Improving fitness with underlying medical condition

bluedolphin

Hey! I hope I'm posting this in the right place.
I apologise in advance for the long post, but I feel it's necessary to give some background. Thanks for your patience in reading.

I'm a 23 year old female with cystic fibrosis which is basically a genetic disease that greatly affects the lungs. Fortunately, I'm generally quite well, but recently I came down with a bad chest infection which left me quite ill, rundown and totally energy-less since about mid-January. I've just completed a course of IV antibiotics and I feel so much better. However, I know my lung function (i.e. capacity and strength of my lungs), while it has improved since the infection, is still down on what I would have achieved, say, maybe 2-3 years ago. I see a physio when I attend my clinic (maybe about every 3 months or so) and the advice they have always told me is to exercise! Alas for my health, I am more of a book nerd than the sporty type. However, now that I've gotten over this infection - which has been my worst to date - I know I need to start working on getting my lungs back up to their former glory to help me fight off future infections.

One of the biggest problems most people with CF have are weight issues. Fortunately, I don't have that problem and I weigh in at around 60-65kg (I'm 165cm, so BMI ~22-23). I'm very happy with my weight and I know it will -and has- stand to me during illness, so the last thing I want to do is lose weight (mass) as such.

Basically, I'm looking for recommendations for how to get my fitness level up, bearing in mind that, due to my condition, just walking up a flight of stairs gets me out of breath. I just don't know where to begin. I'm not looking to become an Olympic athlete, but I'd like to be able to climb stairs without it knocking me!

Also, my physio has recommended doing some weight training, for upper arms/chest muscles. Are there websites that might be able to point me in the right direction for this?

My bones are osteopedic so ideally any cardio exercise I'd prefer to be weight-bearing.

I really, really want to make a difference and make breathing easier for myself, but I just haven't a clue where to begin. Any advice at all is appreciated. Thank you!

bubblyone

Hi bluedolphin,
I think walking would be a great place to start, particularly if you haven't been exercising regularly. You can vary the intensity according to how you're feeling and gradually build up distance/duration and intensity. It also allows you to stop if you need to have a coughing fit or something and will improve your aerobic capacity. Swimming is also a good option-it will force you to moderate your breathing and also provides a kind of resistance training for your upper body. The forced expiration under water etc will almost be like chest physio too and you can, again, go at your own pace. It also doesn't tend to lead to much fat loss which is what you'd prefer.
For the upper body, maybe start with some body weight exercises...modified (knees on ground or standing leaning against a wall) pushups would work your arms, shoulders and chest. If you have dumbbells, maybe try some dumbbell flyes. Try things like Ys and Ts http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHV3_JMq-AA to work your scapular muscles and open your chest.
Be very careful to eat more when you start exercising more. You know you need your fat in case of infection-you most likely have the opposite issue to 95% of people here in that you can drop weight and fat in no time if you get sick! Extra snacks should help. You may also find that the exercise helps with appetite.
And if you find walking boring....try some podcasts or audiobooks. You can indulge your inner bookworm while becoming a sporty girl!

trentv

Hi Bluedolphin, my wife also has CF and wants to be more active but was not exactly the outdoors or sporty type, i on the other hand am very much an outdoorsy person and exercise is important to me. So by seeing me going out a lot she started feeling more guilty about not exercising.
I suggested that she start doing some running as I had seen an article in the magazine runners world, which was a schedule designed for people who had never tried running before and it started out nice and easy and progressively gets a little more difficult bit by bit. So she started this, and is still going a couple of months later, she has made great strides and although it is hard to be motivated all the time she is managing to get out a few of times a week and do a part of the course. Here is the link if you'd like a look : http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-261--9397-0,00.html
She ran today 3x8mins with some walking in between, i think there are plenty of people who would be proud of that who are not dealing with any medical condition!
Another excellent bit of gentle exercise, is hill walking. I'm not suggesting any huge mountains but for example we went up Bray Head in Wicklow on Saturday, pausing and taking our time when needed and enjoying the sunshine and fresh air, there is little else like getting to the top of a hill and admiring the view on a sunny day. Howth Head and Killiney Hill are another couple of nice walks without straying too far from the dart!
Its all about starting slowly, knowing your limits and taking it step by step to start pushing the limits a little further over time.
Good luck!

Khannie

Yikes. I really don't want to close this thread, but it is related to a medical condition where poor advice (and the internet is a source of it) can be a real problem. For now I'm going to lock it and discuss it with the other mods.