Exercise Regularly
Through exercise, you can improve your overall health and fitness, as well as your arthritis symptoms. Exercise can:
- keep joints moving
- strengthen muscles around joints
- keep bones strong and healthy
- help you to do daily activities more easily
- improve your overall health and fitness, including increasing your energy, improving your sleep, controlling your weight, strengthening your heart and improving your self-esteem and sense of well-being.
Regular exercise also can help you effectively manage pain. A physical therapist, occupational therapist, exercise physiologist or doctor can recommend an exercise program for you.
Your program should include range-of-motion (the normal amount your joints can be moved in a certain direction) exercises to keep your joints flexible. It also should include endurance exercise, such as water exercise, walking or riding a stationary bicycle. Endurance exercises help keep your heart, lungs, bones and muscles strong. They help your body work more efficiently and give you more stamina so that you can work longer without tiring as quickly.
Some experts think alternative exercise, such as yoga and tai chi, can be beneficial for people with arthritis. These forms of exercise can improve flexibility, increase muscle strength and help you relax.
