Hello, all!
This is just going to be a short little spiel about how much I'm enjoying my new work out routine! Granted, it's only the first day but as I'm sure many of you know, when you suffer from chronic illness and have a hard time finding a work out routine you can tolerate, you get excited when you find one!
That's what happened to me today. I remembered my school offers some kind of fitness class called Yogi or something like that... I thought it had something to do with the bear but when I looked into it, I realized it was actually a combination of Pilates and Yoga! Well, I already do yoga and I fair pretty well with that despite my POTS but I've never tried Pilates. As it turns out... It works really well for me!
I was really surprised because a lot of it requires bending over and reaching up above your head which yeah, usually makes me feel miserable but I always keep careful watch of my pulse and my symptoms while I exercise to ensure nothing negative comes out of it.
I wasn't able to do the full video I had found, but I paced myself through it slower than you usually would go through it and I can already feel it working in my body!
So, I've decided to try this four week beginner's work out to get started in Pilates and I may change it up a bit to fit my chronic illness more... But I've found it's low key enough that if you do struggle too much with your POTS symptoms, you can do all the floor exercises without too much trouble.
I want to stress, however, that EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT WITH THEIR SYMPTOMS AND WHAT THEY CAN SAFELY DO.
Please, please, please do not try this if your symptoms are made a lot worse by reaching and bending. POTS symptoms can vary in severity and I'm very lucky that while my symptoms are difficult to deal with, they're not bad enough to keep me entirely confined to not being active.
I firmly believe, however, that this illness does not own me - I OWN IT! I'm going to take my body back and I will see a day when these symptoms no longer plague me. They've said that exercising will help and it has helped me in the past... So maybe a combination of being fit, eating healthy, drinking lots of water and staying on my salt tablets will be what achieves less-severe symptoms for me.
I highly recommend trying yoga if you're unable to do Pilates or even a mixture of the two because it's less intense than Pilates alone. Always consult a medical professional before starting any new work out routine, however! I'll be following Blogilates' Beginner's 2.0 and seeing how that goes. I highly recommend checking her out! You'll find links below to find what I'm using and you can see if it works for you~ Blogilates also has some great tips for getting fit and healthy too, so it's not just about exercising.
I hope everyone is well and that you're enjoying this new spring weather if you're in an area that gets snow. I know I am! I'm hoping to spend a lot of my time outside as soon as the weather permits.
Best wishes,
Rosie
Here are some of the videos I've found, in case you'd like to look at them. All credit, of course, goes to their creators. :)
Blogilates - Beginner's 2.0 Workout
Blogilates Youtube Channel
Pilates/Yoga Combo
