So which is it: does exercise benefit us or harm us?
Exercise: Helpful or Harmful?
In general, we know that the human body benefits from exercise.
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It makes our hearts healthier, helps control blood sugar, burns excess fat, etc.
However, we also know that for people with FMS and ME/CFS, it poses real problems.
There’s no easy answer to whether exercise will help or hurt you.
The answer may, in fact, be both, depending on how you approach exercise.
You have several things to consider before jumping into it.
Try not to buy into the typical idea of exercise.
Most are better off thinking of exercise in terms of intentional movement aimed at increasing their level of fitness.
It’s also important to increase the length and intensity of your exercise extremely slowly.
First, look at your fitness level.
What constitutes moderate exercise is different for all of us.
Second, you oughta be realistic about your exercise tolerance.
Throw the idea of “no pain, no gain” out the window!
Trust your body when it gives you signals that it’s time to stop.
Also, monitor how you feel afterward.
Did you have an upswing in symptoms in the day or two following exercise?
If so, you may need to scale back.
Fibromyalgia vs.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
The exercise experience is different depending on which of these conditions you have.
And, importantly, there’s an inability to physically repeat the performance the following day.
The healthy people could, while those with ME/CFS couldn’t even come close before they were exhausted.
However, that research may have certain flaws or shortcomings.
In ME/CFS, it’s hard to know what the body of research actually says.
Multiple definitions of the condition are in use, and certain definitions show different results than others.
Certainly, we have a large enough body of evidence to say that exercise can benefit some of us.
But can we apply it to all of us?
This leaves us with little information about specific forms of exercise that could help with ME/CFS symptoms.
The more gentle the exercise, the better it will likely be for you.
Many people with FMS and ME/CFS are prone to dizziness, especially upon standing.
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