Arthritis Exercise Program

The Arthritis Exercise Program -
The Most Effective Exercises for People With Arthritis

These days, there are more ways to exercise than ever before. Don't believe me? just take a trip to your local gym, and start counting all the different machines, and see what didn't exist 50 years ago. Or you could watch the X games on T.V., and ask yourself if these types of sports were common 30 years ago. Heck, there is even a new "stunt walking" excercise called "Parkour".

But for all these types of exercise, most won't actually help someone with arthritis improve their health while decreasing their symptoms. So here is a list of the most effective exercise types and plans that will help people with arthritis.

Exercise Type: Walking

Yep...walking can be a major benefit to people with arthritis. It is an exercise of endurance. This means warms up the muscles, will strengthen your heart, and build stamina so you have more energy during your day. Walking is also a bone-building exercise. When you walk, you carry the entire weight of your body around with each step. This helps build strong bones, that will resist the onset of bone thinning disorders such as osteoperosis.

But exercise does more than just strenghten bone...it strengthens muscle. Since arthritis affects joints and bone, by strenthening muscle you actually gain the ability to relieve the stress put on the joints, and transfer it to the supporting muscle tissue around those joints. This is crucial to regaining strength, flexibility, and eliminating pain! The stronger muscle will effectively "prop up" the area around your joints, which will provide you with instant pain relief, and increased range of motion.

This is not to mention the positive mental effects that walking has. It releases endorphins in the brain, which stimulate good feelings. It also is empowering to know you can walk X amount of distance, or for X amount of time. It is the beginning of reclaiming your life!

So whats the best way to start? Well we have done the research, and found an excellent 12 week walking plan focused just for those with arthritis. You can check it out here: 12 week exercise plan for walking

Exercise type: Swimming, possibly the single best exercise for arthritis

If walking is good for arthritis, swimming fantastic. Water exercise has all the benefits of walking, with a few important bonuses:

Water is bouyant, so it will help ease your ability to move. Also, since you can stay suspended in water, you can move without any of the friction or gravity constraits that dry land exercises have.

Water can be warm! this can help increase bloodflow to the joints which will help relax them and the muscles around them.

Jacuzzi jets can help in an additional way, by gently massaging the area around tighten joints.

There are some simple tips to remember before launching into a full blown freestyle stroke however.

First, warm up. Try walking around the pool for a lap or 2 before you get in. They try to slowly stretch your major limbs like your arms and legs. Once you stretch, make sure your hands are relaxed as well. This is important for gripping the handle or edge of the pool as you enter.

Second, be careful entering the pool. Only enter on the steps, and if you need it, ask for help.

Third, make sure the water isn't too hot. This generally isn't an issue in a pool, but in a spa or hot tub, the ideal temp is between 94 degrees and 104 degress.

Lastly, don't stay in for too long. No more than 10 - 15 minutes for a hot tub, and not much longer than 20 for a pool. Remember, exercise is something to work up to...over doing it can have an overall negative impact.

Both swimming and walking are cardio related exercises, which is probably the single most important exercise for an all around healthy body. But there are two other types of exercises that someone with arthritis should engage in: flexibility exercises and resistance exercises.