I know it’s meant to be Physical Friday but I just wanted to celebrate reaching 100 posts written or recorded by me!

I really didn’t know what to expect when I began blogging but I am happy to announce that it has helped me create a new group of friends and keep in touch with those friends I already had before becoming ill.

Thank you for all your support and encouragement during these first 3 months of blogging!

Now on to Physical Friday (this will be a short post as the brain fog is fairly heavy today)…

Yesterday I finally managed to make it to the pool with my husband. I have wanted to return to swimming ever since I began feeling slightly better 4 months ago, but timing and the fact I had to get to the pool (which uses a lot of my energy), meant it had only happened once since then.

Why was I so keen to return to swimming?

Swimming is a great form of exercise for anyone suffering from painful conditions because it reduces the impact on your joints while still allowing you to do some cardio and strength exercises. Not only that, I find swimming to be very relaxing and helps me focus my thoughts more.

Although I was keen to return to the pool for my mental and physical health, I know that with ME/CFS I have to be careful about not pushing myself too hard. Last night I managed 6 laps of very slow breast stroke and 3 laps walking up and down the pool. This was paced with equal amounts of rest in between any activity, so it was equivalent to about 15 minutes of swimming over half an hour.

I’m hoping to make this a more regular event (weekly maybe) but I’ll tweek how much activity I do until I find my limit. Yesterday has left me pretty out of it today but pain levels haven’t raised too much, so I think what I did yesterday was ok.

Do you use swimming as a form of exercise?

What benefits do you get from swimming?