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Mickel & Reverse Therapy:

• It worked for me!
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• Acupressure
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Exercise:

• Tai-chi exercises
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Weights:

• Why weights?
• Weights and you
• Lifting techniques
• KBell dynamics 1
• KBell dynamics 2
• Kettlebell presses
• buying kettlebells

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Is weight training for you?

If you are considering weight training, know how much your ME/CFS enables you to do. Your limits will depend on your age, your fitness before you got ill, and the stage your illness is at. In my case I was 32, previously fit and started weight training after lived with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome for eighteen months.

This was a good time for me to exercise because I knew my limits. I had learned how to pace myself and experienced two relapses when I tried to push my body beyond those limits, (trying to get back to cycling and running).

Know your limits

I can't say whether one individual will respond positively to weight training. In my case I was comfortable taking three 20 minute walks per week. So as a starter I would suggest doing a straight minute for minute swap - swap weights for whatever other form of exercise you currently do. Obviously if your ME/CFS is still too severe to be able to exercise for say at least 15 mins every other day, then you certainly are not ready to start throwing weights around - and you must judge for yourself if you are ready even then.

Set a maximum of around 15 minutes per day for the first few weeks until you know what effect it's having on you. If you feel better over the following days and weeks, well carry on. If there's no change, again probably carry on. But of course if you feel worse scale it back or stop altogether - maybe this just isn't the approach for you.

One further point I should make is that kettlebell exercises are fairly intense, and every time I increase the weight or repetitions I feel pretty drained after a session. But I feel better over the following days - the reverse of what happens when people with ME/CFS do too much. So don't panic if you feel tired for the rest of the day - what matters is whether you feel better or worse in the following days and weeks.

For many people with ME/CFS weight training will certainly be inappropriate. If your muscles are generally too stiff for any exercise, ie. you can walk but only very slowly, try hot and cold compresses for inflamed muscles or the other suggestions in the treatment section until you can walk fairly normally for at least 15 minutes. If your arms frequently feel numb weights will do you no favors. Likewise these should be avoided by anyone for whom sore muscles are the main symptom, for example if you have been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia rather than Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Have intention not willpower

Beware of using willpower to force your body to do more than it really can - that only buries the problem deeper. On the other hand such exercises are never easy, even for fully healthy people. You'll need some sticking power, particularly with the slow presses which are intended to push the muscles to their limit so that they rebuild. In short, find a happy medium.

Do not "Push on through" M.E

Some in the medical profession used to belive M.E / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome are entirely psychosomatic - largely discredited now. I wonder how many people who were advised to "push through it" in the early days of ME/CFS treatment have paid for it in extra months and years of illness and exhaustion? Listen to your body and what it wants, not guilty feelings of being a burden or impatience to get back to normal life. If you are not ready for exercise then don't force it. Have the intention to get better and follow the steps necessary to achieve it, but don't use willpower to over-ride a system that really isn't ready. Consider meditation to keep your mental state positive about, but accepting of your physical state.

A good way to assess your physical state is to keep a diary. Keep a note of how much you sleep, how much exercise you are getting, muscular stiffness, anxiety etc. Then if you add in weight training or other treatments see how your body reacts. You need to look at your health over several weeks to know that it's not just an energy peak or trough - which is a major problem in ME/CFS.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - the energy debt

Bearing in mind these cautions, some people may benefit as much from kettlebells as I did. By strengthening the nervous system you may increase your energy and reduce your stress levels. If you are like me, you may find the inability to exercise on of the most disheartening aspects of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - so Kettlebells could be the solution here.

My accupuncturist made this observation: ME/CFS is rather like being in debt - every month your paycheck goes in and your balance looks healthy - but if you don't pay a big chunk to your credit card the interest pushes you further into the red. So when you have energy, don't just spend it. Budget your energy, control your spending and you will get out of debt and back to health. I knew weight training was working for me because not only did my energy increase, but the periods of low energy came less and less frequently and I recovered from the low points in days not weeks.

So bearing in mind these points it's time to look at some techniques

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