5 Therapist-Recommended Exercises to Manage Rheumatoid Arthritis
These five exercises can reduce the intensity and duration of rheumatoid arthritis-related pain and can help you maintain your functional capabilities. I can usually spot a patient with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) from across a room. They are almost always rubbing the backs of their hands and grimacing.RA is an autoimmune disease where your immune system mistakenly attacks your joints, causing joint pain, swelling, and stiffness. It commonly affects joints in the hands, knees, or ankles but can also affect organs and tissues throughout the body. It’s the leading cause of work disability in the United States, affecting more women than men and with a higher prevalence among older individuals.This insidious disease can slowly decrease your ability to use your hands, especially for activities requiring hand strength, such as opening containers. It can also affect your ability to bathe, groom, and dress yourself, and some find it nearly impossible to use a keyboard.Although RA isn’t curable, effective management of symptoms can help to prevent permanent joint damage.Rheumatoid arthritic pain can be intense and literally go to the bone. To avoid pain, many people will restrict their movement, yet a lack of movement or exercise is actually counterproductive to managing symptoms. Research shows that a regimen of consistent exercises can be highly beneficial by decreasing the intensity and duration of RA-related pain while increasing strength, endurance, and flexibility.Easy Exercises to Combat ArthritisMore from this series5 Exercises to Manage Rheumatoid Arthritis1. WalkingWalking is one of the most important things that you can do when you have arthritis. It’s universal medicine—good for almost any disorder. It’s a joint-friendly activity that won’t stress the body.Related Stories10/16/2021Step 1: Start your walk at a slow pace, about half of your normal walking speed. Do this for five minutes.Step 2: After five minutes, move into your normal walking pace for another five minutes while paying attention to what your body is telling you. Feeling a little stiff or achy is acceptable, but you don’t want to push into sharp, stabbing pain.Step 3: Accelerate your pace a little bit more—5 percent to 10 percent faster than your normal walking pace—and maintain this pace for 15 minutes. Don’t overexert yourself during this time; rest if you need to.Step 4: Cool down by resuming your normal walking pace for five minutes.Walking not only builds endurance but is also a great way to limber up most of your joints at the same time.2. Touch Toes/Touch SkyThis exercise is highly beneficial for your shoulders, hips, trunk muscles, and joints. While it may be challenging at first, it will become easier with practice.(Chung I Ho/The Epoch Times)Step 1: Start by standing as upright as possible over your center of gravity with your feet approximately 12 inches apart. Your arms should be hanging by your sides.Step 2: Slowly lift your arms above your head. Push your hips forward and pull your shoulders back simultaneously to ensure that you’re as upright as possible—as if trying to touch the sky. Hold this pose for three seconds.Step 3: Slowly lower your arms while bending your hips until you touch the floor or reach as far as possible. Keep your head down and try not to round your back. Slightly bend your knees to take pressure off your back and hamstrings, if needed. Hold for three seconds, then slowly stand up and repeat.Step 4: Reaching up and then down counts as one repetition. Try to do three sets of 15 repetitions, adjusting as needed.Don’t be discouraged if you can’t do many of these exercises at first. Just stick with it, and they’ll get easier.3. Goblet Squat With Overhead ReachThe goblet squat is an excellent lower-body strengthening exercise. By adding the overhead reach, you can also increase your upper-body strength and endurance.(Chung I Ho/The Epoch Times)Step 1: Start by sitting at the front of a chair while holding a weight cradled in your hands at about chin height with your palms facing one another.Step 2: Carefully stand up, then push the weight overhead; hold for three seconds. Resist the temptation to hold your breath.Step 3: Slowly lower the weight back to chin level and return to a sitting position.Step 4: Standing up and lifting the weight overhead counts as one repetition. Try to perform three sets of 12 repetitions, adjusting sets/repetitions up or down as needed.Squat-based exercises are generally strenuous and can be challenging at first. You will improve over time.4. Thread the NeedleThis exercise can strengthen and increase the mobility of your entire spine, shoulders, and hips. It also helps to ease pain and tension in those areas.Step 1: Start in an all-fours position on the floor with your arms straight, your knees directly below your hips, and a straight back (neither sagging nor arching).Step 2: Keep one hand on the floor, then sweep your other arm toward the ceiling while turning your head to follow yo
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These five exercises can reduce the intensity and duration of rheumatoid arthritis-related pain and can help you maintain your functional capabilities.
RA is an autoimmune disease where your immune system mistakenly attacks your joints, causing joint pain, swelling, and stiffness. It commonly affects joints in the hands, knees, or ankles but can also affect organs and tissues throughout the body. It’s the leading cause of work disability in the United States, affecting more women than men and with a higher prevalence among older individuals.
