WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU MAKES YOU STRONGER…I know it sounds cliché but it’s hard for me to believe that line was ever more true than it is in describing exercise and fibromyalgia!!
But I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…I am NEVER EVER sorry I worked out. In my previous post when I talked about my experiences with exercise and fibromyalgia, I said that statement and it’s something I think about often…because it’s the thing I think every time I don’t feel like working out but I know I should. And then, probably ninety-nine percent of the time, I DO work out…because…I know it IS true…I am NEVER EVER sorry I worked out…and this time will be no different.
Sometimes I wonder if there’s a mistaken belief, by others who aren’t in the practice of regularly exercising, that I have some different dimension to me, whereby I WANT to work out consistently. I’ll put that to rest right now…I don’t. I can’t speak for others who routinely exercise, but to me, a good analogy is that it’s like a job…you don’t necessarily want to do it or even enjoy it at times, but you do it because you want or need to get THE RESULTS. This is exercise for me. I’ve said I’m a diehard for working out…it’s because I want (and now with fibromyalgia…I NEED) the results…both physically and mentally.
But exercise and fibromyalgia are not an easy pairing…which takes me back to…what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
So let me explain.
In my last blog post, I talked about how I stumbled onto the discovery that exercise was good for my fibromyalgia and then, that over the years I’ve come to believe that it’s, in fact, CRUCIAL for me in managing my fibromyalgia symptoms on so many levels.
Now, even though on this website I’m trying to tell of my experiences with fibromyalgia in a deliberate meaningful order from post to post, I try to write each blog post so that if someone read only that post, it would be meaningful and make sense to them on its own. However, in this case, if you haven’t read my last post introducing exercise and fibromyalgia, it would be really helpful to you if you went back and read it now so you will fully understand the basis (of what I’ve come to believe after over thirteen years of my trial and error experience) for the specifics I plan to expand on in this post.
So…early on in my fight against fibromyalgia, I read a truly informative book that enlightened me about the fact that fibromyalgia symptoms “waxed and waned”. Prior to that I was afraid to push the boundaries because I (mistakenly) believed that every time my symptoms worsened, I had lost ground permanently. This fact was an inspiring game changer for me…I realized I COULD push the boundaries somewhat and see what I could do…without being so afraid of causing irreparable harm. For me, it was kind of like when the flag drops to start a race…I was off!
Now, each INDIVIDUAL should develop their OWN exercise plan depending on their OWN capabilities and what they CAN MANAGE at the time and in accordance with their PHYSICIAN’S APPROVAL.
But I wanted to share some specifics of my experiences with working out over the years, because whatever someone’s level of fitness or type of exercise chosen, we may be encountering similar things and others may be able to draw from my experiences. Plus, if someone is hesitant as to what’s even possible as far as exercising with fibromyalgia and perhaps afraid to overdo it…I can at least say what I do and what I believe I know from my experiences…which may be of some help to someone else. It’s all very personal for each of us so it’s hard to know if my experiences will translate for others, but I will put them out there in the hopes that they will.
So I’ll just start with this…I push myself…I generally still push my limits with my workouts…I work out with the same intensity as I always did (pre-fibromyalgia). I’m not saying this because I think or even recommend that others need to push themselves as hard as I do (everyone needs to go at their own pace!), but I’m saying this to say that it’s been possible for me…and I don’t believe it’s been harmful to me in terms of my fibromyalgia. In fact, I’ve been able to maintain the same level of fitness I’ve always had, and I am still gradually improving over the years in terms of my fibromyalgia symptoms.
Now, no-one can ever know for sure but after over thirteen years of experimenting with exercise and fibromyalgia, I believe that the fact that my fibromyalgia seems to be improving is not in spite of my working out, but maybe because of it!
So…I’m thinking…if I can keep up a fairly strenuous exercise regimen, wouldn’t it be likely that others with fibromyalgia can do some exercise at whatever level they are comfortable with without harming themselves in terms of fibromyalgia, in fact, more likely helping themselves? I don’t know the answer…each individual will have to judge that for themself. But, as I said in my last blog post, from my experience over time, “I came to the realization that I don’t believe the pain and other symptoms I was having from fibromyalgia are symptoms of anything ACTUALLY wrong with my body that would be a viable reason why I couldn’t keep working out”. To be clear, I don’t believe I will do harm working out because I don’t believe there is anything physically wrong with my body. Fibromyalgia makes you feel like there is, but from my experience of over fourteen years of living with fibromyalgia, it seems to me that there isn’t.
So I have ignored the way I feel for the most part and continued to work out full steam anyways (through aches and pains, exhaustion, my body feeling like a concrete block to move and a myriad of other symptoms) AND I am always able to get through the workout AND I actually usually feel better IMMEDIATELY (again, if you haven’t read my last post, I explained this “shocking” discovery there). In addition, I get all the other well-known health benefits, short and long term, of exercising.
But make no mistake…it’s NOT easy…so…now do you see what I mean?…what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger?
