Skip to content

Top Navigation

Health.com Health.com
  • Health Conditions A-Z
  • News
  • Coronavirus
  • Diet & Nutrition
  • Fitness
  • Beauty
  • Mind & Body
  • Lifestyle
  • Weight Loss
  • Newsletter
  • Promo

Profile Menu

Join Now

Account

  • Join Now
  • My Profile
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Help
  • Logout

More

  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
My Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • My Profile
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Help
  • Logout

More

  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
Login
Subscribe
Pin FB

Explore Health.com

Health.com Health.com
  • Explore

    Explore

    • Is Your Doctor Gaslighting You? Here's What to Do

      Is Your Doctor Gaslighting You? Here's What to Do

      How to handle a physician who doubts or dismisses your symptoms. Read More
    • 9 Signs It's More Serious Than the Common Cold

      9 Signs It's More Serious Than the Common Cold

      Doctors explain how to tell if you have a head cold or something more serious that requires medical attention, such as the flu, strep throat, meningitis, or mono. Read More
    • How Your Period Changes During Your 20s, 30s, and 40s

      How Your Period Changes During Your 20s, 30s, and 40s

      From easier cramps to a heavier flow, here's a guide on what to expect decade by decade. Read More
  • Health Conditions A-Z

    Health Conditions A-Z

    See All Health Conditions A-Z
    12 Anxiety Symptoms That Might Point to a Disorder

    12 Anxiety Symptoms That Might Point to a Disorder

    The symptoms of anxiety can be hard to detect. Here are the ones you need to pay attention to, and how to know if you may have an anxiety disorder.
    • Allergies
    • Anxiety
    • Birth Control
    • Breast Cancer
    • Coronavirus
    • Chronic Pain
    • Cold, Flu, and Sinus
    • Depression
    • Digestive Health
    • Diabetes (Type 2)
    • Eczema
    • Eye Health
    • Fibromyalgia
    • Heart Disease
    • Headaches and Migraines
    • Oral Health
    • Pregnancy
    • Psoriasis
    • Sexual Health
    • Skin Conditions
    • Sleep
    • Thyroid
  • News

    News

    See All News
    Shannen Doherty Reveals Stage 4 Breast Cancer Diagnosis—Here's What It Means

    Shannen Doherty Reveals Stage 4 Breast Cancer Diagnosis—Here's What It Means

    "I'm petrified," the actress said when she shared the news that her breast cancer came back. Here's why a stage 4 breast cancer diagnosis can be so frightening.
    • Celebrities
  • Coronavirus
  • Diet & Nutrition

    Diet & Nutrition

    The Best (and Worst) Diets of 2020, According to Experts

    The Best (and Worst) Diets of 2020, According to Experts

    FYI: The keto diet is not number one.
    • Food
    • Nutrition
    • Vitamins and Supplements
    • Groceries
    • Restaurants
    • Diets
    • Keto Diet
    • Mediterranean Diet
    • Whole30
    • Recipes
  • Fitness

    Fitness

    See All Fitness
    10 Moves for a Cardio Workout at Home—No Equipment Required

    10 Moves for a Cardio Workout at Home—No Equipment Required

    Stay in your living room and still spike your heart rate.
    • Cardio Workouts
    • Strength Training
    • Yoga
    • Ab Workouts
    • Arm Workouts
    • Leg Workouts
    • Butt Workouts
    • Fitness Gear
  • Beauty

    Beauty

    See All Beauty
    These 13 Women Prove Every Body Is a Bikini Body

    These 13 Women Prove Every Body Is a Bikini Body

    We're loving their inspirational, body-positive messages.
    • Skincare
    • Makeup
    • Hair
    • Nails
  • Mind & Body

    Mind & Body

    See All Mind & Body
    Why Do People Lie? We Asked an Expert

    Why Do People Lie? We Asked an Expert

    Here's the truth about lying.
    • Body Positivity
    • Self-Care
    • Misdiagnosed
    • Invisible Illness
    • LGBTQ+ Health
    • Right to Care: Health Diversity and Inclusion
    • Resolution Reboot
    • Wellness Warriors
  • Lifestyle

    Lifestyle

    20 Things You Should Throw Away for Better Health

    20 Things You Should Throw Away for Better Health

    Clean out expired products and clutter to make way for a healthier you.
    • Healthy Home
    • Pets
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Style
    • Holidays
    • Sex
    • Gifts
    • Money
    • Tech
    • Medicare
    • Best Life Now
    • Health Reviews
  • Weight Loss
  • Newsletter
  • Promo

