rheumatoid arthritis and exercising

oX_Vanessa_Xo

Along with sciatica I also have RA. Everyday life was a pain and I dreaded waking up in the mornings because I knew I would be in so much pain. The pain was in my back, ankles, knees, hips and shoulders. I always thought "I'm too young to feel this old!"

Well apart from being a lazy couch potato.... using pain was my excuse not to exercise and evidently I put on the weight.

I saw a saying somewhere " before using pharmaceutical drugs for pain and depression, try exercising and eating healthy"
Well it's been a month of completely changing my lifestyle to active and healthy and I must say I feel MUCH better!
I don't wake up in pain anymore either than pain from the workout the nighy before...which is a good kind of pain.

So with all that said.... the RA pain in my knees is hardly there, but it's there. I wanna do squats because I eventually want killer legs and be able to handle walking my kids to school next year. I've been doing squats along with other work outs everyday but I kind of half *kitten* them. I do like a half squat instead of a full squat because it kills my knees. Is doing them that way going to show me any results in the future? Also, any other suggestions on work outs that are effective and easy on the knees?

Ritzbrit

Hey! I have RA too.:( And mostly in my knees. For me, the elliptical, swimming and walking has been the best. But now that I workout 6 days a week and eating healthier I've been able to start running and I absolutely love ZUMBA! I've gotten better at squats and lunges but still tend to hurt, just be careful. But I can tell my knees are getting stronger with exercising. Unfortunately, I have to take meds but losing weight and keeping active has helped relieve some of the pain.