The MS GYM

01/05/2026

BREATHING TO REDUCE YOUR SYMPTOMS

Ooo baby, here it comes!

This is quite a magical video. You are going to use the power of breathing to relax your
body, reduce your symptoms, and improve your posture, balance, and deep abdominal
strength.

The powerful combination of all of these breathing exercises will have the following
benefits:
1. REDUCTION IN MS HUG
2. IMPROVED SENSORY & MOTOR FUNCTION
3. IMPROVED POSTURAL STRENGTH
4. INCREASED BREATHING VOLUME ALMOST INSTANTLY.
5. MORE FUEL FOR YOUR BRAIN

This is a goodie – So enjoy this.

You will need:
1. A chair, upside down bin, or platform for your feet (not required)
2. A smile on your face because YOU GET TO BREATHE BETTER!

I RECOMMEND doing these drills:
First thing in the morning: will help to reduce morning body stiffness.
Right before bed: which will relax body and spasticity for better sleep.

Again, improving your breathing function only takes 2-10 minutes a day. So you only need
to pick ONE breathing exercise to do per day.

Enjoy these!

01/04/2026

5 STEPS TO REDUCE SPASTICITY

Over the past 7.5 years of running The MS Gym, I have observed many ways people try to
approach the punishing symptom of spasticity.

What I have discovered is a powerful five step strategy that has helped hundreds of my MS
Gym members reduce their spasticity, improve mobility, increase strength, and regain
freedom and choice in their life.

That strategy is:
1. Release the spastic muscle – using hands, myofascial release tools, or handheld
electric massagers. By gently rolling over or kneading the overactive portion of a
muscle, we can up-regulate the parasympathetic nervous system and reduce
spastic muscle fibers.

2. Stretch the spastic muscle – by placing the overactive muscle into a stretched
position and allowing the brain to relax the muscle into a lengthened position, we
teach the nervous system how to become more elastic or flexible.

3. Activate the opposite muscle - when we actively contract the antagonistic or
opposite muscle from the spastic muscle, we cause a reflexive relaxation of the
spastic muscle and thereby reduce the hyperactivity.

4. Functional Strengthening - by moving the spastic limb through a functional
pattern like a squat, lunge, hinge, push, pull, or rotation, we tell the brain that it is
safe to use the spastic muscle. This creates a positive tension / relaxation reset in
the spastic muscle resulting in a more relaxed muscle.

5. Recovery Breathing – After taking our body through new and novel movement
patterns, we want to relax our central nervous system through parasympathetic
breath work. When we belly breath with a long exhale for 2-3 minutes at the end of
an exercise circuit, we start the recovery process and promote nervous system
balance which leads to less symptoms.

01/03/2026

ARE YOU IN A CRISIS OF BELIEF?
If you’re living with a neurological condition, you’ve probably faced a crisis of belief — that
moment where you wonder:
“Will I ever feel better?”
“Is there anything out there that can actually help me?”
“Do I even deserve more than what I’m living with right now?”
I’ve been there too.
More times than I can count.
A crisis of belief doesn’t make you weak — it makes you human.
And when you’ve tried program after program, diet after diet, supplement after
supplement… when you’ve listened to all the advice, followed all the steps, and still
struggle with symptoms… it’s completely understandable to feel discouraged or
overwhelmed.
When your brain is constantly bombarded with new “fixes,” it can actually start to view life
itself as a threat.
And that’s when belief becomes hard to hold onto.
But here’s the good news:
✨You can climb out of that crisis of belief — one small step at a time.
Your brain doesn’t need massive change. It needs manageable change.
Here are two compassionate ways to move forward:
🟡 Option 1: Take ONE thing at a time
Pick one area — exercise, nutrition, stress, or supplements.
Focus on it for 4–6 weeks until it no longer feels threatening.
Start with just 5–15 minutes of movement each day.
Once that becomes familiar, then add nutrition changes.
Then, later, layer in supplements.
This gives your brain time to adapt without panicking.
🟡 Option 2: Start small in multiple areas
Choose the tiniest, least threatening steps:
• gentle stretching
• a little more water
• extra protein
• magnesium for muscles or spasticity
These micro-doses of change feel safe to your brain — and safe progress builds
confidence.
Both approaches interrupt overwhelm.
Both help your nervous system settle.
Both allow you to slowly rebuild belief that healing is possible.
And that’s what I want most for you:
To know that the season you’re in is NOT the end of your story.
Relief is possible.
Progress is possible.
And you are absolutely worth the effort it takes to get there.
You don’t have to do everything.
You just have to begin with something. 💛

01/01/2026

Throughout 20+ years of training people with neuro-degenerative conditions, the MAIN goal of most people is to WALK BETTER.

