Thanks for delving into 2 bits of this, prompting me to explain and expand.
depends on the person and on the virus. When I have a flu virus or illness of that kind a not only do not have the energy to do "stretches etc" but also if I were to engage my body in that manner it would be very painful and not beneficial. So if you do them regardless, that's fine, but if others do not it's for their own good reasons, I imagine.
Of course
some days of a virus we seem not to be able to do "
anything", let alone a stretch workout. I meant
slight, (but frequent!) twisting of spine and limbs,
under the pain limit, no stretching session.
E.g. 1) my back exercises are vital, and may cause extreme discomfort during a virus, but mid term reduce pain and de-conditioning.
E.g. 2) I mean just changing postures with a slight twist while sitting or lying down, adjusted to person, virus, stage of virus.
Yes,
if someone has
good reasons not to move the slightest bit,
that's fine. (Although almost impossible. Just there's good moves and bad moves.)
But my experience is that ("even") I always tend to move less than I could - and I do
not have good reasons, it's very often things like habituation, forgetting,
fear of pain of the moment, mental weariness, my weaker self, rather than actual extended pain. These reasons may be understandable and forgivable, but to me they are
not good
enough reasons to let my fitness decrease. Chronic or acute illnesses can "freeze me up", because I stop moving longer and more than is necessary, which isn't good for my condition, nor circulation. Similar to - but
much less taxing than - forcing ourselves to go for a short walk altho we're not really up to it yet, because we know the fresh air and movement will hurt, but do more good than bad.
So I do still think, for everyone
almost all the time: trying to move as much as it is possible with hardly
extended pain can reduce de-conditioning.
You still don't?
this is because that kind of physical condition has to be maintained daily or close to daily or it quickly falls off. Not really an old way of thinking in my opinion, but rather an acknowledgement of fact.
Here I was distinguishing between de-conditioning and
fibro Ache/fatigue.
The
old pre-fibro way of thinking of movements hurting is we appear to be de-conditioned. Your "acknowledgement of fact" is only part of the fact I'm talking about.
Understanding fibro we know that part of it is de-conditioning, but most of it
isn't.
Of those who are as active as possible I'd estimate maybe 20% is de-conditioning and 80% is Ache/fatigue. In my case because my exhaustibility is higher and my de-conditioning apparently lower, I'd say it's even 10% de-conditioning and 90% Ache/fatigue. For someone not doing anything a lot more may be de-conditioning, but even then not 100%. So however much: there
is a difference, and it's an important one. Same as when we talk about finding the sweet spots, or @Kdpop's question how to find the balance. The main part of that balance is that between (reducing) de-conditioning and (reducing) the Ache/fatigue.
I'd be curious if anyone disagrees, and why.
Maybe it's the definition of deconditioned. But if you have been in genuinely superior physical condition, and training or working out on a daily or almost daily basis .....
It all depends on the condition that you have achieved. For an olympic athlete, ... Building back would be fast, but would have to be done.
So that definition of de-conditioned would be assuming that
@Jdpop means losing the superior physical condition and being only acutely ill, not chronically.
I'm not, to me that doesn't seem sensible - I'm assuming a) fibro, i.e. chronical illness. Plus b) not too severe symptoms, c) only just realizing that can be done has gotten less, and d) that sore muscles from exercise are not the same as sore muscles from fibro. In such a case I'd estimate the de-conditioning has not progressed that much yet. (But yes, I was deliberately "exaggerating" when I said "no" de-conditioning: of course any illness de-conditions a bit.)
Of course fibro comes with
some de-conditioning. I mean: The Ache and fatigue of fibro during/after activity can be
mistaken for that de-conditioning.
I'm thinking many of us may see the difference between de-conditioning and overdoing it from "our good days vs. our bad days": If we are primarily de-conditioned, we can't have (that) good days, flare/backlash or not.
Adding...:
Someone may say the first part (slightly twist-stretching during rest) can not have much influence on the second part (de-conditioning).
But this is "finding the sweet spots" and "pacing" in a more detailed way. Plus serenity-prayer style always trying to detect the loopholes to move pain-"free" that little bit more, after all.
My intention is: Knowing it's mainly biochemical imbalance and only partly lack of muscle strength or stamina can give us hope and encourage us to keep gently moving and at the same time look for something that takes the brakes off again
(like I've had for several reasons, esp. now sustainably LD N).
Recent studies have proven that frequent slight movements incl. stretches make much more difference than we think, just because they keep the muscles active. It's that ("20%") stimulus that counts much more (bringing us to "80%") than giving 100%.
