April 22nd, 2008 Milan
If you suffer from stiff or achy joints, don’t do exercises that add stress to those joints. You may experience mild discomfort during exercising, but if the joint pain becomes moderate or severe, you should stop performing the exercise and see a physician before resuming it.
People with rheumatoid arthritis should not exercise during an inflammatory episode in which the joints are painful, swollen, red, or hot.
The following adaptations will help person with arthritis benefit from an exercise program without damage to the joints:
- warm up for longer period of time: 15-20 min. to promote flexibility and range of motion
- use exercises of mild to moderate intensity
- exercises should be performed slowly and with good control
- for aerobic exercises, the intensity depends on joint limitations, fatigue and ability to achieve training heart rate
- include aerobic exercises that keep weight off the affected joints, such as cycling, rowing, swimming, or water exercise
- use proper body mechanics - mainly maintain good posture
- include strength exercises to increase muscle tone and functional strength - increased strength surrounding the joints = joint protection
- strength training should focus on joint mobility and range of motion
- use light weight at a resistance of 40-60% of 1 rep-maximum for 15-20 repetitions in each set
- increase the use of isometric exercise, which increase muscular strength and endurance with no joint movement
- if you experience extreme fatigue at the beginning of a session you should not exercise that day; fatigue is a side effect of arthritis
- expect to feel discomfort and painful joint; if discomfort is greater than normal, discontinue the exercise or eliminate that particular movement from the workout
- follow the 2-hour pain rule, which means that you have overexercised if you experience excess joint pain or greater than normal pain 2 hours after your workout
- respect your own limits and find proper balance between rest and exercise
- water exercise - water supports the body, decreasing weight on the hips, knees, ankles, feet, and spine
- the water temperature for aquatic workouts should be 83 - 88 Fahrenheit; warm water helps relax muscles and decrease joint stiffness
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December 4th, 2007 Milan
Your body contains over two hundred bones, joined by cartilage and ligaments. Together they form your skeleton, the framework that supports and protects your muscles and internal organs.
When you touch your bones through soft skin, they feel as solid and unchanging as rock. But that’s just the outer shell. Underneath, bone tissue is porous and very much alive. Blood vessels run through it and at the center is bone marrow, where blood cells are formed.
Bone is made of calcium and other minerals - that’s why it’s hard. Like muscle, bone tissue constantly repairs and renews itself, though with bone this happens much more slowly. The process is called remodeling.
Remodeling is affected by many factors, but the three most important are:
- Estrogen and other hormones
Osteoblasts, the bone-making cells, are especially responsive to estrogen. So after menopause, when the ovaries produce less, bone formation slows down.
- Calcium supply and demand
Calcium is essential to many of the body’s behind-the-scenes chemical reactions, it’s needed for muscles to contract, to regulate blood pressure, and to control bleeding. If you don’t get enough calcium from your diet, your body is forced to draw on the supply stored in your bones.
Physical impact stimulates bone formation. That’s why walking is a better exercise for bones than swimming: When you float in the water, you barely touch bottom, but when you walk, your feet hit against ground. The tug of muscle against bone works the same way. This is one reason that strength training affects bone density. And the stronger your muscles, the more stimulation they provide.
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December 1st, 2007 Milan
People who are physically active are healthier, happier, more productive, and live longer than people who are sedentary. Kate Lorig, R.N., Dr.P.H. in book “The arthritis help book, A tested self-management program for coping with arthritis and fibromyalgia” notes that this is true for everyone, including people with arthritis.
Arthritis is one of the most common reasons people give up or limit physical activities. We know that inactivity causes weakness, stiffness, increased pain, poor endurance, fatigue, and other problems that we used to blame on arthritis.
If you have arthritis, regular exercise and fitness have special benefits above and beyond the general benefits of improved health.
- Strong muscles that do not tire quickly help protect joints by improving stability and absorbing shock
- Good flexibility lessens pain and reduces the risk of sprains and strains
- Maintaining a good weight helps take stress off weight-bearing joints
- Regular exercise that moves the joints improves joint circulation and nutrition, decreases joint swelling, and keeps cartilage and bone healthy
- Higher energy levels, less depression and pain, and greater comfort doing daily activities are other advantages to regular exercise and fitness
By understanding physical fitness and exercise, you’ll be able to improve your health, feel better, and manage your arthritis, too.
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November 29th, 2007 Milan
Here are some most important facts about rheumatoid arthritis:
- About one half of one percent of the population has rheumatoid arthritis, about 20 million people around the world and most of these people (about three-quarters) are women
- The condition usually appears in middle life, in the forties or fifties
- In rheumatoid arthritis, the synovial membrane lining (joint synovium) in the joint becomes inflamed
- Because of the bulk of these inflammatory cells, the joint becomes swollen (swollen join capsule), and feels puffy or boggy to the touch.
- The increased blood flow that is a feature of the inflammation makes the joint warm
- The cells release chemicals (called enzymes) into the joint space and the enzymes cause further irritation and pain .
- If the process continues for years, the enzymes may gradually digest the cartilage and bone of the joint, actually eating away parts of the bone.
This, than, is rheumatoid arthritis, a process in which inflammation of the joint membrane, over many years, can cause damage to the joint itself.
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November 16th, 2007 Milan
Lots of people were asking me lately about arthritis, osteoarthritis and osteoporosis and how exercise helps to prevent or improve these conditions. I decided to do research about these diseases and find the most effective exercise program to prevent or improve conditions caused by them.
1. Arthritis
There are over 120 kinds of arthritis, all of which have something to do with one or more joints in the body. The word arthritis means “inflammation of the joint.” The problem is that in many kins of arthritis, the joint is not inflamed. A better definition might be “problems with the joint, or the ligaments, tendons, and muscles near the joint.”
Now that you understand what arthritis means, the next step is to understand what a joint looks like and what the various parts do.
Where arthritis attacks
1. Cartilage
The end of each bone is covered with cartilage, a tough material that cushions and protects the ends of the bone.
2. Synovial membrane
Around each joint is the synovial sac, which protects the joint and also secretes the synovial fluid, which oils the joint.
3. Bursa
A bursa is a small sac that is not part of the joint but is near the joint. It contains a fluid that lubricates the movement of muscle: muscle across muscle and muscle across bones.
4. Muscle
The muscles are elastic tissues that, by becoming shorter and longer, move the bones and thus move you.
5. Tendon
The tendons are fibrous cords that attach the muscles to the bones.
6. Ligament
The ligaments are fibrous cords, much shorter than tendons, that attach bone to bone and make up the joint capsules.
When someone says, “I have arthritis,” it means that something is wrong with one or more of these parts. For example, when the synovial membrane becomes inflamed, this is true arthritis. The joint is inflamed. However, if the muscle becomes stretched from overexercise or is injured, this is not arthritis. The joint itself is not affected.
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