Exercise and Rheumatoid Arthritis – How It Can Help

Exercise is an essential part of rheumatoid arthritis management. The joint pain and muscle weakness that are the hallmarks of rheumatoid arthritis can bring about a progressive loss of joint motion and muscle strength. So can inactivity. Put rheumatoid arthritis and inactivity together, and you end up with much greater motion and strength losses than you’d get from either one alone. Unfortunately, these losses result in a decreased ability to carry out daily functions. At first you may simply have difficulty opening a jar or getting out of a chair, but over a period of time the loss of function can become more serious.

In addition, both inactivity and rheumatoid arthritis increase the risk of some chronic diseases. Thus, regular physical activity can help to safeguard your health and independence.

If you do not exercise, it may be because you think that exercise will increase your pain or the damage to your joints. Actually, the effects of appropriate exercise are just the opposite. Exercise results in less pain, both when you are at rest and during normal activities, and can slow loss of function. Importantly, the disease process of rheumatoid arthritis will not be exacerbated by exercise, in fact exercise can decrease it. Fatigue is often given as a reason for not exercising, and it can make starting an exercise program difficult. But again, exercise will result in increased energy over time. Overall, exercise will help you feel better and decrease the effects of your rheumatoid arthritis

The traditional components of an exercise program include aerobic (endurance), resistance (strength), and flexibility training. Aerobic exercise primarily addresses the needs of the cardiovascular system which includes the heart and the blood vessels but it also benefits almost all of your body’s other systems. Resistance activities emphasize muscular strength and endurance, which are strongly related to day-to-day functioning abilities. Flexibility training uses stretching, which improves the motion of tight muscles, and range of motion exercise, which is similar to stretching but works on maintaining the joint motion you already have.