Profile Menu

Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
Join Now

Account

  • Join Now
  • My Profile
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Help
  • Logout

More

  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
My Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • My Profile
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Help
  • Logout

More

  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

LIVE
  1. HomeChevron Right
  2. Rheumatoid ArthritisChevron Right
  3. 16 Gentle Exercises for People with Arthritis

16 Gentle Exercises for People with Arthritis

By Karen Pallarito
April 01, 2014
Each product we feature has been independently selected and reviewed by our editorial team. If you make a purchase using the links included, we may earn commission.
Skip gallery slides
Save Pin
standing-straight-leg
Credit: Jason Todd
If you have RA, exercise can help your joints and muscles, and benefit your heart, bones, and mood.
Start Slideshow

1 of 17

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Arthritis workouts

best-arthritis-exercise
Credit: Getty Images

If you have rheumatoid arthritis, low-impact aerobics, strength training, and stretching can help prevent stiff joints, build muscle, improve endurance, and benefit your heart, bones, and mood.

Of course, when joints are inflamed, you need to take it easy. One study suggests resting 2 to 3 days during a flare-up. But listen to your body. “If it feels good to just walk in the water, then by all means go ahead, but you do not push through RA pain,” says Danielle Anderson, a personal and adaptive trainer at Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington, Ill. “It’s your body’s way of telling you to stop.” Work with your doctor to find the right exercise for you, and consult him or her about when you should skip it due to symptoms.

1 of 17

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 17

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Chair stand

ra-sitting-chair
Credit: Getty Images

Who it’s good for:

People who want to build leg muscles.

Tips: Sitting in a normal-height chair, stand up, and sit down, but don’t just plop down. Focus on controlling the motion, using your arms to assist you if needed. Try doing 10 to 15 reps. If that’s too easy, try a lower-height chair. Too difficult? Find a higher-height chair. “As your legs get strong, you can control that motion more with your legs and less with your arms,” says Lesley Hlad, a doctor of physical therapy in the arthritis rehabilitation service at Duke University’s Center for Living in Durham.

2 of 17

3 of 17

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Yoga

ra-yoga
Credit: Getty Images

Who it’s good for:

Almost everyone can benefit, even people with tender, swollen joints

Tips: Yoga packs two great benefits for people with RA. Using deep relaxation techniques, like yoga Nidra, promotes a healthy immune system and helps reduce joint inflammation. Plus, gentle stretching is great for maintaining mobility and movement. “Avoid power yoga, hot yoga and flow (also known as Vinyasa yoga), which can increase internal heat and put excessive pressure on the joints,” cautions certified yoga specialist Robin Rothenberg of Essential Yoga Therapy in Fall City, Washington.

3 of 17

Advertisement

4 of 17

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Walking

ra-walking
Credit: Getty Images

Who it’s good for:

Almost everyone, unless walking is too painful

Tips: Walking is a great bone-strengthening and aerobic activity. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends going at a moderate-to-hard intensity level—60% to 85% of your maximum heart rate—three to five days a week and working up to a 30-minute session. You’ll build endurance if you walk longer, but it’s okay to do 10 minutes at a time, says Hlad.

4 of 17

5 of 17

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Pilates

bridge-pose-400x400.jpg

Who it’s good for:

RA patients who want stronger muscles.

Tips: Pilates is good for stabilizing your joints and strengthening the muscles that support your joints, explains Tresa Sauer, a personal trainer at the YWCA of Minneapolis. Try the “shoulder bridge.” Lay on your back, bend your knees and place your arms along each side of your body. Exhale through pursed lips as you contract the abdominals and lift your pelvis. (Don’t arch your back or overflex your knees.) Inhale through the nose and hold the position. Exhale to lower your pelvis back to the ground and repeat the exercise.

5 of 17

6 of 17

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Water workout

ra-water-workout
Credit: Getty Images

Who it’s good for:

People who have significant joint pain

Tips: In a lap pool (usually 4-feet deep), walk from one side of the pool to the other at a brisk pace. If you work out in a health center with an underwater treadmill, your trainer can adjust the speed of the exercise. The buoyancy of the water relieves pressure on your joints. Consider exercising using a water jogging belt. It suspends you above the pool floor so you can move without putting any pressure on your hips, knees or ankles, says Ann Rosenstein, a Lakeville, Minn., fitness professional and author of Water Exercises for Rheumatoid Arthritis.

