After a long talk with a client, he informed me of the hard time his wife was having dealing with the effects of arthritis. I hear more and more from people with arthritis and have seen that it affects people of all ages. Its causes stem from aging to old injuries, and their symptoms can be very frustrating because they never know what days are going to be tolerable and what days are going to be horrible to get through.

For each case, the treatment varies. Most doctors feel that exercise is needed in every case, whether it is rehabilitative, recreational or a combination of both. Exercise increases strength and flexibility. It reduces joint pain and helps fight the fatigue that unconditioned muscles experience with activity.

You may think that this sounds a little crazy, especially if you suffering at this moment and can barely move. Of course you don’t need to be an Ironman or an Olympic weight lifter to reap the benefits of strength training. Moderate exercise can reduce your joint pain and help you maintain healthy weight. Exercise helps improve your overall health and fitness without hurting your joints, though it needs to be done along with whatever prescribed exercises your doctor or therapist may have given you to do.

You may think that exercise will only aggravate your joints and make you unable to do your daily routine. You may even think that you are not capable of doing any exercise at all with your condition. Well, let me tell you, lack of exercise can actually make stiff joints more painful and stiffer than they should be. This is because the muscles and surrounding tissue need to be strong to maintain support for your bones and joints.

Talk to your doctor or therapist to see which exercises would be best for your situation and how they would fit into your current treatment plan. Each type of arthritis and the joint involved will determine the exercise you need to do for treatment. Some of the exercises may include:

1. Range of motion exercises – These exercises can relieve stiffness and increase the ability to move the joint through its normal range of motion.

2. Strengthening exercises – These exercises help build strong muscles to support and protect your joints. It’s safer to do these every other day, and even more if there is pain or swelling in the joints.

3. Aerobic exercises – Aerobic or endurance exercises help increase your overall fitness levels. They help improve cardiovascular health, improve stamina, and help maintain or lose weight.These exercises need to be done on a daily basis. 20-30 minutes of activity is optimal, but if you experience too much pain, you can break the exercises into 10 minute segments throughout the day. Just remember to choose activities that are easier on your joints.

If you find an exercise that appeals to you, don’t hesitate to ask your doctor if it’s right for you. Any movement helps, no matter how small. You could even be OK’d by your doctor to participate in group exercise. If you do, be sure to let the instructor know and they may be able to show modifications or lower dynamic movements during the class period to lessen or avoid pain.

You may notice some pain after you start exercising, especially if you haven’t been working out for a while. To be on the cautious side, if your pain lasts longer than an hour after the exercise session, then it was probably too strenuous. Again, talk to your doctor to see what pain is normal and what is not. Tell the doctor if the exercises cause persistent fatigue, increased weakness, reduced range of motion in your joints, joint swelling, or continuous pain.

Thanks for reading and if there is any topic you may want covered in the future, please let me know.



God bless,

Brandon



• Brandon Barr is a

certified personal trainer and sports conditionist at Jeff Anderson’s Health and Fitness Center. You may write to him in care of The Star at P.O. Box 1591, Meridian, MS 39301.