Waking up stiff? Your doctor has told you to “get some exercise” but you don’t know where to start? Confused about what you should or shouldn’t do? Don’t give up!
Exercise is known to be great therapy for a range of health conditions. Each person will experience their particular medical situation differently: no two people are alike. Some people can feel the gym is a bit confronting in the early days and would prefer to have someone help them at home. Others want to ensure they keep up resistance training but want help in modifying their routines. Everyone is unique.
A variety of conditions can be improved with regular exercise. How early in your journey diagnosis took place, how effective your medications are and how strongly motivated you are to maintain the best possible quality of life for as long as possible, are all factors that affect your day-to-day well-being.
Below is a small snippet from Move, the new voice of Arthritis Victoria. Search “exercise” on the site and exercise is mentioned as desirable for the majority of conditions.
Muscle, bone and joint conditions (eg osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia and back pain) can cause pain, stiffness and often inflammation in one or more joints or muscles. Regular exercise can help you reduce some of these symptoms and improve joint mobility and strength.
If you have a condition that affects your muscles, bones or joints, you should have a balanced and regular exercise routine.
Source: Move.org.au
If you are undergoing or recovering from chemotherapy, exercise has been shown to be beneficial.
In 2010 in the USA the American College of Sports Medicine reviewed published studies looking at the safety of physical exercise during and after cancer treatment. They also reviewed what effect the exercise had. They focused on breast, prostate, leukaemias and lymphomas, bowel and gynaecologic cancers. In general they recommended the same level of activity for cancer patients as for the general population.
Source: Cancer Research UK.org
Movement and maintaining condition is also useful in the management of chronic pain. Learning to pace ourselves properly can be challenging but also very rewarding.
