MS Fighter

I’ve always been drawn to toughness. The sweat, the grind, the bruised knuckles, and that raw, animal instinct you tap into under a loaded barbell or in the ring. Nack in the day, I believed in one rule—go harder, lift heavier, outwork everybody. No excuses, no days off. Pains was a badge of honor. Then life hit me harder that any heavyweight—I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. And things had to change…at least a bit. But here’s what didn’t change—my refusal to quit.

MS might’ve taken some of my energy (plenty of it), balance, and predictability—but it couldn’t touch my fight. What it did do was force me to evolve, to train smarter, not just harder. To plan, listen, adapt, and overcome. Not by giving up the iron, but by mastering it in a way that works with my body, not against it. And this is not about looking pretty, It’s about staying in the fight. Because whether you’ve got MS or you’re just battling life’s punches, the way you structure your training will decide if you’re growing stronger or breaking down.

In this post, I’m going to show you how I build my training cycles—with phases, progression, and a fighter’s mindset—to keep getting stronger while living with MS.

Let’s go!

Phase 1: Foundation. Owning the Basics.

Before you can lift heavy, move fast, or chase numbers—you need a rock-solid foundation. And I’m not just talking about muscle mass or ripped abs. I’m talking about movement quality, jount health, stability, and control. Without these, you’re just stacking bricks on a cracked floor. And with MS in the mix, that floor gets tested daily. MS indeed messes with balance, coordination, muscle activation, and energy. If your foundation sucks, MS will find the weak spots fast. That’s why this phase is sacred—and why I revisit it often, no matter how experienced I get. Here’s what owning the basics looks like for me:

Mastering movement, not just muscle

It’s tempting to skip ahead to heavy bench presses and deadlifts—but if your body isn’t moving right, you’re just digging a deeper hole. Thus you need to focus on:

• Bodyweight mastery. Push-ups, air squats, planks, rows.
• Controlled, full-range mobility drills. Hips, shoulders, spine, ankles.
• Posture work. Fixing forward shoulders, weak glutes, and core instability.
• Slow, controlled tempo. Owning every inch of a movement

I don’t care how much weight’s on the bar if your form is trash. MS is unpredictable—your form can’t be.

Core stability = your armor

If you’re dealing with MS, core strength isn’t optional—it’s a survival. It helps with balance, posture, and absorbing those unpredictable fatigue waves. Dead bugs, bird dogs, pallof presses, farmers’ carries, planks, include all of them into your routine. These aren’t flashy—but they build the kind of midline strength that makes you feel unshakeable, even on days when your nervous system is acting up.

Low volume, high focus

In this phase, less is more. I don’t chase soreness or volume. I chase precision, focus, and perfect reps.

• 5 workouts per week.
• Full-body emphasis.
• 5-6 exercises max per session.
• Plenty of rest between sets.
• Tracking how my body responds daily.

If something feels off—I adapt, modify, or pull back. This is about building, not breaking.

MS management comes first

Here’s the real talk most people won’t say: Your ego will want to skip this phase. But listen—MS is a cunning opponent. If you ignore the basics, it’ll exploit you:

• Numbness in the wrong spot during a deadlift? Recipe for disaster
• Fatigue halfway through a squat session? Time to cut it, not push through

I check in daily:

• How’s my balance today?
• Any odd tingling, tightness, or weakness?
• Am I overheating or overly fatigued?

The ultimate goal is to build something that lasts. This isn’t a throwaway warm-up period. This is where real longevity gets built. I come back to this phase several times a year—after hard training cycle, after flare-ups, or when life gets heavy. It reminds me that strength isn’t about the big lifts—it’s about how well you control the small ones.

Own this phase, and you’ll move better, recover faster, and lift heavier when the time is right.

Phase 2: Strength & Power. Controlled Aggression.

Once the foundation is rock-solid, it’s time to unleash. But as always, there is a catch—this isn’t reckless, ego-driven lifting. I call it controlled aggression. A precise, calculated assault on your limits, with smart choices that work with your MS, not against it. MS taught me that there’s a fine line between being a warrior and being a fool. And in this phase, we walk that line like a fighter in the ring—calm, sharp, and ready to strike. 

