Exercise - the right sort in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

My view is that CFSs are on the same energy spectrum, but the opposite end, to elite athletes. The processes and principles for improving energy efficiency apply equally to both. See Exercise - the right sort.

In CFS the first step is to put in place all the necessary dietary, nutritional and detox mechanisms so that your mitochondria are working efficiently. At this point clinically you should be feeling absolutely fine doing absolutely nothing . Until this point is achieved one dare not exercise because this will just cause massive tissue damage! Indeed we already know this – CFS is characterised by running a high cell free DNA which is a measure of tissue damage.

However once you feel absolutely fine doing very little, and your mitochondrial tests, cell free DNA and antioxidant status are all improved, ideally normalised, together with any other problems that you know about, then the principles of a graded exercise regime should be as per Exercise - the right sort.

These exercises are about increasing the numbers of mitochondria. This is equivalent to upgrading your car from a 500cc Deux Cheveaux to a 4 litre Rolls Royce! So first you have to get your mitochondria working well, then you need to increase their numbers.