Exercise is essential for all of us, whatever our age, gender, race, religion or ability. There are many benefits of regular exercise and an active lifestyle.
For osteoarthritis sufferers exercise is one of the best medicines! Exercise helps to keep our joints healthy. If we are injured or sick we often slow down and stop our normal activities for rest. For those suffering from osteoarthritis, too much sitting around can be devastating, losing strength, tone and flexibility of their muscles. Joint range may become limited and the bones thin. The cartilage around the bones also softens and becomes thin. Though glucosamine and chondroitin significantly rebuild cartilage, whilst reducing oesteoarthritic symptoms, it is very important to continue exercise.
Exercise encourages the movement of the synovial fluid in and out of the cartilage in the joints. The synovial fluid lubricates and nourishes the cartilage and its presence is believed to slow the progression of osteoarthritis.
Strength is required to perform tasks. Are your muscles strong enough to carry out the tasks you need to do? Strength is important to prevent injury, provide good shock absorption for the joints, good bone health, ambulation, reserve capacity in illness and weight control. Examples of exercise to improve strength are weight lifting, rock climbing and working against resistance.
One of the main goals of exercise is to improve overall fitness. There are several types of fitness and we are mainly interested in four of them.
1. Strength
2. Aerobic capacity
3. Flexibility
4. Agility and balance |
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Aerobic capacity is your ability to keep moving when you are tired. Examples of these are brisk walking, running, cycling, swimming, stair climbing, certain types of dancing and many sports. Any activity that gets your heart rate up is considered aerobic.
Flexibility is vital. Areas of relative inflexibility cause excess stress and are exerted on other areas of the body. Inflexible tissues are more likely to become strained or sprained. Examples of exercise to increase flexibility are pilates, yoga, stretching, ballet, forms of martial arts and forms of dancing.
Agility and balance allow you to maintain your activities with confidence as you age. Examples of exercises to improve mobility and good balance are pilates, yoga, ballet, martial arts and sports that require changes of direction eg racket sports.
When choosing your exercise programme you need to think about your goal. An exercise programme for an OA sufferer should include strengthening the supporting structures of the joint as well as increasing the range of movements of the joints. Any activity that involves lifting strengthens muscles. Walking and dancing are good for the legs, whilst swimming is an excellent exercise for the shoulders, neck, back, arms and legs.
- BEVERLY SKULL
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