How Resistance Training Could Help with Multiple Sclerosis

Strength is defined as “the quality or state of being physically strong”. For individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS), strength can be affected by fatigue, imbalance, muscle weakness and stiffness.
According to a new study, resistance training, such as weight lifting, can help alleviate MS symptoms and protect the nerve cells, therefore slowing down the progression of the disease. “Over the past six years, we have been pursuing the idea that physical training has effects on more than just the symptoms, and this study provides the first indications that physical exercise may protect the nervous system against the disease,” said Ulrik Dalgas, study co-author and associate professor at the Department of Public Health at Aarhus University. He went on to state that “for the past 15 years, we have known that physical exercise does not harm people with multiple sclerosis, but instead often has a positive impact on, for example, their ability to walk, their levels of fatigue, their muscle strength and their aerobic capacity, which has otherwise often deteriorated. But the fact that physical training also seems to have a protective effect on the brain in people with multiple sclerosis is new and important knowledge.”

Studying the true impact of exercise

The researchers wanted to find out whether exercise could trigger a positive impact on the brain in individuals with MS. More specifically, they sought to determine whether exercise could protect against brain atrophy – defined as the loss of brain tissue and neurons. In the study, the researchers analyzed 35 individuals with MS for over a period of 6 months. 18 individuals performed resistance training exercises two times a week and at the same time, the other 17 continued on with their lives as they normally would, without participating in resistance training.

Prior to the start of the 6 month study, the participants underwent brain MRI scans and the researchers found that those who underwent resistance training showed a tendency for reduced brain atrophy. Brain atrophy is generally associated with progressive MS.

“Among persons with multiple sclerosis, the brain shrinks markedly faster than normal. Drugs can counter this development, but we saw a tendency that training further minimizes brain shrinkage in patients already receiving medication. In addition, we saw that several smaller brain areas actually started to grow in response to training,” said professor Dalgas.

Results were positive, but puzzling

Professor Dalgas and fellow researchers were puzzled as to why resistance training had a positive impact on the brain in the individuals with MS. They stressed that a larger and more thoroughly detailed study would need to take place in order to clarify current findings in using resistance therapy as effective treatment option for MS. 

Still, professor Dalgas stresses that substituting medication for such a form of exercise is unrealistic. “Phasing out drugs in favour of training is not realistic. On the other hand, the study indicates that systematic physical training can be a far more important supplement during treatment than has so far been assumed. This aspect needs to be thoroughly explored,” said professor Dalgas. The researchers stated that this form of exercise has not been tested in more severely affected individuals with MS and therefore, such individuals should not participate in strenuous physical training without consulting with a healthcare professional first.

There are more studies that also support this conclusion. Read on to learn more.