Just to give an idea of what I’ve personally found possible and manageable… I currently work out about fifty (maximum effort) minutes per day four or five days a week (always weekdays, first thing in the morning). I take the weekends off, and at times I take Wednesdays off or do a light workout that day, to rest my body midweek and maybe get a little extra sleep or an earlier start to my day instead. I used to run for every workout up until about three or four years ago. I could have kept that pace up no problem, but I switched to a more rounded workout to get in better shape and because I wanted more variety for a change. So now I do two high intensity interval workouts on my treadmill and two or three strength training workouts each week. I put the maximum effort in, for the time I work out, so I’m going full steam for approximately fifty minutes. Right now, for me, this seems to be a manageable level…I can do the workouts no problem and I am not overdoing it and burning out over time.
Besides, I’m only willing to put so much time into it…I have a busy life (and I have fibromyalgia!) and remember?…it’s a means to an end for me…I’m hooked on the RESULTS.
I keep this up, day in, day out, week after week, year after year (like brushing my teeth…remember…from my last blog post again). But once in a rare while I end up missing a few workouts give or take, like over the Christmas season or a vacation. I don’t really get out of shape in that short period of time but when I get back to it, it can make the workouts somewhat tougher until I’ve been back in the regular routine for a bit. (And by the way, a flare up of fibromyalgia symptoms can have the same effect.) I find that’s when I really have to apply a delicate balance…of gently pushing myself with the working out to get back to my normal level…but not overdoing it, because it does tire me out more then…however I need to do it because I know it’s the only way back. After many years of this, by now I know this routine well; I know there are better days coming again, so it’s easier to feel confident in what I’m doing and keep gently pushing my limits to get back in shape.
It can be tough at times to “get back”…I’ve often thought for someone who has fibromyalgia and hasn’t been exercising at all…this is what it would be like for them to start exercising. I often think how hard that road would be, because I am just trying to “get back” and it’s hard enough. I think then it would be especially important, if they and their doctor agree they should exercise, to start slow and increase at the pace that they can handle so that they just gently keep nudging themselves forward. Once again….what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger…comes to mind.
Okay…and speaking of “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”(again)…here’s another lovely(!) little thing that occasionally happens to me during my workouts…I’ll tell you what I do and if it happens to you…you be the judge. Every once in awhile during my high-intensity interval workout on my treadmill (and I think it is more likely to happen if I’ve missed a few workouts and am trying to “get back” again, but not always), it will suddenly FEEL LIKE I’ve fairly badly pulled a muscle. I’ll be running at a pretty good pace when suddenly…TWANG…the whole hamstring muscle (or maybe calf) will feel painfully pulled, almost like it may give out! I say “feel like” because I don’t believe that I did in fact pull a muscle…because it’s always the same.
I wonder “Did I pull a muscle!?!”…and then, oh yes, I remember all the other times this has happened…so, I carefully keep running at the same pace waiting to see if my leg will take it…and once again, I’m able to keep running, full strength and full speed! And if it hasn’t stopped hurting by the time I finish and get off my treadmill, it stops hurting shortly afterwards! So, by now, after years of experience I’ve learned that I can pretty much ignore these “pulled muscles”; they go away so fast that I know they were a fibromyalgia symptom and not really a pulled muscle. I mean…I’ve HAD pulled muscles before in my previous “normal” life…they were there for close to a week!…and they inhibited everything I did for the whole week…I couldn’t move normally right away and I wasn’t pain free within minutes!
Now I’m definitely not saying anyone should just ignore pain when they are working out…that would for sure be irresponsible of me. Certainly we should pay attention to any pain and if we choose to proceed, then proceed with a GOOD AMOUNT OF CAUTION (as I have always done) and see if there’s anything to it.
The reason I mention this at all is that I’ve heard of others with fibromyalgia experiencing something like this and then stopping working out altogether because they believe they are damaging their muscles when this happens, but this doesn’t seem to be my experience. I’m certainly not an expert and anyone should always consult with their doctor to get a medical opinion, but I hate to hear of someone with fibromyalgia stopping an exercise regimen when maybe they just needed to take it a little easier and keep persisting to get to a comfortable level of exercising.
And speaking of keeping persisting, I feel like “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” pretty much characterizes every weekday morning for me. I will only work out in the early mornings, usually first thing before I do anything else, because basically I am busy and I don’t want to (and won’t) use any of my other time during the day or evening to work out. So…since I also WON’T MISS a workout (well, practically never…I depend on it to combat fibromyalgia)…that leaves only early mornings. But…I am so busy that I usually don’t get to bed as early as I should (I’m working on that). So…inevitably it (too) often comes down to a choice between getting more sleep or getting up and working out. (…we’re talking often less than six hours sleep…oops…)
I’ve had to make that tough choice far too many times over the years, daily at times, so I’ve debated it with myself many many times…which is the better choice? Both seem so very crucial to managing fibromyalgia symptoms, good sleep and exercise. Quite a few years ago, I concluded, from my years of experience and though I know I really should get both, if it comes down to it and I am in that situation (totally my fault of course), I am better off overall going with less sleep and doing the workout, even though it almost kills me to climb out of bed and force myself to go start the workout. (…what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger…) Fairly soon into the workout I usually feel way better and when I’m done, I feel great AND I feel better all day and overall than if I had gone without a workout and opted for that bit of extra sleep. I am NEVER EVER sorry I worked out. If I can I’ll try to pick up a bit more sleep in a nap sometime during the day or evening or catch up on the weekend.
