Move more is a self care suggestion I make when counseling people on their Lyme recovery journey. Movement is a really important component of feeling good in your body. But with Lyme disease it is important to get it right, design your fitness recovery journey with care. Get guidance from your doctor and choose your activity wisely.
If you have chronic inflammation from Lyme disease you may be much more prone to injury and inflammatory response. For years before my diagnosis I kept getting hurt doing normal things. 100 people are in the room doing a yoga pose and I was the one who got hurt. Neither the doctors nor I saw the pattern or figured out what was going on with all my ”accidents and injuries”.
Design Your Fitness Recovery Journey
Get the help you need to design your fitness recovery journey with as few problems as possible. Exercise injury is no fun, so looking at my experience you may have to kaizen your fitness very gently Rest when you need to and variety to protect yourself. Many people who get really ill from Lyme disease, don’t move much for months.
Lack of movement for that long causes weakness and pain. Joints stiffen, muscles weaken and cardiac fitness declines. This means you have to recognize where you are starting from and kaizen frequency, duration and intensity of your activity. Early on I would have to ice my knees and feet after every workout, otherwise I would fight swelling and discomfort.
I had to let go of advanced yoga asana, and aerobic walking. It was kind of humbling to struggle to finish a loop around the mall then rest for a couple of days before trying again. There were times I would need to take time off and just rest and try not to be discouraged.
Kaizen comes from manufacturing, it is a Japanese term that means incremental improvement that is paced on being able to maintain each level of improvement.
I worked with a yoga therapist to help me add the right combinations of strengthening, stretching, aerobics and theraputics. Work out to get stronger rather than get hurt. Make sure any trainer or therapist you work with has experience helping people rebuild fitness after a serious illness. If you can’t find help check out this as a starting point.
It took me a while to learn the true meaning of patience and surrender, but I have finally accepted that healing doesn’t happen on our schedule. It doesn’t have a clock or a calendar. – Yolanda Hadid
Find Just The Right Amount & Kind Of Movement
Excessive exercise or too much of the same exercise, can cause an inflammatory response in the body. Fatigue and repeated stress wears down the joints and muscles. Athletes can bump into their body’s limits and trigger chronic inflammation and injury.
Just remember that excessive exercise will have a new set point in recovery. Work out below the level of exhaustion and strong pain. When you honor your body and continue to move in a healthy way, you will get stronger. That is the point right, move more, get stronger then build fitness in a step wise fashion.
The information provided on this website is not a substitute for professional medical care, treatment or advice. All the material here is for information purposes only. Always share strategy and work with your health care team.