Osteoarthritis: Exercising with arthritis

Joints and muscles need to be exercised to prevent stiffness and weakness. Also, exercise will make you feel better and help you maintain a healthy weight. Excess body weight places extra force and pressure on arthritic joints and causes osteoarthritis to progress more rapidly.

Without exercise, not only will you lose muscle strength but your osteoarthritis will progress faster. Exercising will not “wear out” a damaged joint.³ However, newer research also suggests that if your joint is unusually loose or does not line up normally, some kinds of exercise may not be as effective or may even increase the progression of osteoarthritis.⁴ Your health professional can help you determine what exercise is best for you.

Stretching exercises will help prevent the stiffness associated with osteoarthritis and help prevent injury. Strengthening exercises will help strengthen the muscles and ligaments surrounding a joint, which in turn will protect and reduce stress on the joint. For example, stronger thigh muscles take some of the stress off of weight-bearing joints such as the knees and hips.

Several studies have shown the benefits of exercise for people with osteoarthritis. Exercise can help to:

• Improve hip and knee joint function and movement.³
• Improve function in a person with knee osteoarthritis, and perhaps delay or prevent the need for surgery.⁵
• Improve posture and balance in older adults with osteoarthritis, thus reducing the chance of falls.⁶

Motivation to exercise Sometimes it is hard to get motivated to exercise, even though we understand the benefits of exercise. These suggestions may be helpful:

• Try to find a friend to exercise with you, or join a support group. People are more likely to stay with their exercise program if they exercise with a friend. Also, people with osteoarthritis who attend classes or support groups have less pain, less depression, and better joint activity than people who do not.⁷
• Try a class at your local health club or with your local arthritis chapter that is specifically designed for people with arthritis. People who participate in an exercise class in addition to their home exercise program have shown added improvement in function, and they are more likely to keep doing their exercise even after the class ends.⁸
• You can exercise without spending a lot of money at a health club or on equipment. You can do many exercises, such as walking, almost anywhere at no cost. At a local health club such as the YMCA, you can enroll in a class (rather than pay for a complete registration) that is inexpensive and designed specifically for people with arthritis.
• Record your efforts. Some people are motivated by seeing their progress written down.
• Reward your efforts. When you reach a step toward your goal, reward yourself by doing a special activity or buying something.

Continue to How to exercise if you have osteoarthritis

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