How To Exercise When You Have Arthritis

Many people with arthritis are afraid to exercise. However, exercise is actually good for people with arthritis if it is handled in the right manner. Read on to learn how to exercise without aggravating your joint pain so that you can improve your quality of life and reduce your arthritis symptoms.

It's important to exercise consistently. The first couple of times you exercise will be more difficult because your body isn't used to the movement yet. You may feel a little bit sore afterwards. If this happens, don't conclude that you can't exercise because of your arthritis. Just slow your routine down a little bit. Make sure you continue to exercise on a daily basis to ensure that your body gets used to exercising.

Don't be overly ambitious. If you exercise too much at first, you will be so sore that you won't be able to exercise for a while. You also will be reluctant to continue exercising if you feel extreme arthritis pain after your first exercise session.

Instead, start with very light exercise. You might want to exercise for only five to ten minutes, even if you were able to exercise for longer prior to your arthritis diagnosis. Stick to the same light routine for a week and monitor how it affects your symptoms. If you are able to exercise for a week without feeling sore or exhausted afterwards, increase your exercise time or intensity by a tiny bit. Take it one week at a time and gradually make changes so that you can introduce exercise into your routine without aggravating your arthritis symptoms.

Monitor your symptoms over time and use them to help you determine when to exercise. Some people have worse symptoms in the morning, while others have worse symptoms in the evening. Once you discern the pattern of your arthritis flare-ups, you can schedule exercise in a way that helps you rather than makes symptoms worse. For example, if you always have arthritis flare-ups between 9 AM and noon, it makes more sense to exercise in the afternoon so that you don't make your pain worse. You may find that your flare-ups are less frequent or less intense if you stick to this type of exercise program.

Don't push yourself to exercise if you are in severe pain regardless of what your routine is, though. If you happen to be having a particularly bad flare-up, reschedule your exercise routine. Exercising can make arthritis symptoms worse if you are already in pain. Similarly, don't push yourself to exercise harder than your body is capable of. Just cool down and stretch if you start to feel arthritis symptoms. You can always return to exercising later in the day or the next day.

Exercising can help your arthritis symptoms if it's done correctly. However, if you disregard your arthritis and exercise the way you used to before you developed the disease, you can make symptoms worse. Use the advice you just read to help you avoid arthritis flare-ups while exercising.