6 of 17

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

7 of 17

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Stretching

ra-chair-stretch
Credit: Getty Images

Who it’s good for:

Anyone with RA, as long as you don’t overdo it

Tips: You can stretch sitting in a chair, if that helps. And you can use a Stretch-Out Strap, a nylon strap with built-in loops for your hands and feet. Try this: Place the ball of your foot through a loop, grasp each end of the strap with your hands, and straighten your leg. Lift your leg, gently pulling on the straps.. “You’re not reaching your toes, you’re taking the strap and pulling up, so you’re still getting a hamstring stretch,” says exercise physiologist Stefanie Fleming, of OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center, in Rockford, Ill.

7 of 17

8 of 17

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Tai Chi

ra-tai-chi
Credit: Getty Images

Who it’s good for:

People looking for a low-impact exercise.

Tips: “Sun-style" (pronounced SOON-style)” Tai Chi involves slow, smooth movements that strengthen the body, reduce pain and improve mobility. In general, don’t practice Tai Chi longer than the amount of time you can walk comfortably, advises Paul Lam, a family physician and director of the Tai Chi for Health Institute in Australia. Twenty to 40 minutes per day is a good average for most people with RA, he says.

8 of 17

9 of 17

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Weight lifting

ra-weight-lifting
Credit: Getty Images

Who it’s good for:

Anyone, as long as you know your limits

Tips: Start by doing bicep curls with light hand weights, no more than 2 to 5 lbs., and build your endurance over time by adding weight and sets. Stronger muscles help you perform daily activities. If the heaviest thing you pick up is a gallon of milk, “you want to be lifting about 8-lb weights as your goal,” says Anderson. You can do this in the water—hold foam dumbbells in each hand, pull down, and let the weights slowly float up to work your arms, shoulders, chest, and back.

9 of 17

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

10 of 17

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Cycling

ra-cycling
Credit: Getty Images

Who it’s good for:

Anyone with feet or ankle problems.

Tips: Whether you’re riding outdoors or sitting on an upright or recumbent exercise bike, cycling avoids the pounding of high-impact aerobic activities, but still packs great cardiovascular benefits. It also strengthens the quads. Try cycling for 10 minutes at a time. Build up to 30 to 40 minutes two to three times a week.

10 of 17

11 of 17

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Hand stretch

ra-hand-stretch
Credit: Getty Images

Who it’s good for:

People with pain in their fingers and hands

Tips: Spread your fingers as wide as they can go, then make a fist, and repeat that stretching and squeezing motion. If you’re in the water, open and close your hands underwater, or try squeezing a foam ball. Let it absorb the water before squeezing it out again.

11 of 17

12 of 17

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Zumba

ra-zumba
Credit: Getty Images

Who it’s good for:

RA patients who want to sweat without hurting their joints

Tips: What makes Zumba, the Latin-inspired dance fitness craze, different from high-impact aerobics classes? It burns calories without jarring your joints, explains exercise physiologist Caryn Locke of Caryn’s Studio in Waite Park, Minn. “A lot it is just the fluidity of the movements,” say Locke, who was diagnosed with RA in April 2010. If you’re just starting out, ease into it because you’ll be using all the muscles in your body and you don’t want to overdo it. Taking twice-weekly classes will help you learn the choreography.

12 of 17

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

13 of 17

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Qi Gong

qi-gong
Credit: Getty Images

Who it’s good for:

Anyone desiring better balance, improved posture, a stronger core

Tips: Standing tall or sitting up straight in a chair, imagine a spring is lifting you from above, suggests Tess Franklin, exercise physiologist at OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center in Rockford, Ill., who teaches this Chinese exercise. Close your eyes and take deep, relaxed breaths in through your nose and out from your mouth. Place your hands on your stomach and focus on moving your diaphragm in and out with each breath. Concentrate on strengthening the core muscles of your abdomen to maintain your balance and posture.

13 of 17

14 of 17

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Elliptical training

elliptical
Credit: Getty Images

Who it’s good for:

People who have good balance and exercise endurance

Tips: Riding an elliptical machine is not for the exercise novice. It’s ideal for people in good cardiovascular condition who want a higher-intensity, no-impact challenge. Start at a constant ramp height and constant resistance and make adjustments as you get stronger. Or choose a pre-set cross-training program. Adding arm movements will amp up the cardiovascular benefit.

