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Staying Active with MS: How Exercise Can Support Strength, Mobility and Independence

Living with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) can bring changes to the way you move, exercise and manage your everyday activities. Symptoms can vary from person to person and may change from one day to the next, which can make staying active with MS and knowing how much exercise is right for you feel difficult.

You may experience fatigue, muscle weakness, changes in sensation, balance difficulties or problems with coordination. These symptoms can understandably make exercise feel challenging, particularly if you are worried about becoming too tired or making your symptoms worse.

Staying active is an important part of managing life with MS. Regular exercise can help maintain strength, mobility and fitness, while also supporting your ability to carry out everyday activities independently.

At Longevity Health and Fitness, we work with people living with MS to develop exercise programmes that reflect their symptoms, abilities and goals. The aim is not to push you beyond what your body can manage, but to help you find ways to keep moving that are safe, useful and sustainable.

How can MS affect movement?

MS is a neurological condition that affects the central nervous system. It can affect the way messages are sent between the brain and the rest of the body, which can lead to a range of physical and cognitive symptoms.

These can include:

Muscle weakness or stiffness
Balance and coordination difficulties
Fatigue
Numbness, tingling, or changes in sensation
Changes in vision
Difficulty with memory or concentration
Reduced walking ability

Not everyone with MS will experience the same symptoms and their impact can vary over time. This is why exercise needs to be tailored to the individual, taking into account your symptoms, abilities and how you are feeling on the day.

It can be tempting to reduce activity when symptoms become more difficult to manage. However, doing less over a prolonged period can result in reduced muscle strength and fitness, making everyday movement more challenging. The aim is to find a level of activity that works with your energy levels, rather than leaving you feeling exhausted afterwards.

Why is exercise important when living with MS?

Research supports exercise as an important part of managing and staying active with MS. Regular physical activity can help maintain muscle strength, cardiovascular fitness, balance and mobility, while also supporting mental wellbeing.

For some people, exercise can also help with managing fatigue. This may seem surprising when fatigue is already a common symptom of MS, but becoming less active can lead to further deconditioning and make everyday activities more tiring.

Exercise can help you maintain the physical capacity needed for activities such as getting up from a chair, climbing stairs, walking around the shops or carrying out household chores. It can also provide benefits beyond physical fitness, including supporting mood, confidence and overall quality of life. The key is finding the right type and amount of exercise for you.

Staying active with MS looks different for everyone

There is no single exercise for MS programme that is suitable for everyone. Your exercise routine may need to change depending on your symptoms, energy levels, mobility and what you want to achieve.

Building and maintaining strength

Strength training can help maintain the muscle strength needed for everyday movement. Exercises may include sit-to-stands, step-ups, resistance band exercises or weights, depending on your current ability.

Maintaining strength in the legs and trunk can be particularly useful for activities such as standing up, walking and getting in and out of a car.

Improving cardiovascular fitness

Walking, cycling, swimming or other forms of cardiovascular exercise are all great options for staying active with MS and can help maintain your fitness and endurance.

The amount and intensity will depend on your current fitness and symptoms. For some people, shorter periods of exercise with rest breaks may be more manageable than completing one longer session.

Working on balance and coordination

Changes in balance and coordination are common in MS and can affect confidence when walking or moving around the home.

Exercises can be adapted to work on balance, coordination and control while keeping safety in mind. This might involve supported standing exercises, stepping activities or practising movements that are relevant to everyday life.

Maintaining mobility

Regular movement can help maintain joint mobility and reduce the effects of spending long periods sitting or being inactive.

Gentle mobility exercises and stretching can be incorporated into your routine, particularly if stiffness is affecting how comfortably you move.

Managing fatigue and energy levels

Fatigue can be one of the most difficult symptoms of MS to manage. It can affect your ability to exercise as well as everyday activities, work and social plans. This is where exercise planning becomes particularly important.

Rather than simply trying to do more, we can look at how you are using your energy throughout the week. Exercise sessions may need to be shorter, with rest breaks or lower-intensity periods included.

It is also important to consider what else is happening in your week. A demanding workday, poor sleep, social commitments or other activities can all affect how much energy you have available for exercise. Even the order or time of day you complete these activities can come into play, particularly when managing fatigue.

The goal is to find a level of activity that supports your overall routine rather than leaving you exhausted for the rest of the day.

Exercise may need to change over time

MS does not look the same for everyone, and your exercise programme may need to change as your symptoms and abilities change.

If walking becomes more difficult, for example, exercise can still be used to work on strength, mobility, balance and cardiovascular fitness in ways that suit you. This could include supported standing exercises, seated exercises or resistance training from a stable position.

For someone experiencing greater mobility limitations, maintaining movement through the available range can still be valuable. Exercises can be adapted around what you can currently do rather than focusing solely on what you cannot.

This flexibility is important. A programme that worked well six months ago may not be appropriate on a particularly fatigued day, while something that feels difficult today may become more manageable with time and consistent practice.

Building confidence outside of exercise sessions

One of the most important parts of exercise support is helping you feel confident using what you have practised in your everyday life.

This might mean improving your ability to get up from a chair, walk around your home, use the stairs or complete household tasks. It could also mean learning how to pace activities and recognise when you need to take a break.

Exercise is not just about what happens during a session. It is about helping you maintain the physical capacity and confidence to do the things that matter to you outside of exercise sessions.

How we support people living with MS

At Longevity Health and Fitness, exercise programmes are tailored around your current abilities, symptoms and goals.

We consider factors such as:

Your current strength, fitness and mobility
How MS symptoms affect you day to day
Your energy levels and fatigue
Balance and coordination
The activities you want to be able to do more easily
How much exercise you can fit into your week

Sessions can be adapted as needed, whether that means changing an exercise, reducing the intensity, taking additional rest breaks or using additional support.

We can help you find strategies that you can use between sessions, so you have the confidence to manage your movement and activity outside of your time with us.

Small improvements can make a big difference

Progress with MS does not always mean being able to walk further or lift heavier weights.

It might be being able to stand from a chair more easily, walk around the house with greater confidence, manage a household task without needing to rest as often, or feel more secure when moving around unfamiliar places.

These changes can have a meaningful impact on independence and quality of life.

Exercise cannot remove MS or guarantee that symptoms will not change. However, maintaining your physical capacity can give you a stronger foundation to work from as you manage those changes.

Staying active with MS

If you are living with MS and are unsure how much exercise you should be doing, you do not need to work it out alone.

At Longevity Health and Fitness, we can help you understand how exercise can fit into your life and develop a programme around your symptoms, energy levels and goals. Whether you want to maintain your current abilities, improve your strength and fitness, or feel more confident with everyday movement, we can help you find an approach that works for you. We support clients across London and Surrey, offering in-home visits, as well as online support for greater flexibility