Exercise (weightlifting/bodybuilding)

Please share your experiences, successes, and failures in using non-drug therapies for RLS/WED (methods of relief that don't involve swallowing or injecting anything), including compression, heat, light, stretches, acupuncture, etc. Also under this heading, medical interventions that don't involve the administration of a medicine to the body (eg. varicose-vein operations, deep-brain stimulation). [This forum contains Topics started prior to 2009 that deal with Non-prescription Medicines, Supplements, & Diet.]
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QyX

Exercise (weightlifting/bodybuilding)

Post by QyX »

Before I was diagnosed with RLS and had this severe sleeping problems I went to the gym 3-5 times per week. The result was that over the months my strength, my mood and my energy dramatically improved. I've never felt so well! I did this for about 1 1/2 year until I had to stop because of my RLS and sleeping problems.

I've tried a lot to get back to my old exercise routine but I wasn't successful. It's kinda simple! If you don't sleep you have no energy and can't recover. In the past weeks my sleep improved and I started a new approach. Can't tell in which direction it is going. Normally my energy is pushed very fast but until now nothing really happened. I am going every second, after a hard workout every third day to the gym.

I wonder if someone here goes to the gym too and want's to share his experience.

I really hope that I can reactivate the effects I had before all this RLS/WED trouble started.

Medical literature says that in general exercising is one of the best things you can do for your health. But I also read that exercising can have negative effects on RLS/WED and worsen the symptoms. Until now I can't report improvement or worsening. Normally my mood improves pretty fast when I start exercising but this didn't happen this time. Instead I had a depressive mood swing, maybe because of L-Dopa.

I do hope a lot that I can reactivate my old routine because I have never felt so good before and after I was regularly going to the gym. I can't see how I will be able to manage life without the energy and motivation I was getting from exercising.

Rustsmith
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Re: Exercise (weightlifting/bodybuilding)

Post by Rustsmith »

I usually manage to get to the gym once a week. However, I am a competition class runner and usually get in three hard workouts each week in addition to doing weights in the gym. So far, I have not seen any correlation between my RLS symptoms and either the workouts or my racing schedule. But this weekend might end up providing a key indicator to that since I will be racing a marathon tomorrow and then have to fly cross country first thing Sunday. That was never a great thing to do before my WED got severe, so I am not sure what I will be like on Sunday.

As for my running, I cannot conceive of my life without it (but I do expect to give up the competition level in a few more years). I started running relatively late in life and before that I had serious issues with depression. The running has resolved the depression problem. If I could not run and WED prevented me from taking antidepressants, I would probably end up in a very bad state.
Steve

https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/a ... 0/fulltext
Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation, and are not medical advice.

QyX

Re: Exercise (weightlifting/bodybuilding)

Post by QyX »

Thank you for your input!

badnights
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Re: Exercise (weightlifting/bodybuilding)

Post by badnights »

I play hockey 3 nights a week and play net in broomball 2 nights a week, for most of the winter. I just ripped my knee apart and can't play either, so I am going insane. Exercise is a life-saver, and I break all the rules and do it in the late evening because that's when the games are. For my body it's not late, anyway; I sleep in. But for someone who had to work/study early in the morning (i.e. at a normal time), who also had WED, it would not be possible to keep up that schedule.

Something like a gym, which I will have to do to stop the impending insanity, at least can happen at a more reasonable time of day. And it will help a lot. There were many, many times when I didn't feel like dragging my **** off to a game, but I forced myself to and it almost always paid off (once or twice I was really dragged out and should have stayed home). We're low in endogenous opioids, so it stands to reason that something that raises them will be good for us. I just feel great after a game, no matter if I played well or not.
Beth - Wishing you a restful sleep tonight
Click for info on WED/RLS AUGMENTATION & IRON
I am a volunteer moderator. My posts are not medical advice. My posts do not reflect RLS Foundation opinion.

TimG
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Re: Exercise (weightlifting/bodybuilding)

Post by TimG »

I've found that regular exercise can mitigate RLS/WED. I've had to experiment with exercise type, timing, intensity and duration--and am still experimenting. One thing that regular exercise has helped me with is weight control. I've been taking a low dose of pramipexole for over two years and have gained weight (about 10 lbs/ 5 kg). Not much, but enough to put my BMI in the overweight range.

Here is what works for me:

Evening-- slow, rhythmic exercise on stationary bike for 30 to 45 minutes.
Days-- Plenty of walking and up-and-down movements , which has a relaxing effect. I carry a pedometer, and usually have at least 10,000 steps daily
Days-- Aerobic exercise 3 times weekly. Strength Training with weights twice weekly

Experiments--I'm trying some various other exercise types, including flexibility, Pilates, balance and foam roller.
I'm always on the lookout for new things to try.

I've been lucky. I have not had the life- devastating consequences from WED that many have. I've been able to maintain good control of WED with a low dose of pramipexole two hrs prior to bedtime for 2+ years and have never augmented . I'm experimenting with daily oral iron to increase ferritin level and reduce symptoms.

srgraves01
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Re: Exercise (weightlifting/bodybuilding)

Post by srgraves01 »

My RLS is in the severe stage. I find that if I work out too intensely in the evenings that I have a difficult night. Stretching and foam rolling of my legs and back help. Yoga is helpful because of all the stretching that I do.

badnights
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Re: Exercise (weightlifting/bodybuilding)

Post by badnights »

srgraves01 wrote:My RLS is in the severe stage. I find that if I work out too intensely in the evenings that I have a difficult night. Stretching and foam rolling of my legs and back help. Yoga is helpful because of all the stretching that I do.

I do yoga as well, but I it's more useful as an ongoing thing that helps with general well-being, not as something that helps while I'm having symptoms.
Beth - Wishing you a restful sleep tonight
Click for info on WED/RLS AUGMENTATION & IRON
I am a volunteer moderator. My posts are not medical advice. My posts do not reflect RLS Foundation opinion.

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