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Dr Robert Motl

Physical Activity and MS

Overcoming MS Facilitator Heather O'Neil talks to Dr Rob Motl and community members Francis Loye and Duarte Valente about the importance of physical activity for MS.

Webinar summary:

In this webinar, Overcoming MS Facilitator Heather O’Neil chats with community members Francis Loye and Duarte Valente about their personal experience of physical activity in regards to MS. Heather also welcomes world-renowned researcher from the University of Illinois in Chicago, Dr Rob Motl. 

Key highlights:

02:47  The importance of physical activity for MS

04:05  Dr Rob Motl’s research on physical activity and MS

15:05  Duarte Valente’s personal story and experience with physical activity

17:39  Francis Loye’s journey with physical activity

24:30 Q&A session addressing questions from the audience 

29:56  Physical activity for people with mobility issues

34:05 Physical activity and fatigue

39:27 Types of physical activity for people who are at risk of falling

43:51 Exercising to prevent progression of MS

49:16 Starting and maintaining an exercise routine

54:59 Is there such a thing as too much exercise?

58:18 What exercise would you start with?

Speaker bios:

Heather O’Neil

Heather is a Clinical Social Worker and has been working with individuals and couples in private practice and other organisations for the past 27 years. She specialises in treating trauma, coping with chronic illness and anxiety disorders. 

She was diagnosed with MS in 2020 and found the Overcoming MS program very shortly into her diagnosis. It has given her a tremendous amount of agency over her own health and has allowed her to manage her anxiety related to this illness.  Overall, Heather feels healthier and more connected to her body. 

Heather lives in Denver, Colorado in the U.S. and enjoys spending time with family and friends.  She loves skiing, hiking and travelling.  When not out adventuring she can be found curled up with a good book. Heather is married and has two young adult children and a dog. 

Dr Rob Motl

Dr Robert Motl is an eminent faculty member in the Department of Kinesiology and Community Health at the University of Illinois, USA.

His research focuses on physical activity and its measurement, predictors, consequences, and interventions in persons with neurological diseases, particularly multiple sclerosis. He has produced a body of work examining the outcomes of physical activity in MS, finding beneficial adaptations in brain structure, cognition, depression, fatigue, walking disability, and quality of life, which has informed the case for increasing physical activity in people living with MS.

Further research may see his findings expanded into trials with those living with spinal cord injuries and Parkinson’s disease.

Francis Loye

Francis is a father of three and lives in Northern Ireland. He was diagnosed with MS in 2021 and got his first symptoms on a cycling holiday in Majorca. This year, Francis returned to Majorca to take on one of the hardest endurance cycling events in Europe, the 312! It consists of 312k kilometres of cycling over 40 mountains in one day. Francis completed it in 12 hours and 15 minutes.

Since his diagnosis, Francis also began Cross Fit and was placed 15th in the world in the Neuroadaptive category in the Cross Fit Open and as a result he was qualified for the world Cross Fit semifinals.

Duarte Valente

Duarte lives in Portugal and was diagnosed with Relapsing-Remitting MS in 2020. As he came to terms with the diagnosis, he started following the Overcoming MS Program with the diet and then joined an Overcoming MS group on Strava to help him motivate to exercise more. 

He enjoys photography, hiking and many other forms of physical activity. 

This webinar was recorded on 11th September 2024 as part of our Living Well with MS Webinar Series, where we bring together a panel of expert guests and community members who bring to life the Overcoming MS Handbook – Roadmap to Good Health.