added benefit of accountability. Also think through what you’d like to accomplish with exercise and choose activities that will get you closer to your end goal (for instance, choose more strength-based exercises if you want to maintain muscle, choose yoga if you’d like to work on balance).
