Move it for MS
Open Door - August 2007 pages 12-13
Tim Worner
I was diagnosed with primary progressive MS in 2001 at the age of 39 and took ill health retirement soon afterwards.
Before this I had not done any physical exercise apart from walking the dog. After I 'retired' I met up with people at physio sessions at the local MS day centre and through them I started going to a gym several mornings a week.
Directly after gym sessions I do feel fatigued but seem to recover quite quickly and feel better for it later. I find if I miss going to the gym for a week for whatever reason my body stiffens up a lot. I have realised that, just like anyone else, I need to do regular exercise to keep myself as fit as possible, and to look after muscle tone, stamina, lungs and heart.
During 2005, a group of us decided to set up a monthly meeting for people with MS. We called this group MateS and tried to make the meetings a mixture of social events and information. In October 2006, a speaker from the MS Trust mentioned that they were planning to make their successful book Exercises for people with MS into a DVD featuring Mr Motivator. At the end of the meeting I was asked if I would be interested in taking part, and without thinking I said yes.
Filming took place in London over two days in March this year. I travelled up from Poole with Shirley, my wife, and Mike, one of my gym friends and a fellow participant, and his wife Ruth. Liz Betts, the physio who wrote Exercises for people with MS, was staying in the same hotel as us, having been doing some preliminary filming already. Over an evening meal she gave us some clues as to what we had let ourselves in for over the next few days.
Early (for me) the next morning, Mike and I shared a taxi to the studios while Ruth and Shirley took the opportunity to have a wander around the shops, parks and take in one or two galleries. I don't think the credit cards suffered too much.
We were surprised by how little space there was at the studio as off set there was so much equipment involved. We were introduced to everyone including Chris Jones from the MS Trust, MS nurse Vicki Gutteridge, the film crew and everyone else taking part. Straight away we felt we were in the company of some very friendly people and sensed the next couple of days were going to be hard work but fun.
And of course we met Derrick Evans, aka Mr Motivator. You might remember him from a few years back when he had a regular slot on TVAM. He was always very vocal, enthusiastic and wore brightly coloured clothes and headgear. I can assure you, despite a few years passing, he still has a very unique style of dress with trademark bandana and is just as vocal. When he was talking to us, whether informally or showing us what we needed to do for the next shot, he was always understanding of our capabilities and, as his name suggests, very 'motivating'.
Filming mixed whole group sessions with scenes involving just a few people in turn, so we all had a chance to rest in between. We would practise each section a couple of times under the direction of Mr Motivator and Liz Betts and often the recording was completed on the first take. Many of the exercises were recognizable from Liz's book, and others were familiar from physio sessions.
One session included all of us all doing similar moves but in different ways - some sat at tables, some sat just on chairs and others on the floor to demonstrate how adaptable the exercises are.
This all took place under the very hot studio lighting, though fortunately, refreshments and lunch were all laid on by the studio. Another first for me was having make up put on. This apparently was to stop our complexions looking shiny under the glare of the lights.
When we finished the first day, we headed back to the hotel for a well earned rest and then most of the group went to an Italian restaurant. This was another chance for everyone to talk and one or two to have one drink too many.
Although the next morning some of us might have been suffering the consequences of the night before, we were more relaxed as we knew everyone and what was expected of us.
One of the last sessions to be shot involved a relaxation exercise, where we all sat on chairs or lay on the floor and Vicki led us through a visualisation technique that was familiar to me from my yoga sessions.
We got home to Poole that evening, tired but with the feeling that the filming had gone well. It had been a great group of people - both the volunteers and those from the MS Trust.
I really think that the enthusiasm of Mr Motivator and the expertise of Liz Betts will make the DVD totally unique and very useful. As in the book, all the exercises are possible for most people to do in their own homes. This is where making the DVD made a lot of sense as people can play it in their own time and at their own pace, pausing, fast forwarding or skipping to a new section as necessary.
As I write this it's pouring with rain so anything outside I normally do such as sailing, carriage driving or dog walking would not be possible. As it's not normally a day I go to the gym it would be an excellent time to use the DVD.