Exercise At Any Age
Newcastle Herald
Tuesday February 17, 2004
YOU better believe it. Exercise is good for everybody.
The advantages are exceptionally beneficial to arthritis sufferers.
We once believed that people who suffered from arthritis should avoid exercise because it may have some adverse effect on their joints.
Doctors and specialists are now telling us that, provided your arthritis is under control, some people who suffer from this uncomfortable disease can improve their general health and fitness through exercising without damaging their joints.
Fitness is important for people with arthritis as it is for everyone else.
It can increase your energy, help with sleeping, control your weight (people who are overweight are placing even more stress on their joints), make your cardiovascular system (heart and lungs) work better, decrease depression giving a sense of wellbeing, decrease fatigue and improve your outlook on life while interacting with others.
People with arthritis have more reasons than most to exercise: stop joints becoming too stiff; keep the muscles surrounding the joints strong; keep bone, cartilage, ligaments and tendons strong and healthy.
With good doctors' advice, medication and rest, regular exercise can help keep joints in working order so you can complete your daily activities. It may also assist in preventing further damage to your joints.
When you have arthritis your joints hurt so you may not feel like exercising. But without exercise your joints can become stiffer and more painful. The stronger the surrounding muscles are around your joints, the better they will be able to support and protect them.
Exercise also has an anti-depressant component which can lift your mood and spirit.
When designing an exercise program, make sure your instructor takes the following into account:full range of movement exercises which help reduce stiffness and keep the joint flexible; strengthening exercises to maintain and increase muscular strength; exercises designed to increase your endurance (cardiovascular system); flexibility.
Adapted from Managed Corporate Outcomes Pty Ltd. Website: www.mcosite.com. Article supplied by The Forum Sports and Aquatic Centre at The University of Newcastle. Website: www.newcastle.edu.au/sport. Phone: (02)49217001.
© 2004 Newcastle Herald