OBPFitness MS Training Program Cover

The OptimalBody Training Program for MS

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Why did I create the OptimalBody Training Program for MS when there are MS exercise programs already on the internet? Simple…I wanted to develop an exercise program for MS that actually works in delivering long term results. The online programs that offer functional training, regular strength training, stretching and other copycat, cookie cutter routines are not effective for long term benefits in conquering MS. Gaining the ability to do the things we used to do before MS is not a follow the leader program of regular techniques in the movements used.

Unfortunately, most self-proclaimed MS fitness “experts” do not have MS and have no concept of what we go through or how to help us. They put out the same workout routines that can be found anywhere for anyone with no knowledge of how beating MS through fitness actually works. Their programs consist of movements with no specific method of creating results and more entertainment than outcome. Doing the Hokie Pokie with MSers may be fun but it is not going to bring noticeable changes in how a body performs with MS. And calling a program a Warrior system may sound good but it does not mean it’s effective for conquering MS.

Yes…resistance band workouts, stretching, Pilates, and all the other exercise disciplines are great but they will not re-create the brain to muscle connection we had before our MS diagnosis. We must implement specific training methods to allow the brain to understand what we are trying to accomplish with our muscles.

I have been working in the fitness industry for more than forty years as a trainer, educator, author, speaker, fitness consultant and gym owner. Almost fifteen of these years I have been battling MS myself. And when I was diagnosed back in 2006 I looked at all the exercise programs out there for MS and followed what the “experts” were saying will help me overcome my obstacles. Well, they didn’t! In

fact those programs wasted my valuable time in actually beating MS and had me locked in a holding pattern of mobility issues, weakness and symptoms that made normal movements very difficult. I realized then that trainers who do not have MS do not have the same connection to us as those that are MSers themselves. Not that the non MSer trainer is a bad trainer. It’s just that unless you can feel what we feel and experience what we experience with the roller coaster of MS, you will not be as effective.

After finding that what there was for fitness in the MS community was at best sub-par, I went on my own journey to find out what works in getting ahead of this disease. I used my own body as a guinea pig to test the waters on strength training exercises and techniques that may or may not help us battle our symptoms and win. And what a journey it was from injuries to ineffective training. It wasn’t that strength training did not work to get me stronger but regular strength training was not enough to get my body to do what I wanted it to and that was to be able to use the limbs that were now numb and uncoordinated in a “normal” way.

Now I am not claiming I am smarter than anyone else out there in the fitness world but what I did find is that I had an answer to the problem of proper exercise for MS. Since I have MS and I can actually experience what all of us with MS deal with, I came to the brilliant conclusion that if the brain does not understand what we want our muscles to do then they will not do what we want no matter how strong we are. I noticed that when I focused, connected and forced the muscles to do a movement in a specific way, my mind would respond by re-engaging with the muscle I was working. Simply put, my brain re-connected to that muscle that was not working properly before I implemented this training method. I then took this one step further and I developed more than one method that accomplishes the same result…mind-body connection.

Now, I have more than six specific training methods that will help anyone, whether in a wheelchair or mobile, to be able to get ahead of MS. In the standard world of MS the disease is ahead of us and we are chasing it to try and alleviate symptoms, get stronger and become more mobile. I have found the way for us to

get ahead of MS and have IT chase us! We become so much stronger and more able despite MS that the disease can chase us all it wants but it will not overtake us. The MSers that follow my program are 100% successful in this goal. I have hundreds of testimonials to prove my OptimalBody MS training methods work. And my theory that the mind-muscle connection works is backed up by science.

Here’s an example…if you consciously and deliberately place your attention on the contraction of the primary muscle you are working, the quality of the contraction is enhanced. In other words, the more your mind is focused on the muscle being worked as it contracts, the greater your results will be.

In “normal” people without MS the brain AND nervous system creates and improves the quality of the movement of muscle fibers that are put into action most often. In our case with MS we need to rely basically on our brain since our nervous system is array. Yes, we can create neuroplasticity which I’ll discuss in a minute but it’s primarily what we do with our brain and how we engage it in exercise that is most effective.

