The simplest way to start is to strengthening your legs…while you’re still in wuss mode you can at least make this little start. And you can always take a nap to recover when you’re done
Get a dinning chair and sit on it, stand up and sit down again. Do that 5 or 10 times, once or twice a day every day, it’s that simple. You’ll soon start to feel a difference in your legs strength when you do such mundane things as sit on the loo or sitting down to dinner. You’ll start to notice the increased strength as your legs propel you stand more easily. You don’t really appreciate any of it until you start to reap the benefits of it in such simple, mundane actions. It won’t take long if you stick with it and be honest with yourself. Eventually you’ll want to beat that score and strive for 20 or 30 reps in a couple weeks.
The videos @Simon provided are excellent examples and save me a shed load of typing to describe them
The stroke and the falls you’ve had, knocked your confidence, naturally! But you can start rebuilding that confidence by knowing your legs are strong enough to manoeuvre you into a position where you can get yourself back up again IF you fall. Your legs are holding you back, they are stopping you from doing what you really want to do. Get them strong enough.
We’ve all had to do it Bobbi, this was my 3rd time having to rebuild my legs to walk again…without crutches or cane. And the beginning, getting started, is always the hardest part, for everyone! And actually, fact we’ve all gone through it at least once before in our lives. Only back when we were babies we had no sense of consequence to hold us back
You are in a bit of a catch 22 position Bobbi. When you’re lacking a certain amount physical activity or your body stays in the same position for long periods of time, its ability to take in oxygen decreases and you will notice a huge drop in energy levels and motivation. And naturally endurance and stamina decline with age too. Added to that, you also have the tiredness that comes with your stroke.
It’s easy for me to make suggestions based on my own experiences and my stroke wasn’t as severe as yours. But only you know your limits of endurance, stamina and capabilities; so you have to set your own limits, work to those limits to reach a certain goal. Once those limits become too easy for you, you increase your limits until you reach that new goal.
I’m no expert in all of this, I have no qualifications in any of it. My advice is based on what I’ve learnt throughout life and my stroke experience, so it’s all common sense stuff to me. This is just what I have had to do to get me to where I am now. Plus I have the added incentive of a hubby and two young adults at home with me to spur me on and keep me motivated.
That’s your biggest mistake! Don’t look so far ahead as that can put you off before you even get started. Look no further than a week or month ahead, set realistic goals, achievable goals. Small bites are far easier to digest than cramming in the whole cake
As you say we each have our own experience of this and must pick our own way through it all.
I am happy to have made progress and am perhaps not as inactive as you imagine. I have achieved much in two years and expect to continue making progress.
We each speak as we find and I am certain of one thing, though not so sure of the whole picture.
When anyone shares their experience on here, whether directly relevant to one’s own findings or not, it is valuable, helping to build a bigger and more accurate picture.
There is no right or wrong in all this, but that does not exclude making choices and planning our next move.
May your journey be uplifting and the scenery make your exploration worthwhile.
1 year on post stroke I tried to tackle this yesterday, my physio put me on the floor but alas, I could get on my knees then onto good foot but could not push up for the rest of the excercise, as you say, another time another day, but determined to nail it somehow
I know exactly what you mean. It would be so reassuring to know I had it beat.
There was a post somewhere on the forum about a strengthening exercise that might be relevant.
Someone here might remember it.
(That post was by @EmeraldEyes and is just above this one. )
As far as I recall it involved sitting down, something I can do. So a good start.
The next step involves standing up from sitting, again something I can do. Looking good so far.
The third step is sitting down again, which completes the sequence. Hurrah!
Now repeat this several times, regularly.
Theoretically balance, strength and stamina should improve over time.
Be determined but be kind to yourself. We are not aiming to achieve fatigue. Be safe.
Thank you Bobbi, I have good leg strength but my balance has regressed, not 100% sure as to why although I have a theory. As I am doing much more wall and furniture walking, the brain is acknowledging a change in my posture and balance. I still need to get proficient with my stick, but feel I am using it like a crutch rather than a walking aid. Further goals to achieve.
I have started agin at the gym so hoping to see further changes in the months ahead. Keep on
Did she have you use a chair seat to bring yourself from kneeling to standing.
The sit to stand excercise is the best one for where you are at now…it can even done with your eyes closed
It’s as boring and monotonous as peeling 5lbs of potatoes, but that easy too. So watch some telly while you do it, good opportunity to catch up on a few soaps if you’re into them:slightly_smiling_face: Heck you could even try peeling a potatoe while your do them
With regard to your leg strength. If you didn’t have the balance issue; from a kneeling position, would you be able to bring yourself to stand using nothing more than your hands to pushing off one knee?
If the answer is “no, I’d still need a piece of furniture or something to help me up”! Then sit to stands are the exercise for you.
Walking on its own is not enough.
I only know this because thats all I was doing for the first year post stroke. And I had the same issues as you with balance and disorentation, cruising the furniture, etc. But some of that imbalance may be coming from the eyes. More specifically the eyeball tracking. To put it simply, you look down and it takes a second for the eyeball to catch up, for the brain to send that signal to the eyeball. That was part of my issues with balance. Being in lockdown made it diificult to get that side of things investigated, but I know they did eventually settle for me, or I wouldn’t have been able to drive again. And I started driving 18mths after my stroke.
That gives you an idea of the timescales. You’re a year post stroke now, and hopefully see some more improvements made in those areas in the coming months, for me it was the eyes, balance and cognition that improved in that second year.
Great feedback Emerald, my sit to stands have always been excellent, at the rehab hospital I went from the Sara steady very quickly to the carasol or whatever it was called. I only have use of right arm so can’t use both arms to get up. I can manage if I have a chair or something to pull up on. I just sold my car as a manual and I will need an automatic, so hey, a milestone to look forward to, perhaps a car by the end of the year! So pleased you have made progress with your stroke, I now think my brain bleed was more serious than I first thought, but professionals and myself feel I have come along way, so I will keep keeping on, I was hoping for a good dump of snow, as I would have been out there trying to walk, knowing I would have a softer fall!
Your’s was definitely more severe than mine. You had a bleed, whereas I had a temporary blockage, which cuts off oxygen supply to an area of the brain. And they never found where the blockage was or why, because it had cleared itself. It’s why they said it was TIAs, but they also said it could have been in the smaller veins that the MRI and CT scans just couldn’t pick up on.
So is your left arm bent at the elbow and tucked close your waist…handy for arrying a handbag? And the reason I ask is its gives me better idea for arm exercise suggestions that physio might not have thought to suggest.
