Client Success Story: How Jack took his life back from MND
Longevity Exercise Physiology Drummoyne, Edgecliff, Marrickville, Bella Vista, Randwick, Pymble, Neutral Bay and Balmain discuss our latest lockdown client success story.
Jack* is a farmer in regional NSW who was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease (MND) earlier this year, 2021. This disease affects people’s abilities to move, talk and breathe as the motor neurones that send signals to the muscles, fail. This came as quite a shock to Jack* which lead to being hospitalised for atypical pneumonia and heart failure, where he feared for his life.
Subsequently, after being discharged from an extensive stay in hospital, Jack’s* mindset changed. He did not want to sit back and wait for the inevitable. Instead he began his journey with Exercise Physiologist Hannah Boardman via Telehealth to improve his strength, fitness and prevent any further complications from his diagnosis. Jack* has been a farmer his whole life and was motivated to continue his job to the best of his abilities.
Jack* also suffers from pre-diabetes, high cholesterol and blood pressure, and a rotator cuff tear on his right side. Jack* has lost a significant amount of strength on his right side due to the MND. Jack’s* goals were to improve his overall strength, particularly in his right hand and arm as the onset of weakness has significantly impacted his farm work.
“I am already starting to feel stronger and positive with the help of Hannah motivating me to keep moving forward”
Hannah has carefully put together a strength and aerobic based exercise program to cater for these conditions. This involves, unilateral training (training one side of the body), deep breathing exercises, cardiovascular bike training, fine motor control exercises and overall strengthening.
See below for Jack’s* improvements over 7 weeks!
| Initial Assessment | 7 weeks progress | |
| 1min max modified push up | 10 | 24 |
| Max bicep curl 7kg | Right=4 reps, Left=15 reps | Right=6 reps, Left=18 reps |
| Wall sit | 59 sec | 1.09min |
| Weight | 79.2kg | 78.6kg |
There is still currently no cure for MND and it is a life shortening condition. It is a progressive disease and Jack* is determined to slow that progression as much as possible.
If you would like to donate to research for MND please click on the link below.
https://fightmnd.org.au/donate/
*Name was changed due to confidentiality.
Do you know someone suffering from a neurological condition?
Contact Longevity Exercise Physiology and Personal Training on 1300 002 964 today.
Written by Hannah Boardman