Now we start adding load, speed, and intent to the movements we dialed in during the Foundation phase. But I don’t just pile plates on for Instagram likes—I increase intensity based on how my nervous system feels, fatigue levels, and balance & coordination on that particular day. If it’s a green-light day—I go hard. If it’s yellow or red one—I scale it smart. Keep on mind that progression isn’t linear when you’ve got MS—but the fight continues.

Key lifts. My strength Staples

These are my go-to lifts in this phase—because they deliver the biggest band for the buck while letting me adjust based on how I feel.

• Trap bar deadlift. Safer than conventional deadlifts when fatigue hits. Easier on the lower back. Builds total-body strength, grip, and core like nothing else.
• Incline dumbbell press. Better for stability than a barbell. Protects shoulders, builds pressing power, and challenges core control.
• Weighted carries. The ultimate anti-fatigue, anti-weakness moves (Farmer’s, suitcase). It teaches posture, balance, and real-world strength.
• Goblet squat. Forces clean form, great for knee and hip health, and can be scaled easily. Add tempo or pause work for extra brutality.
• Cable or band rows. Keeps the back strong and posture solid. I use controlled, heavy reps with peak contraction.

Keep in mind that every lift has a purpose. Every rep is earned. No fluff. No ego.

I have my personal 3 pillars of smart progression. I use these three principles to push strength safely:

1. Progress load gradually. +2,5kg-5kg increases when possible. Microplates are your best friends.
2. Vary tempo and pauses. If I’m feeling off-balance or fatigued, I slow it down. Pause at the bottom. Control the negative. Build tension
3. Limit max effort attempts. O leave a rep or two in the tank. No failed lifts (except for the last set of course). Keep in mind that fatigue hits differently with MS, and wrecking yourself isn’t brave—it’s stupid.

Additionally, I don’t ignore speed an explosiveness—it keeps me sharp and reactive, which MS tries to rob. But it has to be done carefully:

• Med ball slams.
• Kettlebell swings.
• Jump rope.
• Low-impact box step-ups with drive.

Keep short bursts, clean form. If I can’t control the landing or deceleration—it’s a no-go for the day.

Why this all matters with MS? Well, MS isn’t just about physical symptoms, it messes with your neural drive (the way how your brain talks to your muscles), fatigue tresholds, and stability & proprioception. And this presented phase 2 fights back. It keeps the nervous system sharp, maintains muscle mass, and rebuilds resilience. Without strength, you’re vulnerable. With I, you stay in control of the fight. This phase isn’t just physical—it’s a test of discipline. You’ll want to overdo it on good days—you’ll want to quit on bad ones. Control the aggression. Stay calm in the storm. Treat every session like a round in the ring. Precision…Timing…Intent. Because this isn’t just about adding more plates—it’s about staying dangerous.

Phase 3: Adaptation & Resilience Training. When MS Fights Back.

Let’s be real—MS doesn’t care about your plans. It doesn’t care about your split, your program, your PR goals, or your ego. It will hit you when you least expect it—fatigue outta nowhere, numbness mid-set, balance shot to hell by noon. This is the phase where we stop pretending it’s business as usual and start fighting smarter. In this phase, my goal isn’t to max out lifts or chase numbers. It’s about staying in the fight, adjusting on the fly, and building mental and physical toughness when my body feels like it’s betraying me. If you’ve got MS, you need this phase more than any other.

Strength is indeed easy on good days, but character is built on the bad ones. MS flare-ups, bad fatigue days, mental burnout—they’re unavoidable. But you know what’s a choice? Whether you stay active, engaged, and moving forward. This phase teaches you how. From my previous posts you know that resilience isn’t about perfection—it’s about persistence. It’s what separates those who stay stuck in fear from those who keep swinging.

How I train during tough weeks

When MS is flaring or my fatigue is in overdrive, my rule is simple: Modify, don’t quit.

• Lower intensity. Drop the weight, drop the volume.
• Switch to machines or cables if balance is off.
• Focus on unilateral work to correct imbalances.
• Slow tempos, higher reps to keep blood flowing and avoid injury.
• More mobility and stretching
• Active recovery days—walking, swimming, light shadow boxing, mobility circuits.