Studies have shown that placing mental attention on your muscles as they’re contracting literally causes a higher percentage of the muscle fibers that you’re aiming to use for the movement to ‘activate.’

Acetylcholine is the neurotransmitter that stimulates your muscles to move.

The more active mental attention you bring to the muscle that’s being contracted, the more acetylcholine that’s produced, leading to an enhanced quality in the contraction.

So, the more you bring an active attention to the muscle being worked, the contraction in each and every rep, the more acetylcholine that’s produced.

The more acetylcholine that’s produced, the better the contraction, and better the results.

This occurrence is also true with every one of my training methods. It’s not just the contraction of a muscle that creates the brain to muscle reconnection for us with MS, it’s how you specifically train for this phenomenon to occur.

My training methods also involve neuroplasticity which is the brain’s ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections. Neuroplasticity allows the neurons (nerve cells) in the brain to compensate for MS and to adjust their activities in response to my OptimalBody training program. During the changes caused in neuroplasticity through my methods, the brain engages in what science calls synaptic pruning, deleting the neural connections that are no longer necessary or useful, and strengthening the necessary ones.

The science behind my OptimalBody Training Program for MS is evident and the confirmation is in the results from everyone who follows the system. I am living proof as I was told by the doctors that I would be wheelchair bound when I was diagnosed yet I have never sat in a wheelchair other than to demonstrate my program!

I developed the OptimalBody Training Program to allow us to use more than six different ways to accomplish our goals so your body and YOU do not get bored doing the same exercises and method over and over again. I help you get your body excited to make progress!

Ask yourself how much strength and mobility you want to gain in the next 90 days?

How much better do you want to be with your MS in 90 days?

There is a gap between where you are today and where you want to be in 90 days.

This gap is what you are not doing properly with your exercise program. This gap is caused because you are following the wrong self-proclaimed MS experts in fitness who #1 do not have MS and #2 are having you follow a cookie cutter exercise program that is ineffective for long term gains. There are no specific

training methods for conquering MS and there is no mind to body reconnection happening. Therefore, no long term results!

Here’s your choice – you can keep doing what you are doing either with the wrong program or on your own…OR…you can work with me and learn the proper way to train to conquer MS; have me take you step by step through my specific proven successful OptimalBody training methods and become empowered to work out correctly to get stronger, more mobile and in the best shape of your life.

No more ineffective one size fits all programs. No more ineffective trainers. No more working with coaches who do not have MS and have no idea what we feel and how to overcome our limitations. No more wasted time. It’s time to take action and tell MS it will no longer control your body and your life. It’s time for OptimalBody!

About the Author

About the Author

David Lyons is an elite fitness expert and bodybuilder and founder of the MS Fitness Challenge charity. During his coaching career, he has helped athletes and celebrities, at various skill levels, transform their body and health.

In 2006, David Lyons was hospitalized and diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis at the age of 47. He HAD A CHOICE TO MAKE and the choice was either to fight this disease or to let it take over his body. And he chose to fight.

At the age of 50 David decided to compete in a NPC bodybuilding competition! He was also awarded an impressive trophy for the most inspirational bodybuilder! In 2019 he was inducted in the National Fitness Hall of Fame and the only fitness expert with MS to be given this honor.

David’s mission is to help anyone, with any challenge become as healthy and in shape as they can be no matter what the obstacle in life whether that challenge is physical or mental.

All Posts
About the Author

About the Author

David Lyons is an elite fitness expert and bodybuilder and founder of the MS Fitness Challenge charity. During his coaching career, he has helped athletes and celebrities, at various skill levels, transform their body and health.

In 2006, David Lyons was hospitalized and diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis at the age of 47. He HAD A CHOICE TO MAKE and the choice was either to fight this disease or to let it take over his body. And he chose to fight.

At the age of 50 David decided to compete in a NPC bodybuilding competition! He was also awarded an impressive trophy for the most inspirational bodybuilder! In 2019 he was inducted in the National Fitness Hall of Fame and the only fitness expert with MS to be given this honor.

David’s mission is to help anyone, with any challenge become as healthy and in shape as they can be no matter what the obstacle in life whether that challenge is physical or mental.

All Posts

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