The reason I talk about this is, again, it shows that from all the trial and error years I’ve had of living with fibromyalgia, I’ve come to decide that, even with how absolutely “life-saving” good sleep is for my fibromyalgia, in a pinch I will pick the exercise nine times out of ten, day after day because I know that exercise is THAT crucial for me in fighting fibromyalgia. This is true in the short run and I’ve come to suspect that exercise is a major factor in the way I am gradually improving over the years in the long run as well.
It feels like it’s slowly, steadily, pushing back against my fibromyalgia and succeeding in building me and my resistance back up over time.
Incidentally, on the topic of morning workouts, though it was out of necessity that I originally picked this time slot, I’ve come to really appreciate quite a few things about it. I originally switched to working out in the early mornings because with raising young (any) kids, that was the only time I could be (almost!) guaranteed of uninterrupted time to get a workout done in my home workout room. But now that I’ve done this for years, I know I will try to keep with this routine because I consistently have the energy to get through the workouts quite well first thing in my day, even if I didn’t get enough sleep. I always seem to pick up the energy shortly into the workout whereas later in the day I think the tiredness sets in more and I often can be struggling to get my responsibilities done due to brain fog, tiredness or just plain exhaustion, so I wouldn’t get time for the workout.
When I do it first thing, I’m putting my responsibility to myself and my health first…I suppose it’s the equivalent to the financial idiom, “Pay yourself first”. And overall, I guess it kind of “kills two birds with one stone” for me…besides getting my workout done, it’s also my morning routine that gets me ready to face the day, physically (and mentally too).
I’ve tried to lay out some specifics of my own trial and error exercise experiences over the years simply to show what I’ve found POSSIBLE while fighting fibromyalgia, because just maybe, that may help someone else to stay motivated to try to keep up an exercise routine…and maybe it may save someone all the same trial and error experiences I’ve had to go through…hopefully some of what I’ve learned can give others some insight that may help them if they hit any of the same issues I’ve hit up against.
But I can’t emphasize enough, it’s been my experience that anyone who is trying to keep up an exercise routine (with or without chronic illness) needs to find a type of exercise and a schedule for it that works in THEIR LIFE for THEM. It’s no help to them if they aren’t going to keep it up. They should latch on to whatever they can find that will help keep them MOTIVATED. It might be incorporating things they like in their routine or tracking their progress in some way; I listen to my MP3 while I watch the morning news bylines on TV as I work out, plus I find it motivating to track my heart rate progress on my treadmill. Changing up things can help too…even adding new songs to my MP3 always gives me an added boost in motivation for quite awhile. And by exercise I don’t necessarily mean the stuff I do, that’s my thing. Each individual should PICK WHATEVER THEY THINK THEY’LL DO…I know lots of people love yoga, walking is fantastic for us, the possibilities are endless. They have to like it enough and it has to be realistically workable in their life, specifically in terms of how much exercise and when they will fit it in. If they overshoot on either of these…don’t quit…ADJUST!
Having fibromyalgia, I’ve found I can definitely overdo it; sometimes I know it right away but more often I’ve slowly been burning out over time. So I adjust. We each have to exercise at a level that fits with where our illness is at the time, and my experience has been that that can keep changing. As I said earlier, I push myself somewhat when I’m not up to it, to help keep my fibromyalgia and work out level at the status quo, so I’m not falling back in either because it can be a snowball effect in the wrong direction. And as I said before, for me, someone who has worked out for many years now, it can be hard to “get back” when I’ve let up a bit, so I imagine starting out would take a great deal of extra persistence…but I can tell you my experience has been that it does get easier as you get more fit…just like “regular” people.
What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger…
Yes, what I know is real is that I plan to keep working out for the rest of my life, or for at least as long as I possibly can…it is my all-in-one medication of choice…who knows, I’ve heard of people in their eighties running marathons! And I believe it’s my first and last line of defense against fibromyalgia. This can seem daunting, but I like the fact that I will always be fit and healthier for it, and I will reap all the other long term benefits that go along with that, mentally, physically and overall health wise. Besides, the way I look at it…the time is going to pass anyways, one way or another…how do I want to spend it?…and where do I want to be at the end of it? The word that totally resonates with me to describe what exercise does for me is…it “normalizes” me…in so many ways…physically it’s phenomenal and mentally it grounds me. And I absolutely can’t believe I can be the only one it does this for!
And speaking of marathons, I’ve sometimes wondered…could I train for and run a marathon? I don’t really know and maybe it’s just wishful thinking. I know I don’t have the time or desire to find out right now…but the fact that I have fibromyalgia and it’s not out of the question to me as to whether I could manage that…speaks volumes.