If I can’t train heavy, I train smart. If I can’t train long, I train short and sharp. But I always show up in some way. The following exercises keep me functional and resilient without draining my battery:

• Bodyweight squats or goblet squats. These are great for maintaining lower body strength and mobility.
• Suspension trainer (TRX) rows and push-ups. Adjustable, joint-friendly, and balance-safe.
• Seated overhead press (dumbbells, machines). If my balance is bad, this keeps my upper body strong.
• Band pull-aparts & face pulls. To maintain shoulder health and posture.
• Loaded carries (as tolerated). Light, short, controlled. Great for posture, grip, and mental toughness.
• Stretching & deep breathing work. Keeps the nervous system calm and promotes recovery.

Don’t chase PRs every single day. Maintain what matters and stay sharp until the storm passes. On bad days, success isn’t about how much you lifted—it’s about the fact that you showed up. You moved. You fought. You refused to let the diagnosis decide the outcome. Resilience isn’t pretty, it’s gritty, unglamorous, and relentless. And it’s built in this phase.

MS fighters need to become experts in body awareness (tracking and listening). Track your sleep, stress, fatigue, and flare-ups. Adjust training accordingly. Always have a backup plan, e.g., if squats are out, can you bike? If overhead pressing is shaky, can you hit machines? Adaptation isn’t weakness—it’s a tactical strength. It’s what lets you keep going for years instead of burning out in months. Anyone can train when they feel great. It takes a fighter to train when it hurts, when it’s inconvenient, when nothing’s perfect. This is where MS fighters separate themselves. Where you build not just muscle—but mental fortitude that carrier over to life, work, fatherhood, and every challenge you’ll face. This phase isn’t a setback—it’s a proving ground.

Phase 4: Deload & Rebuild. Stay Dangerous. Stay Ready.

You can’t redline forever. Not with MS. Not without it. Not if you plan on lasting in this fight. And in this phase, we drop the ego, take a step back—and rebuild. It’s not weakness. It’s strategy. It’s how real warriors sharpen the blade without snapping it. The fact is that you don’t get stronger in the gym—you get stronger by recovering from what you do in the gym. And when you live with a condition like MS, your nervous system is under constant, invisible pressure. If you keep pushing without listening, you’ll crash harder than most people ever will. This phase is where tendons heal, nervous system resets, hormones rebalance, fatigue backs off, and motivation quietly rebuilds. But most importantly, it’s where you keep moving while letting the body catch up.

How I structure a deload

For me, deloading isn’t about lying on the couch for a week (unless your MS really demands it). It’s about:

• Reduce total training volume by 40-60%.
• Cutting back load to 50-60% of my normal working sets.
• Dropping intensity (no failure, no grinders).
• Focusing more on technique, tempo, mobility.

Example: If I was lifting 100 kg for 5 sets of 5, I’ll go 60 kg for 3 sets of 8 with controlled tempo, deep range of motion (no ego, just clean work). If it’s a really bad fatigue week—I’ll switch to bodyweight work, machines, light dumbbells, or mobility circuits.

Deload weeks aren’t just physical—they’re mental. Revisit your “why?”, plan your next training block, address weaknesses, dial in nutrition and sleep, reconnect with your family, hobbies, and life outside the gym. For me this is the time when I box light, take long walks, stretch more, read, and rebuild my fire. The fight doesn’t end here—but you choose how you show up to the next round. A warrior isn’t someone who fights nonstop. A warrior is someone who knows when to rest, reload, and come back sharped. I deload so I can keep lifting, keep boxing, keep being the father and husband I need to be—not just today, but in 10, 20, 30 years from now. Staying dangerous means playing the long game. And this phase is how you win it.

Train Smart. Stay Dangerous.

Living with MS isn’t about playing it safe. It’s about training smarter, adapting faster, and fighting harder than most people will ever have to. This training cycle isn’t some cookie-cutter plan you’ll find on a fitness app. It’s a battle-tested. It’s real. It’s mine. You don’t build strength by ignoring pain, or by pretending MS isn’t there. You build it by learning how to move with it, around it, through it. There’s power in knowing when to push, when to pull back, and when to step outside the ring for a round—not because you’re weak, but because you’re sharpening the blade for the next fight. Remember—muscle is built in the gym, but resilience is built in the days between. And for guys like us, that resilience is what keeps us in this fight.