Health issues and exercise

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jannee65
jannee65 Posts: 9
in Fitness and Exercise
Hello I am new here. I know I need to exercise but I have Rheumatoid Arthritis and it is not under control at the moment. Exercise is hard for me to do without pain. Because of this disease I have no energy and when i have tried to exercise I feel more exhausted then when I started. I just started a new medication and hoping it will work. I have access to a free gym at job. I know exercise is a key to permanent weight loss.
Does anyone else have medical conditions that affect how they exercise? If so what do you do?

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  • jaweiss1
    jaweiss1 Posts: 71 Member
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    I have a mostly torn rotator cuff and osteoarthritis in one of my hips. It took me a long time to figure out a workable program. I had some help from PTs in terms of specific exercises to do, and from my doctors in terms of exercises to avoid. With that information, and with trial and error with different exercises over about 6 months, I was able to put together a routine that works for me.

    The easiest thing to do is to ask the physician who treats you for RA to refer you to a PT. They can help you put together an initial strength, flexibility and cardio program, and you can modify it as needed.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    Actually, you do what you can do.

    Exercise is for body shaping and heart health.
    Diet is for weight loss. Exercise can help or hinder that actually.

    But diet on it's own can be very successful.

    Now, the common problem is that taking a really huge deficit, and eating too little, can impact existing muscle mass.

    But if you keep the diet level realistic, and just some gentle walking, squats, pushups, ect with just body weight, will help immensely.

    And what I mean by keeping diet realistic so you don't have to lose muscle mass.
    What is your BMR, metabolism for basic functions of life?
    MFP - Tools - BMR calc?

    Is your daily goal below that? Then that is not beneficial for keeping muscle, adjust your weight loss goal to keep it above.

    Because in your state of little exercise, you really can't afford to be losing any muscle, which is burning fat 24 hrs a day on your limited daily activity, no need to lose that.
  • jannee65
    jannee65 Posts: 9
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    Thanks for the info. I will find a way to exercise.
  • susannamarie
    susannamarie Posts: 2,148 Member
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    Many communities have water aerobics available. I know in my community, it's available through the hospital. to people with arthritis/joint pain -- there is an associated fee, though. If you have a pool available, that might be exercise for you which would be a lot easier on your body without bearing weight.

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