Although the pain of rheumatoid arthritis, also called RA, can keep you from exercising, engaging in regular exercise can help prevent or lessen pain associated with the condition. Exercise helps reduce your risk of health problems such as heart disease or diabetes, and can help reduce joint pain and stiffness, increase joint mobility and muscle strength and improve psychological well-being. Always check with your doctor before beginning a new exercise program.
Exercise Guidelines
The American College of Sports Medicine recommends you begin any exercise program slowly and progress gradually to determine your tolerance level. Avoid rapid or repetitive movement of affected joints, which could result in injury. Adapt your exercises to protect your joints.
Daily Activities
Daily activity can help reduce the pain of rheumatoid arthritis. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests everyone, including people with RA, get at least 30 minutes of physical activity most days of the week. Leisure, occupational, or household activities that are at least moderate to vigorous in intensity include walking, climbing stairs, raking and gardening.
Aerobic Activity
Aerobic exercise is activity that raises your heart rate for a sustained period. Gentle aerobic exercise, like water aerobics and walking, is associated with a reduction in pain and an improvement in physical performance. If you do not have damage in your weight-bearing joints, you may benefit from higher-intensity, high-impact exercise. Zuzana de Jong, rheumatologist and researcher at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands, stated that people who engaged in high-intensity workouts, such as jogging, improved in mood and daily functioning. If your weight-bearing joints are damaged, you may benefit from exercise that don't put stress on those joints.
Strength Training
If you suffer from RA in your weight-bearing joints, you may benefit from strength training exercises . The Fitness Arthritis and Seniors Trial found that people with RA who performed two sets of 12 repetitions of nine exercises three times per week experienced significant improvements in ability and performance and had a reduction in pain. Strength training exercises include leg extensions, leg curl, step up, heel raise, chest fly, upright row, military press, biceps curl and pelvic tilt.
Range of Motion
While simple stretching exercise is not advisable because affected joints that are lax are easily overstretched and more vulnerable to injury, cartilage requires regular compression and decompression to stimulate remodeling and repair. Range of motion exercises recommended by your doctor will help you stay flexible and maintain the use of your joints.
References
- Arthritis Today: Exercising with Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Arthritis Today: High-Intensity Exercise and Arthritis
- Johns Hopkins Arthritis Center: Role of Exercise in the Management of Arthritis
- "Journal of American Medicine"; A Randomized Trial Comparing Aerobic Exercise..."; Walter H. Ettinger; 1997
- Center for Disease Control and Prevention: Arthritis -- Physical Activity for Arthritis
