I was anything but athletic as a kid.
I hated sports!
I was tall and skinny, clumsy and uncoordinated. I had very little connection to my own body. I was physically very weak. I was actually very ashamed of my body.
The US Army changed all that. It hurt at first but they made me physically fit. Very physically fit. Like many former US soldiers I stayed that way too after my service was over. It wasn't possible to do sports during the decade and a half I drove that 18-wheeler but I made sure to regularly unload my truck myself, for example, in order to keep my body fit. I turned to sports after I stopped driving that big truck.
I've engaged in a number of sports over the years. Competitive roller-blading for several years, for example. I stopped that when I moved away from the team I was a member of. I also did TaeKwonDo at a martial arts school up until last year, but finally gave that up because it was simply too extreme and the Epilepsy wouldn't allow it anymore. Martial arts is a sport where you have to follow the pace set by a coach- and that pace is pretty extreme. You can't go slow when you're in a bad phase. You have to keep up no matter how you're doing. It really broke my heart to stop. I still practice by myself, at home and at my own pace but it's not the same. I can maintain my level but I can't advance.
I mentioned before that I have a good cross-bike. Not only is that my main transportation but also a piece of sports equipment. My work requires a lot of outside appointments and I go to all of them on my bike- sometimes 10-15 Km per day. I do long-distance trips in my free-time- as much as my condition at the time allows.
But one sport has been with me for over a decade and a half. My main sport, and that is weight-lifting.
I have my very own gym at home and it's very well equipped. I started out years ago with two bar bells and 8 little weight plates. Those weights soon weren't enough so I bought a couple more, then a couple more, etc. After that came a curl bar, etc. One piece after another over the years until I've got a complete gym today. That photo in the upper lift is not my gym, but it's an example of a home gym. I work out 5-6 days per week.
For me weight lifting has many advantages. One of the pleasant side-effects is of course that a physically fit body looks good. It doesn't hurt when women look at you appreciatively wherever you go, and maybe even flirt with you a little once in a while. But while that is fun that's not what it's all about.
During extremely bad Epilepsy phases, phases so bad that it's not possible to work out for a longer period of time (such phases are rare, thank goodness)- like maybe 2 weeks, my energy level drops dramatically and my mood sinks incredibly. As soon as it becomes possible to work out again it only takes one workout for me to notice a difference again. My energy level is back to normal again after only 2-3 workouts=2-3 days.
Weight lifting is a sport that lets you have complete control over your pace and intensity. It's extremely rare for a phase to be so bad that working out is not possible at all. Even when the seizures are pretty heavy or the migraine bad you can still work out with only a little bit of weight (close the shades so the neighbors don't see you working out like a girl *LOL). If necessary only do two sets of each exercise and only work out for half an hour. It's possible to do something in some form 99% of the time. Having my own gym at home means I don't have to get dressed and go out to a gym either. Now maybe everyone can't set up their own gym at home but surely everyone can buy themselves inexpensive barbells. You can work out your whole body with two barbells, do it at whatever pace works on a particular day, and whichever exercises work for that day. I always feel better after a workout.
Another advantage is body feeling. Sports in general give you a good connection to your body, but especially weight lifting in my opinion. You learn to concentrate on the muscle you are training during each exercise and the result is that you feel that in every day life as well. You can't lift a cup of coffee to your mouth without feeling the muscles working that are lifting that cup. It feels good to feel your body that way. When you walk you feel your feet on the ground. I could go on...
I had that for years but the Epilepsy has done a lot to mess that connection up, unfortunately. The worse the phase, the worse my connection to my body.
Many people, especially women, may not understand and have a negative reaction when they read this, but being nude can help with that- in an appropriate setting like at home or at the sauna of course. You can certainly feel your body a lot more in the nude. 
Another thing that helps me is going barefoot. Feeling the ground with my feet strengthens my connection to my body and is something that can be done everywhere-provided it's warm enough. I normally take my shoes off just as soon as the weather gets warm enough in the spring and don't put them back on until I'm forced to by the cold in the fall. I wear flip-flops at work and slip them off every chance I get as well.
Working out strengthens the connection to the body enormously! Weight lifting isn't just a matter of throwing a couple of weight plates on a bar, lifting it a couple of times, drinking a protein shake, taking a shower, then bragging about what an animal you are on Facebook. There's a lot more to it than that. There are many things that are important in order to avoid injuries, for example, or to maximize the effect of the training. One is posture; if your posture isn't right you can badly injure yourself. If you don't perform the exercises smoothly and fluidly you can wreck your joints. If you don't get your mind involved other muscles will help the one you're trying to work out and it won't be effectively trained. I'm lucky in the fact that I worked out for so many years before I got Epilepsy that my body automatically has the right posture and performs all of the exercises properly, so that I don't have to concentrate on trying to learn all of that while suffering from a migraine, for example.
So when I work out I do it in subdued lighting, with or without music- depending on mood or condition. I get my soul quiet and still. I look at all of my equipment and remind myself how lucky I am that I am able to continue to work and afford all of this despite having Epilepsy- there are many worse off than I. I put my training gloves on slowly, almost in a celebratory way, looking forward to what's coming.
I pay attention to my equipment as I take hold of whatever I'm using, concentrating on how it feels. I consciously apply power slowly to pick it up and bring it into position. Then I execute the exercise slowly, fluidly, with utter control and as much concentration as I can muster. I try and shut everything else out. I go into myself and try and find the muscle I'm working on and concentrate on it. I make every move calmly, unhurried, and with absolute body control.
I always walk away from a workout with the connection to my body strengthened to some degree. Sometimes more, sometimes less, depending on how bad the Epilepsy is on a particular day.
A nice, hot bath with aromatic oil right after a workout is a small slice of heaven on earth, by the way...
I would love to hear about anyone else's experiences with Epilepsy and sports. Please comment.
I would love to hear about anyone else's experiences with Epilepsy and sports. Please comment.
No comments:
Post a Comment