Resistance band training at home can be just as effective as using equipment at the gym.Getty Images
This has been a very challenging time for our world, our country, and for those of us with multiple sclerosis (MS). There is so much uncertainty as to how and when the COVID-19 pandemic will get under control. In fact, in some states, including Arizona, where I live, we are experiencing a spike in the number of cases of COVID-19, and businesses are having to shut down once again.
The first businesses to be targeted for closure are gyms, which, in my opinion, are an essential business and not a luxury. But I don’t want to make this blog about my stance on which businesses should be opened or closed. I want to talk about the importance of maintaining fitness during a time like this.
Don’t Stop Exercising Just Because You’re at Home
There are many U.S. states where gyms are open, and the gym owners are doing their best to sanitize the equipment and ensure that members keep their “social distance.” But for people living with a disease like multiple sclerosis, going to the gym may still not feel safe. While it’s not known for sure whether people with MS — or even people with MS who take disease-modifying therapies that alter their immune systems — are at higher risk of COVID-19 complications if they get sick, many people simply do not want to take that chance. If that describes you, then the safest place for you is at home.
But you do not want to stop exercising just because you are stuck in your house, apartment, or Mom’s basement. So what do you do? You grab some resistance bands, attach a door anchor or ankle straps, and you get to work! Let me explain what this means.
Why I Use Resistance Bands for Strength Training
Resistance band training, done properly and using specific training methods for MS, is just as effective as using free weights or equipment in a gym. Your muscles do not know whether you are pumping iron or rubber, but they do know if you are training correctly. I have been using resistance-band strength training for many years with my MS clients, and every one of them gets results that are life changing.
The way I approach this type of workout is no different from the way I approach a workout in the gym. I implement six different training principles in a cyclical manner that not only challenge the muscles to respond but, I believe, allow the brain to reconnect with those muscles despite, in most instances, many years of disconnect.
By jumping into a program like mine early on in an MS diagnosis, I find the body has had less time to let MS take over, and it responds very quickly. But even for those I work with who have had MS for 40 years, the results happen. It will take much more time, which requires much more patience, but the benefits are still evident.
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