P Powell: Liverpool CFS centre patient handout

Page 58

The fifth week increase by 10 seconds per session

The sixth week increase by 15 seconds per session

Carry on increasing steadily.

Aerobic

exercise

reaches

the depths

of physical

deconditioning

After some days you may notice an increase in the symptoms of physical deconditioning (jelly-like, shaky sensations in the legs, pounding heart, breathlessness, sweating, fatigue). This is because your body is not yet used to such regular activity. But with perseverance you will become fitter, reversing the physical deconditioning in your body. Although it will take a considerable length of time for your body to recondition, which is why the duration of the programme is between one and two years, as that happens, the symptoms will subside. Tension can be added to the exercise bike when patients are doing 20 to 25 minutes or over. Some bikes allow the arms to be worked in a rowing action. This can be started when patients have achieved more than five minutes on the bike. Again, build up in a graded manner.

A combination of exercises gets recovery underway

/

Although the exercise bike is beneficial in reconditioning the heart, lungs and muscles, it is only partially weight-bearing. Consequently, additional full weight-bearing exercises, which will complete the reconditioning process, need to be added to the programme for full recovery. It is important to be aware that: Frequent stimulation of the cardiovascular system with both partial and full weight bearing timed exercise is most effective in reconditioning the body, Consequently, in addition to their two daily exercise bike sessions, some patients chose to do full weight bearing activity sessions. These can include:

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Walking and standing, which we have already outlined Stair exercises March or Dance or Jog

The full weight bearing exercises: stairs, dancing, marching and jogging are more demanding on the deconditioned body than the exercise bike which is partially weight bearing. Therefore, they are harder to perform and it will take longer to build up exercise times compared with the bike. 58


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