It’s almost an eerie quiet in my house for 7:15 in the morning. Both dogs went back to sleep next to me on the couch. I just finished doing P90 sculpt B. I started doing the P90 series from http://Www.beachbody.com by Tony Horton but stopped when I started having issues with my shoulder. Doctor said I have tendinitis and arthritis. Lovely!!! Thank heaven for the cortisone shot that has done wonders. Anyway…I’ve completed P90X many times. It is actually my favorite of his exercise programs. However I’ve also completed his P90X2, P90X3 and 22 minute HardCore. I decided to go back to his earlier stuff.  Beachbody is where I get most of my workout stuff, other then Zumba.

My workout schedule, is usually 3 days weights, 3 days cardio.  I find that cardio is more difficult when you have mobility issues because of multiple sclerosis or really any disability.  I can’t jump, run, get my knees up high, do kicks or anything that required too much time on my feet.  Kind of difficult to get your heart rate pumping with those obstacles. So when I say cardio, understand I mean the word very loosely. I bop around in a chair and move my arms. That’s why Zumba works for me. Music for bopping, arms for sort of dancing. I do use  another beachbody trainer Chalene Johnson’s Turbo Fire. She loves the boxing stuff. Most of her stuff is arms and legs so I just do the arms and punch and bop in my chair. It works. Am I burning a ton of calories, NO. I know my “cardio” isn’t going to make me thin, it’s to make me move and feel good. I use to joke if I didn’t have MS I’d be a size 2, because I am very dedicated and strict on my workout routines but alas I have MS and my body only can accomplish so much with its limitations. I ADAPT each routine to what I CAN do. It’s all about modification with multiple sclerosis.

This was my first day back on weights. I have to be honest, I like the weights better then cardio. I think that was why I was able to slack a little bit in December because I cut weights out completely because of my shoulder. Once again modification, I ADAPT to fit what I CAN do. I love muscle definition especially in the arms and shoulders. I felt good today going back to the weights, although I was lifting very light. A very difficult thing for me was the knowledge of what I USE to lift verse what I can lift NOW. I’ve been doing some of these programs for years and you track your progress each week, so I have records of what my biceps lifted, what a shoulder press pressed. It’s hard to not get down over the significant drop. That’s the hard part of the weights. I use to do an overhead press at 15lbs 8-10 reps 5 years ago . Now I can barely do 5lbs because my arms have weakened so much because of the MS. My biceps are better they can still pull 12.5lbs on a low rep exercise but my wrists are so weak, they have problems holding the heavy weight, which has nothing to do with the bicep. It takes a lot to not get angry. It is hard to accept your course of your disease but I’m still fighting through and that says something. I’m able also  to really judge if anything has changed with my MS, good or bad, with my exercise because it’s one of those constants in my life. I can tell when something becomes increasingly difficult when it wasn’t a week prior or for that matter something gets easier. All these programs are tracked with what weight I used, it becomes a great assessment tool. Needless to say as with everything else I’ve learned with my multiple sclerosis, listen to my body, adapt, modify and try. It’s been working for the past 19 years.