Unfortunately, most fitness programs out there focus exclusively on improving strength in the BIG MOVEMENT MUSCLES like your glutes, and spine in order to move better.

OR, they attempt to improve your balance by having you stand on one leg for a minute, or perform lower body strength exercises whilst balancing on a half exercise ball and simultaneously juggle with one hand and draw a picture of a house with the other.

Yes, I’m exaggerating for effect (or am I ☺), but improving your hip strength and walking balance doesn’t have to be super complicated.

If you know how walking is generated in your body, you can build movement drills that improve the components of walking so your brain can correct the weak links in your walking chain.

REMEMBER: Your brain gets better at what you practice. Train for what you want to do.

SO, today we are going to work on an exercise to improve the INTERNAL ATTACHMENTS of the muscles REQURIED for walking.

Practicing this drill has allowed so many MS Gymmers to:
Reduce spasticity
Increase leg strength
Improve balance
Eliminate hip and low back pain
Walk with more energy and confidence

This is a GOOOOOOOD DRILL. Learn it. Practice it. Smile when you “all the sudden” can walk better.

Let’s MOVE!

12/29/2025

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12/29/2025

THE DANGER OF POSITIVE THINKING

If you live with a neurological condition, you’ve probably heard people say, “Just stay
positive… attitude is everything.”

And while a good mindset helps, here’s the truth:
✨You are not required to be positive all the time.
✨You are allowed to have hard days.
✨You are allowed to feel angry, frustrated, exhausted, or completely out of control.

I know this because I’ve lived it too.

There have been days where I’ve been furious at my body.

Days where I’ve felt abandoned, confused, or spiritually shaken.

Days where I’ve begged for answers that didn’t come.

Days where I’ve wondered, “Why me? Why this? Why now?”

And days where doing all the “right things” still didn’t make me feel better.

So please hear me clearly:

💛 You have permission to feel your feelings.

If you need a rest day — take it.
If you need two — take them.
If you need to cry, scream, journal, withdraw, or simply exist… that is OK.

But here’s the part that matters:

💛 You just can’t stay there.
Give yourself space to process, but don’t let the dark days become your home.

After 24–48 hours, start gently moving again.
Reach out to people who truly understand what you’re going through.
Reconnect with routines that support your nervous system.
Get back into a program that helps you rise — step by step — through the ups and downs
of chronic illness.

This journey is a roller coaster.
There will be high highs and low lows.

What matters is that you teach your brain, your body, and your spirit how to climb out of
the hard days with hope, belief, and support.

And you don’t have to do that alone.
💛 The MS Gym community is full of people who know exactly what these emotional
battles feel like.
People who’ve had angry days. Depressed days. “Why me?” days.
And people who — with movement, connection, and guidance — have fought their way into
better days.

I love you. I understand you. I’m with you.

And when you’re ready to move forward again…
The MS Gym is here to help you rise. 💛

