‘Accidental’ Exercise
For some people, getting regular exercise is a integral part of their life, some people even talk about being addicted to exercise!
After having a stroke and hopefully getting rehabilitation, maintaining or increasing your fitness and avoiding further strokes is important.
As I’m sure you know, the benefits of physical activity are huge, especially post stroke!
The benefits
Exercise can
- Decrease the chances of you suffering another stroke
“Aerobic training has a positive effect on two of the most important vascular risk factors for recurrent stroke (i.e., systolic blood pressure and fasting glucose)… Since aerobic training has a significant effect on risk factors for recurrent stroke, implementation of aerobic training in daily life is important to reduce long term stroke risk”
- Improve your sleep
- Help your mental health and self-esteem
“Exercise releases chemicals like endorphins and serotonin that improve your mood. It can also get you out in the world, help to reduce any feelings of loneliness and isolation, and put you in touch with other people.
If you exercise regularly, it can reduce your stress and symptoms of mental health conditions like depression and anxiety, and help with recovery from mental health issues.”
- Reduce the likelihood of you falling
- Improve your mobility
Exercise programs in the community
You might find exercise programs or groups that appeal to you and that you can manage physically and financially, in your community. Just a few examples include:
- Join a local walking group
- Join a free Heart Foundation Walking Group (there’s 1,100 across Australia) https://walking.heartfoundation.org.au/walking/
- Take part in a free local weekly Parkrun (walk or run) https://www.parkrun.com.au/
- Check out a local Chair Based Exercise group
- Find a local Low impact Water Exercise group
- Give gentle yoga a go to gently stretch muscles, fight spasticity, and promote mobility
- Try adapted yoga
Incidental or Accidental Exercise
If group activities aren’t available, aren’t your ‘thing’ or you want to increase your activity even more, then there’s heaps of ‘accidental exercise’ you can get by doing everyday things around home.
Emmanuel Stamatakis,from the University of Sydney, says “Incidental exercise is a fantastic opportunity to do physical activity with zero time commitment. It takes away the biggest barrier [to exercise] basically,”
“Use each and every opportunity in daily living to get out of breath. That’s the key thing. Getting out of breath and raising the heart rate, even if it’s for 30 seconds or a minute.”
The two broad exercise types are cardio and muscle strengthening.
“We don’t think of vacuuming as a form of exercise, but ultimately you’re lifting things, you’re moving things, you’re moving around the house. It is a type of movement … a cardio exercise that also involves stretching, reaching, bending,” says Dr Demaio CEO of Vic Health
So what can I do at home to get more exercise?
Last year Professor Coralie English from the University of Newcastle asked a number of stroke survivors, via Twitter:
“What apps/devices/tools do u find useful to be #active #exercise, #sitless #movemore ??”
This blog post started from that request and I acknowledge that many ideas I’ve listed here have been developed and promoted by others before me.
Obviously, I am not a doctor, physiotherapist, exercise physiologist or neurologist, so the ideas listed below are based on the idea that everyone’s stroke is different and after stroke everyone’s abilities vary. Make sure you check with your health team before trying any of the activities that appeal to you.
60 ways to get your Accidental Exercise!
- Short bursts of Gardening
- Walking on a beach
- Looking after and walking your dog. When walking your dog, try to increase the time or distance you go each week. If you don’t have a dog ask a friend or neighbour if you can walk their dog.
- Tidying the house. Use a shopping or washing trolley and pick up items and return them to their proper place, picking up items there to return to their homes.
- Dance like no-one’s watching. Put on some of your favorite songs or your favourite radio station and move your body. Technique is irrelevant!
- Gentle exercise moves. Try some at-home exercises recommended for stroke survivors by your therapists to improve mobility.
- Walk!. If you have the mobility to walk, then enjoy a daily walk around your neighbourhood.
- Take a walk and take photos. A walk around a nearby nature sanctuary or park and taking some photos can give your hand, legs, balance, coordination and mood a boost.
- While waiting for a haircut, doctors appointment etc do neck stretches, pelvic floor exercises, foot rotations.
- Hula hooping might be something you haven’t done in a while but works your core, which helps improve balance after stroke. Hoops are cheaply purchased from discount stores.
- Cooking to music, dancing and moving between recipe stages
- Use your front or back steps to do a few steps up and down (using handrail for safety)
- Walk or cycle instead of driving or using your mobility scooter for short distances where possible
- Put the TV remote near the TV, get up out of your chair and walk to the TV when you want to change the channel
- Try not to sit for more than an hour during the day
- Move, stretch or do shoulder hunches or rolls while watching TV or sitting
- Play with your children, nieces and nephews or grandchildren rather than watching them play
- Do your ironing standing up watching TV
- If you work, go for a 10 minute walk in your lunch break.
