Exercises friendly to those who suffer from Chronic Pain

Byronic_Ryu

Before my disabilities became worse and I ended up bedridden, I use to do martial arts 5-6 days a week. Years later, I was able to walk on my own without the use of a wheelchair but I had gained weight from inactivity. I struggled to find what I could do to maintain my weight without it aggravating my conditions. I only found two activities that worked, rollerblading and hot yoga. I tried regular yoga but failed at it miserably even after months of hot yoga. Without the hot heat to soothe the pain and loosen my body up, I am stiff as a board. I plan on going back to hot yoga and saving up money to invest in a pair of skates and a helmet. What have you found that works for you and is friendly to your chronic pain condition?

Byronic_Ryu

Oh, I forgot to mention, swimming is really awesome on my joints.

mbaker566

I walked, but now started running. but I have to listen to my body.
I also tried regular yoga but it was too hard on my joints. what I found worked for me, and didn't run the risk of chronic dehydration was aerial yoga. the fabric provides support and helps me. like partner yoga. I also do a low version that is more restorative.

mostly, I find moving helps. keep moving and I don't stiffen up. as soon as I stop, then I stiffen and the pain sets in

tomatoey

Stationery cycling, bodyweight exercises, physio exercises (have multiple chronic tendon injuries in both upper & lower body + OA + hypermobile & unstable joints). Elliptical sometimes, walking on treadmill sometimes, all depends on what's hurting at the moment. Swimming sometimes, gently and only with modified strokes. Overly repetitive activities aren't ideal for me, so I try to vary things as much as I can, within a single workout (pace, resistance) and across machines, while staying as mindful of form as possible.

Everything else is honestly scary to me at this point. Running's out for life. I used to love to dance (LOVED it, I can't tell you how much, and I was good at it ). Tried a simple latin class a couple of months ago, twisted the wrong way, discovered that's a no. I just cannot be as careful as I need to be when there are fast and varied moves. Same thing for any actual sport, even worse in that I'd have to respond in real time to other people's actions. Solo endurance sports outside, forget it, again too uncontrollable. In the gym I can stop or adjust any time I have to, so that's where I go. I hated doing it this summer, really wanted to go out, it's been so beautiful. But I need the equipment in the gym. It is GRIM in the gym.

I do still occasionally go to clubs (there are some fantastic DJs in my area) but it SUCKS to be limited to swaying within a small range of motion. A great tune will come on, and I think of how I'd like to dance, but can't - it's depressing.

I'm also having a hard time pacing myself. I was supposed to graduate to slightly weighted moves this week. I tried, following instructions to the letter, and I think I still backslid after trying to do a box squat with a twelve pound weight. The truth is I was supposed to stick to 5 lbs or less, but that felt easy, and I also really wanted to just be able to lift 12 stupid pounds. I also went deeper into the squat than I should have (was told to stick to partials). It's so hard to tell what it's possible to do. I feel good, so I follow that feeling, and it turns out to be bad news. And I'm bored with doing the same things all the time...

So anyway, now I have to go back to stage 1 rehab until things stop hurting. Hopefully that's a short time.

I am incredibly frustrated with the amount of time I have to take off on a regular basis, never really getting better, going one step forward and two steps back. I also can't NOT do anything at all bc that makes things even worse. (It also makes me feel like ****).

So basically, I am literally spinning my wheels in the gym.

Byronic_Ryu

@moyer566

I can walk and do some stationary biking but running is a no no for me. It releases too much adrenaline and can easily cause a bad flare up. Aerial yoga does sounds appealing to me since I have an interest in the circus arts. I wasn't sure if I could do aerial yoga or aerial circus acts in general because I was told you need to have a lot of upper arm strength.


@tomatoey

I had to reevaluate my life. I use to have great hand eye coordination and be able to do repetitive actions. I can't right now but after treatment, it should slowly come back to me. However even after treatment, I can't do certain activities. I am a bit of daredevil but I won't be able to go skydiving, bungee jumping, riding rollercoasters, and practice 98% of the martial arts available out there. No krav maga for me.

I have to be very careful after treatment. I have to take things very slow and build up my body. No matter how well my body feels, I must remember if I do too much to overwhelm it and disrupt the healing process, I will be at square one.

"I am incredibly frustrated with the amount of time I have to take off on a regular basis, never really getting better, going one step forward and two steps back. I also can't NOT do anything at all bc that makes things even worse. (It also makes me feel like ****)"

I can relate to this^ on many levels.

mbaker566

@Byronic_Ryu I didn't start running. that's for sure. I took nice long walks to start. I have a tireless border collie mix. not everyone can run-even people who don't have chronic issues have a hard time with it sometimes.
aerial yoga will need upper arm strength but this isn't circus per se. it can lead to that but you use the fabric as a partner or bolster. and if you start with a low or restorative class, might find it a bit more relieving as opposed to exerting.
album of moves and some other promotional work I've done for them

Byronic_Ryu

Ooh! Those photos are magical. Hmm... I think I will see where the local aerial yoga studio is around here.

tomatoey

@Byronic_Ryu - it sounds like you've done a lot of emotional work. You've had to cut out a lot of things that must have been important to you, but you seem to have a very constructive attitude - you're focused on what is positive and possible. I really admire that

(I think I'm having a bit of trouble accepting limits because I don't really understand them, I just keep getting injuries that don't seem to heal, with little provocation.)

Byronic_Ryu wrote: »

I have to be very careful after treatment. I have to take things very slow and build up my body. No matter how well my body feels, I must remember if I do too much to overwhelm it and disrupt the healing process, I will be at square one.

This is a challenge, isn't it? Do you have good guidance on how to pace yourself and control movements? E.g. were you advised on how to listen to pain signals, or given objective indicators to guide progression (e.g. add x minutes per week)? Or is it more that you strive to be mindful at all times?

By the way, I apologize for having missed your reply until now. I need to adjust my notifications, I've bookmarked too many threads so get hundreds a day : /

Byronic_Ryu

It has been a difficult and long road. I did make difficult choices but many were worth it because I didn't end up where many other people I know ended up at. I am still doing a lot of work on myself and it is very exhausting at times. However, my eye is on the prize and I want to get better.

I strive to be mindful at all times. Unfortunately, as a teen, I ran into many professionals who were incompetent in their jobs and had a power trip going on. I had to figure out many things for myself. It is difficult for me to be aware all the time because of how my illnesses affect my cognitive and motor abilities. It will get better. At least, that is the constant and current goal.