12/26/2025

WHY YOU MAY NOT GETTING BETTER
One of the questions I hear most often is:
“How long will it take for me to feel better… and will this actually work for me?”
I wish there were a simple answer — but the truth is, your progress depends on what’s
happening inside your nervous system.
And the best way to understand that is to picture your neurology like a bucket.
🪣 Your “Nervous System Bucket”
Your brain is constantly taking in helpful inputs and threatening inputs.
Helpful inputs are the things your brain views as:
✔️ safe
✔️ supportive
✔️ calming
✔️ productive
They make your system feel regulated and ready for change.
Threats, on the other hand, fill your bucket quickly and overflow your capacity. These can
include:
• Your neurological condition and symptoms
• Relationship strain
• Financial pressure
• Loss of purpose or identity
• Parenting stress
• A struggling marriage
• Overwhelming news or social media
• Old dreams that feel out of reach
• Isolation, frustration, or fear about the future
When your bucket is full of these stressors, your brain has very little space left for
neuroplasticity — the very thing you need to improve.
🪣 Why This Matters
Your exercise, nutrition, sleep habits, and medications cannot take root in a nervous
system that is overwhelmed.
Your brain needs margin or space to change, learn, and improve.
It needs room to heal.
🪣 What I Encourage You To Do
Do an honest assessment of your life:
✨What makes you feel good, grounded, safe, or supported?
✨And what drains you, stresses you, or makes your symptoms worse?
For the things that hurt you or overwhelm you:
• Improve what you can
• Eliminate what you can
• Create boundaries where you can
• Develop a plan of attack for the challenges you can’t remove
You may not be able to walk away from a marriage, a job, or responsibilities — but you CAN
reduce the stress load they create.
And every threat you remove from your bucket gives your brain more space for healing,
learning, and transformation.
🪣 Your Healing Journey Starts Here
When you lighten your threat load, your nervous system becomes more responsive to:
✔️ movement
✔️ nutrition
✔️ sleep

12/24/2025

Ready to get more leg strength, Gymmer?

Yeah… me too.

As you scroll social media and look at any fitness site (MS or not), you’ll almost always see a huge emphasis on #1 squats and maybe #2 hip hinging.

What you will rarely see is medically based fitness professionals—like myself—coaching people on how to get ONE LEG stronger at a time.

Your brain’s ability to find strength, balance, and stability on one leg is one of the most important movement skills you can learn and practice.

Why?

Your brain has two complementary movement pathways:

Right side of the brain → left side of the body

Left side of the brain → right side of the body

With MS, demyelination disrupts the brain’s ability to send clean neurological signals. This affects muscle activation, coordination, and movement—often more on one side of the body than the other.

That’s why many people experience symptoms on one side, but not both.

Because of this, it is essential that we retrain your brain to work around these disruptions by strengthening each side of the body individually. When each side gets stronger on its own, they can work together as a team when you need them to—which is about 90% of daily life.

So today, we’re working on single-leg strength and balance using a great exercise called the assisted kickstand squat to start building those leg muscles safely and effectively.

As you do this exercise, focus on:

Tall, straight spine

Abs engaged, shoulder blades down

Sit BACK into the squat before bending the knee

Push UP through the working leg

Drive through the middle of your foot as you rise

Get ready for some awesomeness.

Let’s move. 💪

12/24/2025

Happy Hips = Happy Gymmers

Over the past 8+ years of working with thousands of clients online, one pattern shows up again and again:
the single most important factor in improving lower-body MS symptoms is HIP MOBILITY.

When the hips don’t move well, the body has to compensate. This often shows up as muscle weakness, spasticity, stiffness, poor balance, and inefficient walking mechanics. Simply put—if your hips aren’t moving properly, sitting, standing, and walking all become harder than they need to be.

Healthy walking requires the pelvis, hips, and lumbar spine to move together in a coordinated way. Each step depends on one hip moving forward while the other moves backward. When this anterior–posterior motion is limited, gait becomes stiff, energy inefficient, and unstable.

In today’s Movement Minutes, I’m teaching a drill called the HIP SLIDEBACK. This movement helps retrain your nervous system to control each hip independently—an essential skill for restoring a smoother, more balanced walking pattern.

During walking, this alternating hip motion around the sacrum allows:

- the front leg to swing forward with less effort

- the back glute to generate forward propulsion

- the trunk to remain upright and stable

- balance to improve while reducing strain on the spine and legs

When practicing the HIP SLIDEBACK, focus on quality over quantity:

Sit tall and lengthen your spine

Keep your shoulder blades gently down and your core lightly engaged

Move only from your hip bones—avoid shifting or twisting elsewhere

Keep the movement small and controlled

Take your time with this drill. Learning new movement patterns takes patience, especially when mobility has been limited for years. Many people develop stiff hips and poor gait mechanics simply from prolonged sitting and reduced movement.

Practice consistently, move with intention, and let’s rebuild better movement—one hip at a time.

Let’s move.

12/23/2025

If you're not currently exercising ( and know you need to) comment 'exercise' in the comments section and I will send you some simple doable exercises like this one to help get you started regardless of your mobility level.