How many old sheets of MS exercises do you have?
Advertising. In the following I will advertise and link to various free resources with MS exercises.
I must admit that I am guilty of providing a few bad drawings of exercises performed by matchstick men over the years. Poor patients …. it must have required a great deal of effort to read them (and memory not least). On the whole, it was probably more the memory that helped the performance of the individual exercises than it was my drawing of them!
MS exercises of today
Fortunately, we have come a long way with various online banks with exercises and videos. On social media you will also find lots of creative solutions in providing exercise. If you are struggling a bit with motivation to get started, you can easily fall short of starting full stop when the exercises are presented on a piece of paper alone. Exercises recorded on video can for some be the way to get extra exercises into their everyday life. Others need a little more help and live online training might be of help to them.
I can recommend a website in English with really good simple pictures of MS exercises that I have used again and again. I am referring to the website of the MS Trust . Here you can pick your own exercise in sets and download them as a pdf. When I say “simple pictures”, it is definitely a step up from the previously mentioned exercises with matchstick men, but they are simple, clear and unambiguous in their expression.
If you’re more into video, then both MS Society UK and MS Trust have great deals. Sclerose foreningen in Denmark also has really good videos where you can easily find the level that suits you.
In Denmark, MS’ers are lucky enough to receive free physiotherapy. In the UK, on the other hand, there are many volunteer MS Therapy Centers – including my previous workplace. Several of the centers also have videos and exercises on their social media ready for use. For example, Chilterns MS Center has their own youtube channel with exercises.
Do you need a little more than matchstick men?
- Do you struggle to get started on that paper version of a home exercise programme provided by your physiotherapist?
- Did you loose the sheet all together?
- Perhaps you left it by a mistake in restroom at the physiotherapy clinic?
- Perhaps it even went in the washing machine along with your exercise clothes?
- Perhaps you are just ready to try something new?
Then you might be succesfull in trying exercising online – either live on recorded. Always keep safety in mind and if in doubt, you should check with your healthcare professional for individual considerations.
Enjoy!
PS . If you were one of the recipients of my exercises with matchstick men, then I am so sorry.
You can see a more modern version of different exercises here showing photographs of the exercises.
PPS. Please read my disclaimer.
Artiklen er skrevet af Henriette, fysioterapeut med noget på hjertet. Passion: at skrive om MS til dig (med eller uden MS). Mål: at inspirere og udbrede viden om MS baseret på min erfaring som fysioterapeut samt bryde isolation og fremme fællesskab.