Make exercise safe and effective ~ 3 suggestions from doctors to patients with arthritis

You may have heard your elders say: Now that joints are degenerating, they are becoming less and less suitable for exercise. In fact, the opposite is true. Both the recommendations of the American Orthopaedic Association and various large-scale studies have confirmed that moderate exercise is very effective in slowing down joint degeneration!

How should friends who suffer from joint degeneration arrange exercise? The following three suggestions are for your reference:

Strength training

Advantages: Muscles can help stabilize joints, and increasing muscle strength can reduce the burden on joints, which of course can reduce pain. In addition, it can prevent osteoporosis and sarcopenia, which has many benefits.

How to do it: Start with light weights, using tools such as elastic bands, medicine balls, dumbbells, or your own body weight training (such as squats against the wall or with bare hands). Gradually increase the weight once you are familiar with the correct form. If possible, replace single-joint exercises with functional movements. Of course, it is best to have a professional sports coach to guide you. (Instead of using your pension to hire a foreign caregiver when you are old, it is better to use it now to exercise and maintain your health.) It should be noted that if your joints hurt for more than an hour after exercise, this is a warning sign of overtraining. Indicates that certain activities in the sport need to be adjusted in intensity or removed.

Note: Functional movements are movements that we use in daily life and are directly related to the quality of life. For example, a squat is the movement of standing up from a chair; a shoulder press is the movement of putting things into a high cabinet.

Aerobic exercise

Advantages: Aerobic exercise can improve overall physical strength, enhance cardiopulmonary capacity and burn calories. In addition to improving joint stiffness, it is also beneficial to the overall health of the body.

How to do it: Focus on low-impact aerobic exercise, such as brisk walking, jogging, swimming, rhythmic dancing, or group classes designed for seniors. Exercises should be performed within an acceptable range of joint mobility and pain, and music can be used to divert attention from the pain. The exercise time should be adjusted according to personal conditions and can be increased slowly in units of ten minutes.

Stretching exercises

Benefits: Stretching exercises can increase the body's flexibility and coordination and increase the range of motion. It can make it easier for patients to carry out daily activities and reduce the chance of falls.

How to: Use stretching exercises or auxiliary tools such as yoga rollers, tennis balls, etc. to stretch tight muscles. Most people have tight posterior muscles. The muscles around joints that have been injured or have degenerated are often tighter. You can apply hot compress or simply warm up before doing stretching exercises for better results.

Exercise is the best medicine for arthritis

Moderate and regular exercise can help arthritis patients relieve pain and improve their quality of life. After reading this article, don’t say you can’t exercise if you have arthritis.

Start changing now and the results will appear!

This article is from: Dr. Tai Dawei's blog Ta-Wei, Tai MD

※For more information, please see "Ta-Wei, Tai MD"