Exercise with Rheumatoid Arthritis?

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charlottemick
charlottemick Posts: 7
in Fitness and Exercise
Does anyone have any exercise advice for someone (24 years old) with active Rheumatoid Arthritis? I know that I shouldn't do any high impact exercise, but I didn't know if perhaps certain exercises (like yoga, etc.) that have worked well for anyone else with RA. Thanks!

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  • zhillsgirl
    zhillsgirl Posts: 6
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    I have RA and do Zumba and Kickboxing. You just need to modify it to what you can do. The Zumba especially has improved my mobility a great deal.
  • Dom80
    Dom80 Posts: 146 Member
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    I dont have RA but I found this on webmd

    http://www.webmd.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/life-with-ra-11/ra-exercise-plan?page=2
  • Dreamerlove
    Dreamerlove Posts: 441 Member
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    Hey, I have RA and I do everything, it doesn't bother me in any exercise, it only bugs me when I get stressed out, so exercising helps actually. What is yours like? My fried Tara on my friends list has RA too, find her through my page.
  • liz72
    liz72 Posts: 35 Member
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    My husband is an RA patient, and he has been told that walking is good. Probably anything you feel like doing is good. It just depends on what's hurting at the time. My husband complains of knees, ankles, and feet hurting most of the time, so that pretty much knocks off walking. I've also heard that swimming is a good option.
  • charlottemick
    charlottemick Posts: 7
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    Hey, I have RA and I do everything, it doesn't bother me in any exercise, it only bugs me when I get stressed out, so exercising helps actually. What is yours like? My fried Tara on my friends list has RA too, find her through my page.

    Hey, thats awesome that your RA doesn't bother you that much. My RA, unfortunately, is pretty active and is all over the place. I have problems with my wrists and hands (like usual), shoulders, ankles, and feet. I have noticed, though, that since I've been more stressed out it's worse. Maybe exercising would actually help me out with that like it did you. :)
  • charlottemick
    charlottemick Posts: 7
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    My husband is an RA patient, and he has been told that walking is good. Probably anything you feel like doing is good. It just depends on what's hurting at the time. My husband complains of knees, ankles, and feet hurting most of the time, so that pretty much knocks off walking. I've also heard that swimming is a good option.
    [/quote/]

    I love swimming! What a great idea!
  • charlottemick
    charlottemick Posts: 7
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    I have RA and do Zumba and Kickboxing. You just need to modify it to what you can do. The Zumba especially has improved my mobility a great deal.

    I'm so glad to hear that someone with RA is doing Zumba. I've been wanting to try that out, it looks like SO much fun!! (even though I have absolutely no rhythm or moves. Ha!) Thanks!
  • karins4
    karins4 Posts: 50 Member
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    I don't have RA but I do have Fibromyalgia so I have all kinds of physical limitations. I am able to do Zumba with modifications. I also love YogaWorks Beginners AM/PM dvd. I actually found the Beginners workout (about 45 min) on Comcast OnDemand but I haven't seen the AM/PM routines to try. She goes through it slowly so there is no rushing to change positions. I noticed I was a bit more flexible after only using it a few times too!

    Hope this helps!
    Karin
  • i_can
    i_can Posts: 11
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    I have pretty bad RA, in both my arms/hands and legs/feet. I was actually diagnosed with JRA about 25 years ago when I was a toddler.
    I've tried lots of different things, but the two I keep coming back to are swimming and elliptical machines. The impact from steps, bicycles, treadmills, and so forth is too much and because of the RA, I physically can't grab/press a lot of the weight machines. On my better days, like the day after I take my shot, I can do a lot more than the few days before the shot, so I plan accordingly.

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