About one in three Veterans has arthritis and about half of all Veterans with arthritis report limitations in their daily activities because of joint symptoms.
When you have arthritis, it can be easy to assume your days of exercising are over. You may worry about doing more harm to your joints or feel like you’re in too much pain to increase your movement throughout the day.
But there are several health benefits related to exercising with arthritis, and with the right kind of exercise, you can be safe and still reap those benefits. Learn more about how to exercise with arthritis and access some resources designed to help.
What Are the Benefits of Exercising With Arthritis?
Exercise has physical and mental benefits for everyone, including for people with arthritis. Benefits from exercise include:
- Helps to ease arthritis pain and stiffness
- Increases strength and helps build muscle around joints for support
- Increases mobility and range of motion
- Reduces joint pain
- Helps to improve your balance
- Helps you maintain a healthy weight
- Improves quality of life
- Decreases anxiety, reduces stress
What Are Some Good Exercises to Try?
Low-impact exercises that help to strengthen your muscles and increase your range of motion but don’t add additional pressure to your joints are a good starting point. Explore these ideas for good ways to get moving while living with arthritis:
- Range of motion (mobility) exercises – These exercises may lessen stiffness and help to loosen up your body. Exercises include movements like stretching your arms up over your head and rolling your shoulders back and forth. Try the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Whole Health Program’s short, gentle stretching video or the Full Body Mobility Flow Routine Beginner Variations video on YouTube to get started.
- Strengthening exercises – These exercises are designed to build strong muscles that can help to protect your joints, including activities like lightweight training with hand weights, resistance bands or machines.
- Aerobic exercises – These exercises should raise your heart rate to help with your overall fitness, weight management and heart and lung health. Good exercises include walking, biking, swimming, water aerobics or using an elliptical machine. All of these activities are low-impact and easy on your joints. Here are some additional things to consider:
- Walking is less strenuous on joints than jogging and helps to improve your circulation. Start with short walks on a flat, even surface.
- Swimming and pool-based exercises can take stress off your joints but still provide resistance to strengthen your muscles. If you aren’t into swimming laps, check your local area for water aerobics classes or a pool that allows you to walk instead of swim.
- Using an elliptical machine or a seated bike are both low-impact activities since your feet are supported, but they provide a good workout for your heart and lungs.
- Daily movements – Doing activities such as mowing the lawn, walking the dog, and raking the leaves can help you reach your movement goals and increase your range of motion and strength.
- Gentle movements – Yoga and tai chi are both gentle forms of movement that can improve your balance, reduce stiffness, help to prevent falls and reduce stress on your body’s joints. VA’s Whole Health Program features videos to help you get started, like this 20-minute gentle yoga routine or this 10-minute tai chi video you can do in the morning or right before bed.
What Should I Know Before I Start Exercising?
Here are some tips to consider before you begin exercising:
- Check with your health care provider. Talk to your primary care provider or a physical therapist to ensure you’re safe to begin an exercise routine. Discuss your arthritis symptoms and concerns to come up with a safe and healthy exercise plan.
- Warm up. Whenever you plan to exercise, be sure to lightly warm up your body first to help your muscles and joints prepare for the movement to come. Check out this gentle tai chi warmup.
- Start slowly. If you haven’t exercised in a while, your body needs time to adjust. Instead of starting with a 30-minute walk, try three 10-minute walks instead.
- Don’t overdo it. Listen to your body. A little muscle soreness or fatigue is normal, but if you experience any sharp pains or pain that’s worse than usual, it might mean that something is wrong.
- Connect with others. Many local community or fitness centers have classes designed for people living with arthritis. In addition, the Arthritis Foundation offers an online group for Veterans who are looking for ways to connect and learn more about arthritis.
What Resources Are Available to Help?
About one in three Veterans has arthritis and about half of all Veterans with arthritis report limitations in their daily activities because of joint symptoms. Armed with this knowledge, VA has partnered with the Arthritis Foundation to help Service members and Veterans living with arthritis reduce their symptoms and improve their quality of life with access to:
- Health and wellness articles filled with healthy recipes, low-impact exercise options, walking routines and more
- A page full of resources specific to Service members and Veterans, including a podcast about military-related arthritis
- The Walk with Ease Program, a community-based physical activity and self-management education program that helps Veterans with arthritis increase their physical activity through health education, strengthening and stretching exercises, a walking schedule and more
Arthritis doesn’t have to control your life. Make a plan to get moving today!