If you have been keeping up with the blog, you know that I have been doing the Modified Levine Protocol for the last few months. I had surgery on November 15th and wasn’t able to exercise for two and a half weeks. I was also sick during that recovery period, so I was quite sedentary. When I began exercising again I did a “trial” on the recumbent bike to gauge my fitness. I was able to only do 8 minutes at base pace (heart rate between 125-145 bpm). So, I decided to start from there, listen to my body, and increase as I saw fit. I could have jumped back into the Modified Levine Protocol somewhere during the first month, but I found that doing a “bonus time” was less demoralizing about the fitness that I lost.
Where I am at now
I am happy to say after 4 weeks that I am back to the fitness level I was at prior to surgery. I will begin month 3 of the Modified Levine Protocol next.
How I progressed back to fitness
I started back up with 20-30 minute P.volve sessions three days per week again once I was clear to exercise. I was able to jump back into that as normal because it is pretty low-key. Here is what my progression looked like on the bike:
- 10 minute warm-up, 8 minutes at base pace, 10 minute cool down
- 10 minute warm-up, 10 minutes at base pace, 10 minute cool down
- 10 minute warm-up, 12 minutes at base pace, 10 minute cool down
- 10 minute warm-up, 13 minutes at base pace, 10 minute cool down
- 10 minute warm-up, 15 minutes at base pace, 10 minute cool down (I started feeling a groove at this point)
- 10 minute warm-up, 18 minutes at base pace, 10 minute cool down
- 20 minutes easy (sick with a virus)
- 20 minutes easy (sick with a virus)
- 10 minute warm-up, 20 minutes at base pace, 10 minute cool down
- 10 minute warm-up, 23 minutes at base pace, 10 minute cool down
- 10 minute warm-up, 28 minutes at base pace, 10 minute cool down
- 10 minute warm-up, 30 minutes at base pace, 10 minute cool down
How have I been feeling?
I was nearly back to baseline of where I was before I began all this sickness nonsense, but I just came down with another sinus infection two days ago and it is kicking my butt. I am hoping that it doesn’t sideline me for too long so I can jump into month 3 of the protocol sometime this week.
I still feel like I haven’t been healthy for long enough to properly assess how the protocol is working for me. The longest stretch I have gone without being sick since the beginning of October is two weeks. It’s been pretty ridiculous. The protocol is definitely beneficial mentally. I feel like I’m working hard for my health and I have always loved training. There is no doubt that the protocol is improving my cardiac fitness, so I hope in the near future to see that translate to real-life functionality.
What is next?
Month 3 of the program is up next. It is mostly a plateau month as most of the sessions stay at the level of 30 minutes at base pace. It will introduce a couple sessions at maximum steady state which means the heart rate is between 165-175. I am not sure how I will accomplish that high of a heart rate on a recumbent bicycle. I feel like I am sprinting to get it above 125. It is possible that I may start some upright cardio because that will increase my heart rate by 30-40 bpm just by virtue of standing up thanks to POTS.
Other posts about the Modified Levine Protocol
Introduction and Month 1 of the Modified Levine Protocol
Month 2 of the Modified Levine Protocol
Month 3 of the Modified Levine Protocol
Month 4 of the Modified Levine Protocol
Month 5 of the Modified Levine Protocol
Month 6 of the Modified Levine Protocol
Month 7 of the Modified Levine Protocol
Month 8 of the Modified Levine Protocol and Final Thoughts
Link to the Modified Levine Protocol
Modified Levine Protocol Program
Have you had to take a hiatus on the Modified Levine Protocol? How did it go for you in getting back into it?
Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional. Statements on this site are not meant to be taken as medical advice. These statements reflect my personal experiences having mild-ish post-viral POTS and ME. Due to the wide spectrum of these diseases, comorbidities, and everyone being different, your experiences may be very different than mine.
Note: If you post a comment, this site does NOT have a feature to notify you of responses to your comment. I have not found a good solution for that yet. However, I usually respond to every comment in a timely manner, so be sure to check back.
6 Comments
Praying you recover from your sinus infection soon. I know you’ve had a rough time with repeated infections and I know how antibiotics can cause fatigue themselves. As Donna said, hang in there! Looking forward to see how month 3 goes!
Hang in there!