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 Are
joint jitters keeping you from getting the exercise you need?
If
you have pain caused by arthritis, bursitis, tendonitis, sports
injury, an autoimmune disorder such as lupus, or other source,
exercising might seem out of the question. After all, your
stiff and uncomfortable joints already ache when you get out
of bed, walk down stairs, or reach for a box on the supermarket
shelves. Why would you want them to endure the stress of exercise?
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The conventional
wisdom used to be that exercising would increase joint problems.
Years of research findings now show that the less you move
your joints, the weaker and more painful they become. You
then use them less, eventually causing a decline in their
ability to function. One recent study of people with arthritis,
published in the journal Arthritis & Rheumatism,
found that women and minorities experience this decline most
frequently.
Being
physically inactive not only can worsen your joint problems,
it also increases your risk for developing type II diabetes,
cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis.
Physical
activity lessens chronic joint symptoms and improves overall
quality-of-life. It provides those benefits without increasing
healthy adults' risk of developing osteoarthritis in the hips
or knees or musculoskeletal pain.
"Exercise
is an important part of any arthritis treatment program,"
says Bernard R. Rubin, D.O., M.P.H., chief of the division
of rheumatology at the University of North Texas Health Science
Center. "If someone says they have pain 'all the time,'
I encourage exercise since they may actually have a decrease
in symptoms with regular exercise."
Think
three
To help
your joints, focus on three types of exercise--flexibility,
strengthening and aerobic. "Just start out slowly,"
says Heather Elco, MA, ATC, an exercise physiologist at The
Cleveland Clinic. When you have joint pain, it's especially
important to talk with your health care professional before
starting to exercise in order to choose the right activity
for your specific condition, Elco says.
After
a brief adjustment period, your joint-friendly exercise routine
will probably include all three of these exercise categories:
- Flexibility:
Begin with these movements, which stretch your muscles and
help improve the range-of-motion your joints can achieve,
reducing stiffness: Try simply sitting on the floor, with
your legs in front of you and lean forward. "Do a little
bit each day. Stretch to the point you feel resistance,"
Elco says. As you become more flexible, you will be able
to lean farther forward. Add more stretches slowly. Include
additional stretches as your flexibility improves.
- Strengthening:
Stronger muscles support and protect joints better. Elco
suggests doing wall push-ups or standing lunges to start.
Add very light weights (2 pounds or less) to strengthening
exercises only after working without weights has become
easy. Rubin advises using light weights and frequent repetitions
to avoid "any undue stress on the joints."
- Cardiovascular:
Walking, swimming, and bike riding get your heart pumping
and yield great health benefits with just moderate intensity,
Elco says. Unlike high-impact aerobics, these exercise activities
are gentle on your joints while providing a good cardiovascular
workout. If you haven't been moving much, start slowly.
"Walk around the first floor of your house for 10 minutes
a day, then slowly build up to 30 minutes," says Elco.
When you have gained confidence and adequate endurance you
can head out the door to a park or gym.
Top
tips for exercising when you have joint problems
- Dive
right in. Exercising in water is low- to no-impact, taking
weight off painful joints and encouraging a larger range
of motion than you might attain on land. Water exercise
provides natural resistance (you can add more with special
foam paddles). Warm pool water also soothes aching joints.
- If
you have shoulder problems, you might want to avoid the
overhead motions of some swim strokes, but other good alternatives
exist. Try running in place in the pool. You can do this
in chest-high water or in the deep end, using a special
buoyancy harness to keep you afloat.
- For
those with knee and hip pain, use a stationary bike, or
ride outside, to reduce impact on sore joints.
- Rowing
machines are good for people whose joint pain is primarily
in their lower bodies.
- Elliptical
machines produce minimal impact on joints while providing
a good cardiovascular workout, Elco says. That's because
the equipment uses hydraulics and the impact is primarily
absorbed by the machine instead of the joints.
- Try
yoga or Tai Chi for stretching and to improve flexibility,
range-of-motion and balance. A recent University of Pennsylvania
study showed reductions in pain and disability from knee
osteoarthritis in a group of overweight people, aged 50
and up, who took 90-minute yoga classes weekly for eight
weeks.
- Apply
heat before exercise, Rubin says. It relaxes muscles and
joints, as well as eases pain. After physical activity,
ice joints to reduce swelling.
- Avoid
exercising an actively inflamed joint, recent joint replacement,
or any kind of damage that might cause physical instability.
- Do
not use heavy weights, says Rubin, and avoid extending or
flexing any joint to its maximum position.
- If
you feel pain sharp pain in a joint or elsewhere while exercising,
stop. Muscle fatigue is common during exercise, however,
muscle pain due to conditioning using begins after exercising
and wears off gradually, Elco says. "If it's actual
joint pain, you may be pushing yourself too far, too fast,"
she says.
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