Exercising during COVID-19
Daniel McAuliffe from Connect Health and Fitness has been working with Lara during this time.
"Lara has been amazingly consistent with 3 x weekly visits. Each session is based on light, aerobic warm-ups. To put it into perspective for how it feels for Lara: it would be like breathing through a straw and then exercising, so during warm-up on the bike or walking laps of the gym we always try to maintain friendly banter/ chat to ensure low intensity.
Our visits include lower limb strength exercises, predominantly compound exercises involving quadriceps to improve quality of life for day-to-day tasks like combating the stairs each day. Upper body strength endurance (her favourite days are when she does seated rows) and a combination of lower endurance and light mobility during rest are also included.
We know each other well enough that an entire session based on strength may be modified instantly to a slow mobility session without a single word to each other, purely based on how she presents as she walks through the door."
Lara's sessions have also been used as a way to help improve her mental health.
“It was quite a challenging and scary time for most during the COVID-19 lockdowns, especially for those, like Lara, in the high risk category. Lara was constantly surprising her specialist at the hospital, her family, her friends, and even me with not only her physical development but how mentally strong and positive she remained.”
Lara understood the importance of maintaining her physical and mental health during the pandemic and its lockdowns and continued her Exercise Physiology sessions with Daniel and the team at Connect Health Fitness.
Although Lara’s lung capacity was still slowly declining, her physical and mental strength improved significantly, which allowed her to conquer the dreaded stairs, walk along the beach, and go camping with her husband and their puppy, Alfie.