Becoming a fitness trainer after a stroke

Hanoi Once paralyzed on one side, Xuan, 38 years old, recovered thanks to physical therapy combined with exercise, becoming a fitness trainer with a toned body.

12 years ago, Vi Thi Thanh Xuan suddenly had paralysis on the left side of her face, her left side was weak and her left arm lost feeling after waking up one night. At the hospital, the doctor diagnosed her with a mild stroke and she had to undergo long-term physical therapy. At that time, her father was seriously ill, her mother was a construction worker, and the family was in financial difficulty. The woman borrowed money from friends to go for acupuncture and acupressure.

At first, Xuan practiced holding and grasping light objects and chewing to regain her senses. Because she took a lot of medicine, her body became weaker and she often had pain, especially when acupressure caused "bone-chilling pain". She limited going out, was afraid to meet friends, and only focused on treatment in the hope of improving her condition.

Afterwards, Xuan was invited by a friend to go to yoga. Because her body was still weak, she had suffered a stroke, and her breathing was irregular, the woman refused.

When she got home, she took the initiative to search online. "The more I watched, the more interested I became," Xuan said, and tried to practice some simple exercises such as breathing, standing up and sitting down. Due to her body being asymmetrical on both sides, especially her left side being very stiff, Xuan could not bend or flex like other people.

After a few weeks of practice, the woman ate well, slept soundly, the left side of her body no longer ached as much, and she could hold things easily, so she decided to continue practicing every day. She divided her practice time into small parts to avoid overexertion, prioritizing the warm-up and breathing.

"Practicing yoga therapy is not difficult but requires perseverance, instead of chasing difficult movements that can easily lead to injury," Xuan said.

Yoga therapy is an ancient method that brings balance to the body and mind. According to the book The Best Alternative Medicine by Dr. Kenneth R. Pelletier , yoga therapy helps stabilize the musculoskeletal system, makes breathing smooth and deep, improves circulation, muscle strength and motor control. Yoga therapy is suitable for people with health problems such as joint pain, spine pain, blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and vestibular disorders.

In addition, yoga can help improve mental health, increase relaxation, and improve mood in practitioners. Yoga can also relieve symptoms of depression, stabilize blood pressure, and effectively reduce anxiety.

After a year, Xuan gradually got used to yoga, her body was soft and flexible like other students. However, her face was not balanced, her left facial muscles were not clearly felt, and one side of her cheek was atrophied. For Xuan, yoga helped her eat well, sleep well and be flexible but did not bring her a beautiful body. She continued to learn about gym to improve her "flat butt, fat belly" appearance.

[Caption]ffffff — After 12 years of practice, Xuan became a yoga instructor and can do difficult contortions. Photo: *Character provided*

Like yoga, Xuan first learned about gym online. At first, she prioritized exercise to gain muscle, paying attention to proper technique instead of heavy exercise. Xuan's goal was to increase her butt, so she prioritized glute exercises, three to four times a week.

"At first, my family objected because the gym is more about strength and exercise, and they were afraid I would get injured," Xuan said, but he couldn't resist his passion for bodybuilding and decided to pursue it.

Normally, to lift muscles, people will actively lift weights. Xuan spent three years training with resistance bands first to get her body used to it. Only using elastic bands with elasticity and stretching force helps the female trainer increase muscle endurance. She combines three gym sessions and three yoga sessions to avoid boredom.

According to experts, regular exercise brings many benefits such as improving cardiovascular health, bone development, reducing lower back pain due to arthritis, fibromyalgia, preventing the risk of diabetes, lowering blood pressure, reducing harmful cholesterol and fat.

She combines nutrition to have enough energy to exercise. Xuan prioritizes brown rice, brown rice noodles, consumes a lot of fruit and limits greasy foods, abstains from sweets. Currently, she is 1.62 m tall, weighs 57 kg, and has a 98 cm hip, 10 cm larger than before.

Xuan's current figure after more than 10 years of training. Photo: Character provided — Xuan's current figure after more than 10 years of training. Photo: *Character provided*

After 12 years of practicing yoga and 4 years of going to the gym, Xuan said she felt "revived" even though her body still had many defects after the stroke. She said this is spiritual food, helping her become healthier, happier and more useful. In addition to practicing, Xuan is also a coach and inspires more people.

"Smart people use money to invest in their health, instead of wasting their health just to make money. Only when you are healthy can you do what you want," she said.

Thuy An

Source link