Doing Pilates sitting down
Stretching the legs
Pilates is a stretching and exercise program focusing on core muscles. These are the ones in your stomach. Keeping these muscles healthy does help my balance and walking. To put it bluntly this means I don’t need to use a wheelchair just yet. It’s only too easy to say “Oh I need to take some exercise”, but doing it regularly just doesn’t happen 🙁 .
Regular Pilates classes
I should go to a Pilates class every Wednesday morning but sometimes life gets in the way. Everyone there could be described as ‘damaged goods’. I’m definitely very damaged because I’ve got MS. I know missing classes is not a good idea consequently I’m not a happy bunny. Something had to change.
Doing Pilates sitting down
So I had to put together my own exercise regime that would last. The best time for me is first thing in the morning. It takes me 45 minutes to get dressed so another 20 isn’t really going to make a lot of difference. When the alarm goes off in the morning immediately I sit on the edge of the bed and do some exercises.
None of the “I’ll just snooze for another five minutes”. Could that be because I went to boarding school?
An added bonus
Doing Pilates sitting down
I stretch and twist muscles and tendons whilst siting on the bed. Next to the bed is a chest of drawers that is about 4 foot high. An ideal height for me so I do some balance exercises. I have poor balance and I stand in a slightly stooped position and my knees are bent as well. So I practice standing as upright possible.
The real test
I sit back on the bed. Now I try to stand up and then sit down on the bed slowly with out pushing myself up. I do this ten times. This really is a tricky one and I can only do it in the morning.
When I have finished I brush my teeth. No holding on to grab rail and I stand as upright as possible. Just thinking about it makes my thighs ache. Although I’ve only been doing this for a few weeks I can already feel the benefits or am I kidding myself?
Wobbly cushion
I’ve got one of those plastic cushions that you fill with air, put on a chair and sit on it; known officially as a wobble cushion. The idea is to stay upright without holding onto anything. Shifting my weight from side to side is a challenge and not falling off is another challenge.
After about 10 minutes my muscles are protesting. “Take it away, take it away” they scream. I can feel the ache in my stomach muscles for several hours afterwards.
So why?
Doing the exercises won’t stop my MS. I’m not that stupid! Nonetheless I know this much. If I sit around and do nothing the disease will get worse and it will happen a lot more quickly. The fine line is doing enough so I know it’s helping me and yet not too much so I get knackered.
I say to myself “It must be doing me good so it ought to be doing me good”. I’m a bit of a sucker.
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Multiple sclerosis and Tai Chi
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November 2018
Hi Patrick, I have only just discovered you. I don’t have MS but I’m nearly eighty and my knees have gone. Thank goodness for my mobility scooter. Otherwise I would be housebound.
I try to do exercises similar to your’s. In addition, I lie in bed, listening to some lively music and make my ankles beat time to the music. I don’t know if this helps but I feel that it does and I think that’s almost as important. My favourite piece of music for this exercise is ‘Babe’ by Hurricane Smith (available on You Tube and on Spotify). I recommend it. The music alone makes me feel good. 🙂
Hello Marion,
I would also be housebound without my mobility scooter, aka The Trike. Keep up the exercises, I need to do them just to get through each day. I try to walk 8 aisles in my local supermarket every day
I’m stuck in a wheelchair but some of this feels relevant so following links.
Hello Roland
I am a firm believer in exercise. There is plenty of upper body exercise and I’m sure it can incorporate core/stomach muscles. I could look up exercise websites for you but I don’t know if it is just leg muscles.
The difficult issue is be to make the exercise regime a part of your daily life and then they do not appear as an intrusion into your life but become a part of your life. It also sounds strange but I feel better mentally for doing the exercise