This insidious disease can slowly decrease your ability to use your hands, especially for activities requiring hand strength, such as opening containers. It can also affect your ability to bathe, groom, and dress yourself, and some find it nearly impossible to use a keyboard.
Although RA isn’t curable, effective management of symptoms can help to prevent permanent joint damage.
Easy Exercises to Combat Arthritis
5 Exercises to Manage Rheumatoid Arthritis
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1. Walking
Walking is one of the most important things that you can do when you have arthritis. It’s universal medicine—good for almost any disorder. It’s a joint-friendly activity that won’t stress the body.
Step 1: Start your walk at a slow pace, about half of your normal walking speed. Do this for five minutes.
Step 2: After five minutes, move into your normal walking pace for another five minutes while paying attention to what your body is telling you. Feeling a little stiff or achy is acceptable, but you don’t want to push into sharp, stabbing pain.
Step 3: Accelerate your pace a little bit more—5 percent to 10 percent faster than your normal walking pace—and maintain this pace for 15 minutes. Don’t overexert yourself during this time; rest if you need to.
Step 4: Cool down by resuming your normal walking pace for five minutes.
Walking not only builds endurance but is also a great way to limber up most of your joints at the same time.
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2. Touch Toes/Touch Sky
This exercise is highly beneficial for your shoulders, hips, trunk muscles, and joints. While it may be challenging at first, it will become easier with practice.
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Step 1: Start by standing as upright as possible over your center of gravity with your feet approximately 12 inches apart. Your arms should be hanging by your sides.
Step 2: Slowly lift your arms above your head. Push your hips forward and pull your shoulders back simultaneously to ensure that you’re as upright as possible—as if trying to touch the sky. Hold this pose for three seconds.
Step 3: Slowly lower your arms while bending your hips until you touch the floor or reach as far as possible. Keep your head down and try not to round your back. Slightly bend your knees to take pressure off your back and hamstrings, if needed. Hold for three seconds, then slowly stand up and repeat.
Step 4: Reaching up and then down counts as one repetition. Try to do three sets of 15 repetitions, adjusting as needed.
Don’t be discouraged if you can’t do many of these exercises at first. Just stick with it, and they’ll get easier.
.
3. Goblet Squat With Overhead Reach
The goblet squat is an excellent lower-body strengthening exercise. By adding the overhead reach, you can also increase your upper-body strength and endurance.
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Step 1: Start by sitting at the front of a chair while holding a weight cradled in your hands at about chin height with your palms facing one another.
Step 2: Carefully stand up, then push the weight overhead; hold for three seconds. Resist the temptation to hold your breath.
Step 3: Slowly lower the weight back to chin level and return to a sitting position.
Step 4: Standing up and lifting the weight overhead counts as one repetition. Try to perform three sets of 12 repetitions, adjusting sets/repetitions up or down as needed.
Squat-based exercises are generally strenuous and can be challenging at first. You will improve over time.
.
4. Thread the Needle
This exercise can strengthen and increase the mobility of your entire spine, shoulders, and hips. It also helps to ease pain and tension in those areas.
Step 1: Start in an all-fours position on the floor with your arms straight, your knees directly below your hips, and a straight back (neither sagging nor arching).
Step 2: Keep one hand on the floor, then sweep your other arm toward the ceiling while turning your head to follow your hand. Hold for three seconds.
Step 3: Bring your arm back down and slide it underneath your upper body until your shoulder touches the floor.
Step 4: Return to the starting position, then repeat on the other side. Do 10 repetitions on each side.
While you can perform this exercise with alternating arm movements, it can get confusing. Instead, you may prefer to do 10 repetitions on each side.
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5. Ball Leg Lifts
This full-body workout is a bodyweight exercise that also focuses on movement precision during core muscle activation, which increases its intensity. The large sweeping concurrent leg and arm movements can be challenging at first, but with consistency, you’ll see a steady improvement over time.
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Step 1: Start by lying flat on your back on the floor with a ball within reach. I prefer a large exercise ball, but any ball that’s one foot or more in diameter will usually suffice.
Step 2: Place the ball between your legs and hold it securely. Large balls should be held further down your legs, even to the ankle level. Small balls can be held between your knees. Place your arms straight out to your sides.
Step 3: While keeping your knees straight, lift the ball straight up overhead by bending your hips.
Step 4: Lift your head and upper back off the floor and touch the ball with your hands. The ball should be placed so that you have to reach up for it.
Step 5: Lower your upper body back to the starting position, then lower your legs and the ball slowly back down to the floor while keeping your legs straight. Moving through steps 1 through 5 counts as one repetition. Try to complete three sets of 15 repetitions, with modifications as needed.
These exercises can help you to combat the effects of rheumatoid arthritis. While flare-ups can come and go, maintaining a consistent exercise regimen can help to reduce the symptoms.
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