- At work, instead of calling or emailing a work mate, walk to talk to them at their desk.
- Organize to have standing or walking meetings at work instead of sitting down
- Check out the TV guide for community channels which often have group exercise classes you can join into regularly at home
- Do marching, wall push-ups or calf stretches while waiting for the kettle to boil or a pot to come to simmer
- Do some ‘bridging’ or stretching while you’re still in bed in the morning
- Be intimate with your partner, it’s great cardio exercise. The American Stroke Association says: “Having sex doesn’t put most survivors at risk of having another stroke. Making love takes about as much energy as walking up one or two flights of stairs. The heartbeat accelerates and breathing becomes heavier, but that’s normal. Talk to your doctor about any concerns” Link https://www.stroke.org/en/about-stroke/effects-of-stroke/emotional-effects-of-stroke/intimacy-after-stroke
- Take the stairs whenever you can, instead of the lift or escalator
- While talking on the phone, stand up and do a few leg raises or toe stands to strengthen your legs
- Stretch safely to reach items in high places and squat to look at items at floor level
- While waiting in line, balance on one foot for a few seconds, then the other, build up the length of time you can balance
- When you put away your shopping, strengthen your arms by lifting items at arms length a few times before you put it away
- If you spend a lot of time using your computer or laptop break it up every ten minutes using a timer on your phone or computer, stand and swing your body at the waist, do some leg shakes, dance, squat etc.
- Stand while using the computer
- Have a swim, play alone or play ‘Marco polo’ with your kids in a pool
- Play a game in the backyard instead of a board game or computer game with the kids.
- Suggest a walk around a park or bush-land reserve to a friend or family member
- Ask a friend to walk with you on a beach
- Walk to the end of a pier and back
- Clean a room of the house
- Stand up and move around the office whilst at work
- Clean the shower
- Vacuum the carpet
- Sort and fold dried washing
- Hang the washing on a line or airer
- Collect wood for your fireplace
- Stroll and check out the local wildlife and birds
- Play a physical game with a friend like billiards, table tennis, darts, kick to kick
- For survivors with more limited mobility – ‘fidget’! You can burn up extra calories and move muscles by rocking on your toes, tap your feet, rotate your hands at the wrist, rotate your feet at the ankle. (NB stop for a while if you are annoying your house mates)
- If you use a wheelchair and can move your feet, use a stationery pedal exerciser.
- If you are able to travel on public transport, get off the bus or tram a stop early. As your stamina increases, start getting off earlier.
- Stretch while watching TV. If you can get on and off the floor safely, give the recliner or sofa a miss and use a mat and stretch your muscles while you watch a movie.
- Socialize on your feet by inviting your friend for a walking coffee chat
- Once a week treat your walk as a project! Walk with purpose and with a safe increased speed. Concentrate and channel the Boston Marathon.
- Mow your lawn
- Take advantage of TV ad breaks – every ad break, try doing some marching, stretching, yoga or foot rotations
- Move while brushing your teeth, do 10 squats.
- Mop the floor
- Create traditions or habits that involve activity e.g.walk to your local cafe for morning coffee or take your partner a thermos of tea in the paddock
- Do squats when you unpack the dishwasher (no turning while squatting though)
- Dance to music on Spotify
- Sit to stand x 20 every day
Using Equipment and Apps
Many Stroke survivors use a pedometer, app or smart watch to record your walking – it can be very motivating.
Some people hire or purchase home gym equipment such as exercise bikes or cross trainers that they use while being with family.
Wii Computer sports games like bowling, tennis and golf are fun to play and get you moving
FitMi is a “rehab device .. designed to be a virtual gym for stroke patients. It contains many exercises and activities for stroke patients that help improve mobility”
Some stroke survivors use Fitbit or Xbox games but experimenting with everyday items like balloons, rubber balls, marbles, chairs can be fun
I have vegetables planted in tubs outside which gets me moving
There are many exercise Apps out there. One I like is ‘Clock Yourself’
Lacking Motivation?
Some days stroke fatigue or ‘life’ hits back. That’s OK and don’t punish yourself
On a bad day make sure you go outside for a while, feel the breeze or sun on your body, pick a flower or a leaf and bring something from outside back in with you.
After stroke it is really hard to keep kicking goals, maintain your positive self and deal with the range of challenges without succumbing to depression, low mood or grief. As I talked about in my post on Surviving the Festive Season, getting professional help from a psychologist is helpful.
At a daily, everyday, practical level I think one of our fellow stroke survivors @belgianbenny gave THE BEST reason to motivate yourself to do 5 or 10 minutes more exercise each day:
“Look around you. Try to be the best version of you for your husband/wife, children, grandchildren, friends…”
@belgianbenny