Vanetta Fenton, a certified personal trainer living with MG, leads a short seated workout and shows how to adjust it to fit the energy you have that day.
Transcript
So working out with Myasthenia Gravis does not have to be complicated. It’s easy to get in a fitness session using just your body weight and staying seat at the entire time. I’m going to walk you through three exercises that you can do that are safe for myasthenia gravis. We’re going to focus on upper body movement, a lower body movement, and a core movement.
The first movement we’re going to go through is called overhead punches I like to call them, but it’s pretty much an overhead press. You’re going to use your body weight. You’re going to sit down in a seated position, making sure that your hips and your knees are in line and your knees are in line with your ankles. You’re also going to make sure you’re sitting upright. Think of someone pulling you by an imaginary thread at the top of your head.
You’re going to get your hands by your ears. Make a nice tight fist by your ears, trying to make sure that your elbows and your shoulders are in line. Now, if you cannot get them in line with one another, that is absolutely fine. Get them as high up as you can. The idea is to think of punching towards the sky and extending your arms as high as possible. So you want to do this one by one for a count of 3 to 4 per side.
Make sure that you’re breathing through the movement. Do not hold your breath. Think of exhaling as you punch up. Inhale as you lower it down. Now it’s okay if you cannot fully extend your arms, that’s absolutely fine. If this is as high as you can go, that’s fine also. The idea is to just get some movement in where you’re extending those arms, working your shoulders, triceps and biceps.
Next we’re going to go through a lower body workout. We are going to do abductions. This is going to work your inner and outer thighs in some of your glutes. Again you want to sit upright. Make sure that your hips are in line with your knees and your knees are in line with your ankles. You’re going to bring your feet together so that your ankles are touching and your feet are touching as much as they can. Now you’re going to push your knees outward, okay? So think of pulsing gently outward for a count of 6 to 8. Again, every time you move out, you want to think of exhaling inhaling as you move in.
Now lastly we’re going to focus on core workout. Same idea sitting nice and tall. If you have a hard time sitting upright, it is absolutely fine to sit with support at your back in a chair on a sofa, but you just want to make sure you’re not slouching and you want to make sure that you’re not blocking your airway, keeping your chin nice and neutral. Spine neutral. Shoulders neutral.
Again, you’re going to go into this upright position. You’re going to put your arms tucked in next to your body. And you’re going to think of gently rotating across and bringing it back to center. Now if you don’t want to add the punch, that’s absolutely fine. You can feel free to just rotate your torso and bring it back to the center, making sure that as you rotate with every rotation, you’re exhaling inhaling when you come back to center, try not to lift those hips up off the bench. You’re going to want to do 3 to 4 per side.
If you’re having a day where you’re feeling a little bit stronger and you would like to increase the intensity of your workout, try using resistance bands. One of the movements I love to do with my resistance bands are pull-aparts, and so what you’ll do is make sure that you’re sitting upright. Make sure that everything is in line and your chin is neutral. Spine is neutral. You’re going to grab a resistance band. Today. I’m using a light band, but you can use whatever resistance works for you on whatever day you’re doing your workout.
Once you grab your resistance band, you’re going to hold it in front of you, arms stretched out. Again, you want to make sure that your shoulders are in line with your wrists, and everything is in line with your elbow. Okay, lift your arms up. You’re going to gently tug on the resistance band and bring it back to center again. You’ll tug outward, bring it back to center, making sure that every time you pull apart you are exhaling. Inhale as you release.
Now again, if you don’t have the mobility to reach outright, you can bring your arms closer to your body and do the same movement. It’s just as effective. You’re going to want to do 3 to 4 of these if you can, or even 8 to 10 if you’re able to.
