If you are suffering from arthritis flare ups, you may be wondering can you work out with arthritis. The good news is that you can!
You can still reach your fat loss, toning, and muscle-building goals. However, you will have to take some extra precautions to ensure you don’t make your arthritis worse. We will go over everything you need to know about working out with arthritis.
Depending on what joints are affected by your arthritis, how inflamed they get, and how stable they are, you will have to modify your training in different ways. Additionally, if you have gone through joint replacement surgery, there will be additional precautions that need to be taken. Doctors, physical therapists, and personal trainers can help you assess what the dos and don'ts of your training should be. When it comes to talking with a skilled personal trainer Canary Wharf has a PT studio called Delta Fitness that can be your ticket to a better you, even if you have arthritis.
Why You Should Exercise If You Have Arthritis
You may be surprised to hear this but studies have shown that strength training is both possible and beneficial to people suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. There is both a mental and physical component to the benefits.
The physical benefits lie in the fact that your muscles will become stronger, which helps them keep your joints supported and better protected. Also, more muscle means more fat loss, which will help keep your weight down. This helps relieve some of the pressure on your joints, leading to less joint pain.
The mental benefits include a better mood and greater self-esteem, especially when you start feeling more energy and less pain. Feel-good chemicals released during training can stay with you for the rest of the day, especially when you exercise in the morning.
You will also become more flexible. You may at first assume that the more you move your body, the more your joints will hurt. It's actually the opposite! The more flexible you are, the less stiff your joints will become. Think about how you feel right after getting out of bed versus how it feels to be walking about in the afternoon. Keeping yourself flexible will help you feel fewer aches and pains.
Training with arthritis can also help increase the density of your bones. Arthritis causes joint inflammation, which can lead to bones becoming more fragile. Anti-inflammatory medications can make matters even worse. The denser your bones are, the less likely you are to have bone fractures.
One other great benefit of working out with arthritis is having a healthier heart. You will be strengthening your heart and significantly reducing the risk of getting heart disease. You get to enjoy the reduced risk thanks to burning calories, lowering blood pressure, and lowering “bad” cholesterol.
Best Types of Exercise for Arthritis
If you suffer from arthritis, here are the best types of exercises you could be doing as part of your training routine:
Weight Training
As mentioned earlier, building up your muscles will keep your joints protected and supported. By applying resistance to your muscles with free weights, resistance bands, or machines, you can strengthen your muscles and open yourself up to far more activities than before. You can safely increase your muscle mass when you talk to a personal trainer at a PT studio like Delta Fitness.
Endurance Training
Endurance exercises, like cycling, can help you strengthen your heart, increase fat loss, and improve your overall condition. Fat loss is especially important when you have arthritis since the less pressure your joints feel, the less inflamed those joints will be.
Range-of-Motion Exercises
Another category of exercises you can benefit from includes those that increase your range of motion. These will provide you relief from stiffness and soreness your joints may suffer. They will also help you become more flexible. While you may not be doing the splits, you will be increasing how flexible you are. Make sure you stick to gentle stretching so that you don't overdo it.
Low-Impact Activities
Other workouts you do with arthritis could incorporate low-impact activities. These will help you get your body moving without overburdening it. Some examples of helpful low-impact activities include the following:
Walking
Dancing
Swimming
Row machines
Cycling machines
Elliptical machines
All of these cardio-focused activities will help you achieve the same results, so only pick the ones you enjoy. Whichever one you choose, do it 20-30 minutes to enjoy the benefits.
Exercises and Workouts to Avoid When You Have Arthritis
Even though you will have plenty of options to choose from, there are some exercises and activities that shouldn't be a part of your workout. Anything that is putting a significant amount of pressure on your joints should be avoided. This includes high-impact workouts that involve heavy lifting and jogging. As a general rule, if you are working out and feel pain for over an hour afterward, you are probably overdoing it.
How Often Can You Work Out With Arthritis?
Depending on what type of workout you are doing, you should do them at different levels of frequency for different amounts of time. There is no ideal answer to this given that everyone's condition is different. However, the following is a general idea to help you understand what you should expect.
Weight training – Perform this type of training every other day, and cut back on how much weight you are using if you feel pain for more than an hour after you are done.
Range-of-motion exercises – You can do these every day if you want. At a minimum, strive to do them every other day.
Endurance training – Perform this type of training between 20-30 minutes per day up to three times per week. Cut back this amount if you feel that your joints are hurting more than usual.
Low-impact activities – These activities can be done every day, as long as you perform them gently.
Conclusion
Even if you have arthritis, you can reach your fat loss, toning, and strength goals. As long as you follow the advice in this article, as well as the guidance of a personal trainer at a PT studio, you can safely and effectively feel better while living with this condition. When you are looking for a personal trainer Canary Wharf should be the first place you turn to. Delta Fitness has highly qualified and experienced personal trainers who can help you reach your fitness goals and feel great doing so.