YOUR FRIENDS SUPPORT YOU

• When you tell your friends about your McArdle’s there is likely to be a positive response.

• There is a useful IamGSD “At Home” leaflet to help you tell them. And videos on YouTube. 

• Once your friends understand, they will better prepared to support you.

• They’ll be happy to go slow, or take a break and not mention it.

• They will watch out for you and step in to help.​

YOU FOCUS ON WHAT YOU CAN DO

• It’s amazing how much you can do, despite 80% of your carbohydrate energy being inaccessible. 

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• Once you are in “second wind” you can do most aerobic activity. 

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• Even if at times you go at a bit slower pace than other people. 

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• You can do intense anaerobic activity in bursts of around 6 seconds.

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• Tasks like that, you simply break down into small sections.

SECOND WIND IS NO LONGER A PROBLEM

• As you improve fitness, getting into “second wind” becomes quite easy. 

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• It’s a very positive feeling and makes activity so much more achievable and enjoyable. 

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• If less aerobically fit, it can be a struggle, maybe taking as long as 10 minutes. 

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• Yet the most aerobically fit amongst us can easily enter “second wind” in under 7 minutes.

GETTING THE BIG VIEW

• Seeing a big landscape by hill walking can help put your troubles into perspective.

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• Or seeing a big landscape in some other way, such as at sea. 

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• You can realise that your muscle issues are a small part of you. 

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• And you in turn are really a very small part of a very big world. 

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• There are very many people facing much larger problems.

YOU FEEL LIKE DOING MORE

• The more you do, the more energy you feel you have.

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• Undertaking even more activity is not a problem, it becomes a virtuous cycle. 

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• In broad terms: 
  – the more you do
  – the better you feel
  – the more you want to do.