Arthritis exercise, quick tips

Maintaining joint mobility, range of motion as well as strength, with the help of exercise, is important in arthritis.

Exercise has been shown to improve quality of life, and maybe even help to relive pain/ discomfort.

There are no universal exercises for arthritis; basically all types of multi–joint movements/exercises are beneficial.

For best results use a fitness professional, maybe a physiotherapist, to jumpstart your exercise program.

Here are a couple of tips to make most out of exercising.

Tip 1 - Pain free movements

Try to do only totally pain free movements, while it may not always be possible it should be used as the basic rule of thumb. Exercising through pain may lead to unnecessary complications.

One way to lessen the changes of pain during exercise is to massage the involved muscles before exercise.

The idea is to try to find tender spots from the muscles near the pain area and massage them.

These spots are sometimes called as trigger points and are frequent cause for pain in arthritic conditions.

Tip 2 - Whole body exercise

Squat is a great exercise for those who are suited to do it, squatting promotes proper joint function, mobility and strength in key joints (hip & knee)

If you can, and start squatting, you want also do exercise called reverse back extension to balance the development of muscles. (It helps to strengthen the posterior chain; hamstrings, spine erectors etc.)

Tip 3 – Supplementation

Dietary supplements might also help to ease the pain in arthritis and can be used to boost the positive effects of exercise.

The most popular supplements for arthritis are; glucosamine, chondroitin and msm - they appear to be most beneficial in osteoarthritis.

I have friends who have had great experiences with these supplements, and thus recommend them wholeheartedly.

Resources

More information at pain relief guide site, quick links below

Free trigger point tutorial and pain charts (beta) available at home page.