Your guide to living a healthy life with MS
  • Home
  • About me
  • Lifestyle and MS
    • What is MS? >
      • Types of MS
      • What causes MS?
      • Symptoms of MS
      • How is MS diagnosed?
      • How is MS treated?
    • Stress and MS
    • Smoking and MS
    • Healthy weight >
      • What is a healthy weight for me?
    • Alcohol and MS
    • Sleep and MS >
      • Sleep hygiene tips from the MS Trust
    • Importance of hydration
  • Keeping active
    • Latest MS-specific physical activity guidelines
    • Benefits of exercise >
      • UK Physical Activity Guidelines
    • Components of physical fitness
    • What sort of 'exercise'?
    • Exercise for managing symptoms
    • Exercise and relapse
    • Tips for exercising with MS
  • Diet
    • What is a healthy diet? >
      • 7 tips for a balanced diet
      • What is a portion?
      • 5 tips from the MS Society
      • Diet to reduce risk of further diseases
    • The diet debate in MS >
      • 'Best Bet' diet
      • Overcoming MS (OMS)
      • SWANK
      • Wahls protocol
    • Diet to manage symptoms
    • Dietary supplements >
      • Vitamin D
      • Vitamin B12
      • Essential Fatty Acids
    • Tips for cooking with MS
  • Blog
    • Blog posts (PDF)
  • Contact
    • Useful resources

Latest Physical Activity guidelines for people with MS  

Any physio, PT or exercise science researcher focused on using exercise as a tool to help manage chronic conditions will be aware of the latest edition of the 'ACSM Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription': this little book is one of my most used and dog-eared resources.  There are exercise prescription guidelines reported within this book for MS and many other neurological, CV and other conditions; however here I am going to present one of the papers which went into forming these ACSM guidelines and is considered the most recent work on quantifying the most beneficial amount and intensity of physical activity for people with MS and which I use in my own work. 

Recommendations

To achieve important fitness benefits adults (aged 18-65 years) with multiple sclerosis who have mild to moderate disability need at least:

30 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic activity 2 times per week
AND
Strength training exercises for major muscle groups 2 times per week

Meeting these guidelines may also reduce fatigue, improve mobility and enhance elements of health related quality of life.
​
Here is what is recommended:
How often?
Aerobic Activity

Two times per week
Strength Training Activity

Two times per week
  • Aerobic and strength training activities can be done on the same day
  • Rest your muscles for at least a day between strength training sessions 

How much?
Gradually increase your activity so that you are doing at least 30 minutes aerobic activity during each workout session.
Repetitions are the number of times you lift and lower a weight.

Try to do 10-15 repetitions of each exercise.  This counts as one set.

Gradually work up to doing 2 sets of 10-15 repetitions of each exercise.

How hard?
These activities should be performed at a moderate intensity.

Moderate-intensity physical activity is usually 5 or 6 on a scale of 10 (RPE) and causes your heart rate to go up.

As a general rule if you're doing moderate intensity activity you should be able to talk, but not sing a song during the activity. 
Pick a resistance (free weights, cable pulleys,  bands etc) heavy enough that you can barely, but safely, finish 10-15 repetitions of the last set.

​Be sure to rest for 1-2 minutes between each set and exercise.

How to?
Some options for activity include:
Aerobic activities
  • Upper body exercises eg arm cycling
  • Lower body exercises eg walking, leg cycling
  • Combined upper and lower exercises eg elliptical trainer
  
Strength training exercises for the upper and lower body 
  • Weight machines
  • Free weights
  • ​Cable pulleys
Other types of exercise that may bring benefits:
  • Elastic resistance bands
  • Aquatic exercise
  • Calisthenics
​
Latimer-Cheung, A. E., et al. (2013) 'Development of evidence-informed physical activity guidelines for adults with multiple sclerosis', Arch Phys Med Rehabil, 94(9), pp. 1829-1836.e7. doi: 10.1016/j.apmr.2013.05.015.
Picture
HOME
ABOUT ME
LIFESTYLE
HYDRATION
DIET
SLEEP
CONTACT
ALCOHOL
STRESS
BLOG
SMOKING
KEEPING ACTIVE
RESOURCES
DIET & SYMPTOMS
HEALTHY WEIGHT
ACTIVITY & SYMPTOMS
Copyright 2020  HealthyLife MS.  All rights reserved.
PwMS: persons with MS
  • Home
  • About me
  • Lifestyle and MS
    • What is MS? >
      • Types of MS
      • What causes MS?
      • Symptoms of MS
      • How is MS diagnosed?
      • How is MS treated?
    • Stress and MS
    • Smoking and MS
    • Healthy weight >
      • What is a healthy weight for me?
    • Alcohol and MS
    • Sleep and MS >
      • Sleep hygiene tips from the MS Trust
    • Importance of hydration
  • Keeping active
    • Latest MS-specific physical activity guidelines
    • Benefits of exercise >
      • UK Physical Activity Guidelines
    • Components of physical fitness
    • What sort of 'exercise'?
    • Exercise for managing symptoms
    • Exercise and relapse
    • Tips for exercising with MS
  • Diet
    • What is a healthy diet? >
      • 7 tips for a balanced diet
      • What is a portion?
      • 5 tips from the MS Society
      • Diet to reduce risk of further diseases
    • The diet debate in MS >
      • 'Best Bet' diet
      • Overcoming MS (OMS)
      • SWANK
      • Wahls protocol
    • Diet to manage symptoms
    • Dietary supplements >
      • Vitamin D
      • Vitamin B12
      • Essential Fatty Acids
    • Tips for cooking with MS
  • Blog
    • Blog posts (PDF)
  • Contact
    • Useful resources