14 of 17

15 of 17

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Gardening

ra-gardening
Credit: Getty Images

Who it’s good for:

People who enjoy recreational exercise.

Tips: Gardening burns calories and boosts pleasure-enhancing endorphins, easing depression that can be associated with RA, says Anderson. But you need to pace yourself. If you’ve got RA in your wrists, you’re asking for a flare-up if you dig and dig for hours at a time.

15 of 17

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

16 of 17

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Suspension training

suspension-training
Credit: Getty Images

Who it’s good for:

RA patients game for a more challenging core workout who don’t have serious wrist or ankle issues

Tips: With suspension training, you leverage your own body weight from straps hanging from an anchor point. Place your feet in the stirrups and hold your body up with your hands or resting flat on your forearms. Holding a plank position works muscles in the abdomen, back and shoulders. Work up to a 30-second hold with a 20-second rest between reps.

16 of 17

17 of 17

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Three-way hip exercises

standing-straight-leg
Credit: Jason Todd

Who it’s good for:

People with weak hip muscles.

Tips: 1. Face the kitchen sink and hold on. Alternate bringing each knee up like you’re marching in place. This will work muscles in the front of your hips.

2. Keep your toes facing forward. Raise a leg out to the side and back to work the outer thighs and glutes. Alternate legs.

3. Face forward; extend a leg out behind you until it’s a few inches off the ground. Hold and lower slowly, then switch legs. This works your butt and lower back. Why the kitchen sink? It’s something sturdy to hold onto in case you lose your balance, says Hlad.

17 of 17

Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By Karen Pallarito

    Share the Gallery

    Pinterest Facebook
    Trending Videos
    Advertisement
    Skip slide summaries

    Everything in This Slideshow

    Advertisement

    View All

    1 of 17 Arthritis workouts
    2 of 17 Chair stand
    3 of 17 Yoga
    4 of 17 Walking
    5 of 17 Pilates
    6 of 17 Water workout
    7 of 17 Stretching
    8 of 17 Tai Chi
    9 of 17 Weight lifting
    10 of 17 Cycling
    11 of 17 Hand stretch
    12 of 17 Zumba
    13 of 17 Qi Gong
    14 of 17 Elliptical training
    15 of 17 Gardening
    16 of 17 Suspension training
    17 of 17 Three-way hip exercises

    Share options

    Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

    Login

    Health.com

    Magazines & More

    Learn More

    • About Us
    • Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
    • Contact us
    • Advertise this link opens in a new tab
    • Content Licensing this link opens in a new tab
    • Sitemap

    Connect

    Follow Us
    Subscribe to Our Newsletter
    Other Meredith Sites

    Other Meredith Sites

    • 4 Your Health this link opens in a new tab
    • Allrecipes this link opens in a new tab
    • All People Quilt this link opens in a new tab
    • Better Homes & Gardens this link opens in a new tab
    • Bizrate Insights this link opens in a new tab
    • Bizrate Surveys this link opens in a new tab
    • Cooking Light this link opens in a new tab
    • Daily Paws this link opens in a new tab
    • EatingWell this link opens in a new tab
    • Eat This, Not That this link opens in a new tab
    • Entertainment Weekly this link opens in a new tab
    • Food & Wine this link opens in a new tab
    • Hello Giggles this link opens in a new tab
    • Instyle this link opens in a new tab
    • Martha Stewart this link opens in a new tab
    • Midwest Living this link opens in a new tab
    • More this link opens in a new tab
    • MyRecipes this link opens in a new tab
    • MyWedding this link opens in a new tab
    • My Food and Family this link opens in a new tab
    • MyLife this link opens in a new tab
    • Parenting this link opens in a new tab
    • Parents this link opens in a new tab
    • People this link opens in a new tab
    • People en Español this link opens in a new tab
    • Rachael Ray Magazine this link opens in a new tab
    • Real Simple this link opens in a new tab
    • Ser Padres this link opens in a new tab
    • Shape this link opens in a new tab
    • Siempre Mujer this link opens in a new tab
    • Southern Living this link opens in a new tab
    • SwearBy this link opens in a new tab
    • Travel & Leisure this link opens in a new tab
    MeredithHealth.com is part of the Meredith Health Group. © Copyright 2021 Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved. The material in this site is intended to be of general informational use and is not intended to constitute medical advice, probable diagnosis, or recommended treatments. All products and services featured are selected by our editors. Health.com may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
    © Copyright . All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.health.com

    View image

    16 Gentle Exercises for People with Arthritis
    this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.