Arthritis and exercise

Hi all,

Because I was 180 lbs overweight for 30 years, I've lost all the cartilage in both knees and part from my right hip. Now that I've lost 120 lbs and am only 60 lbs overweight, the pain *is* less and I can manage it. Because I'm high risk for surgery, the ortho docs don't want to do any type of knee/hip replacement until I am at least another 40 lbs lighter due to my age and diabetes. Frankly, if I can avoid surgery altogether with diet and exercise I would be happy.

I do yoga for arthritics and Tai Chi to keep moving plus my job has me up and walking about 7,000 steps a day. I was in water aerobics for nearly 3 years which I loved until the gym closed the class and I haven't found another gym offering water aerobics.

My question to all of you interested in fitness is this...what can I add or do to increase my fitness even more.

I've thought of adding strength training especially for my upper body but I don't quite know how to start.

My joints will not tolerate any impact so something like Zumba is not feasible. I can't do cycling because my knee joints will not bend that far...the yoga I do is specially modified for those with bad arthritis. 

I'd like to add more aerobic exercise to strengthen my heart and have thought about adding the rowing machine at the gym but never having done it, I don't know how much is legs (with bending) and upper body.

Keeping in mind my severe restrictions, I'm open to your suggestions. Thanks!

Darlene

I also have arthritis in both knees. Squats have been so helpful in strengthening the muscles that support the knee joint. They're not always comfortable to do, but the end result has been better knee function. I can now squat below parallel, when I started I couldn't even get to 90 degrees. Plus the knees are just generally more stable now. If squats are completely out of the question, try deadlifts. There's less flexion of the knee involved.

PS: how about lap swimming?

Dear Ambereva,

<blush> I can't swim...that's why I chose water aerobics...I've never been able to put my face in the water...I go all claustrophobic and feel like I'm suffocating...I can dog paddle but that is about it....my guilty secret...

On your post about the squats, I will see what I can do...I just figured those were right out for me...Thank you for replying!

Dburns2

Since your gym has a rowing machine, give it a shot. Watch this video to get an idea of what it is like. Your knees flex pretty far, but there isn't a lot of force on them (much less than body weight exercises) and the movement is relatively slow.

That website has some training programs for weight loss, and other goals as well.

Maybe the Arthritis Foundation can point you in a useful direction to start with... They have an exercise program oriented towards restoring function & reducing pain.

(ogr: agree that rowing is less impact than bw exercises, but most of the movement is driven by the legs... am wondering whether the bending might be a bit much, if cycling taxes the OP's limits)

Original Post by janelovesjam:

Maybe the Arthritis Foundation can point you in a useful direction to start with... They have an exercise program oriented towards restoring function & reducing pain.

(ogr: agree that rowing is less impact than bw exercises, but most of the movement is driven by the legs... am wondering whether the bending might be a bit much, if cycling taxes the OP's limits)

With knees, every exercise is different because of the various hip angles involved, how tight the hamstrings get pulled, etc. I think that cautious experimentation is justified. I've had some fairly bad knee injuries, and was able to row fairly hard on a C2 when I couldn't even walk on the treadmill.

ogr: good point re angles - different strokes for different folks :) limits can for sure be pushed, so long as form is watched & pain heard.

Darlene: out of interest, re the walking you're currently doing - how fast are you able to comfortably go? Can you keep up a pace that gets your heart going for say ten minutes at a time? Have orthotics been recommended? Maybe those would help...  

I think I would recommend a full body weight lifting program and the New Rules of Lifting for Abs is designed more for "rehab" - there aren't any impact lifts and no lifts that force the body to bend in ways like crunches.  It's all about the core - and building the entire body. 

Keep walking. Honestly, walking is very low impact, and very good for arthritis in the knees. If you are intent on cardio,  I don't know if you could handle an elliptical or not, but that's my suggestion. 

Hi Janelovesjam,

I don't/can't walk very fast. No it doesn't get my heart beat up...when I did water aerobics the heart would go up.

I use the Wii Fit boxing to get my aerobics since it is mostly upper body with short, easy foot movements. I got all sweaty last night using it.

Orthotics might have helped early on when I still had some knee left...:(...

Dear dannyc249,

I will...it hurts like h*ll some days but I know it will hurt worse if I stop doing it.

On good days, I can do elliptical a little but not for long.

Hi dbackerfan,

I'm not sure what you are telling me about...can you give me some more detail on what you are advising? In the meantime, I'll see what google will tell me. I do want to know more ways to get healthy.

Dear Oldguysrule,

Thank you for the video. I do think I might be able to do this one! It doesn't look too bad...

Original Post by dburns2:

Hi dbackerfan,

I'm not sure what you are telling me about...can you give me some more detail on what you are advising? In the meantime, I'll see what google will tell me. I do want to know more ways to get healthy.

http://www.thenewrulesoflifting.com/nrol-for- abs

AH! Ok...I understand now...I'll search for that book on Amazon.

Hi Darlene!

Have you had a go at the rower? Or had a look at the movements in the book dbackerfan's recommended? How did it go? 

Great that you're getting work out of the Wii - that sounds like a great complement to your Yoga and Tai Chi!

What I'm wondering is, if the aquafit worked so well, maybe you and your former classmates (or perhaps others who might be interested) could get together and formally register interest in the class being reinstated (ie let the gym manager know that you'd all definitely be up for it, if it comes up again). Or even get a bunch together and share costs for a small, private group class?

Have you also exhausted any more public pool options near you? Like the YM/WCA, or a community centre, or a university? 

Man, every community should have access to a pool, really :(

Continued luck with your efforts, inspiring to see this kind of motivation!

jj

eta - re the wii - i don't know how progressive it is, but you could also do whatever movements it offers with small hand weights, once those get to feeling easy 

Unfortunately, the gym manager all the way up to the regional manager were deaf to the letters and personal visits of the nearly 20 people who were regulars in the class.  I dropped my membership in protest and haven't found a gym yet to use...so no on the rower and I just saw Dan's link this morning (about 5 minutes ago).

We weren't a cohesive enough group to think about hiring a private tutor. Wish we had.

I'm looking at my budget and researching local gyms. I'll let you know what I find. Thanks for all the support!

Really!! Aw, well, I hope you find something that works out!

(no worries :) )

Actually, I've had a health rider for about 15 years or more and have used it only sporadically...it has a rowing motion to it and I'm going to have my husband pull it out of the back room and put it in front of the TV and see if I can be motivated to give it a go for 10 minutes or so tonight. I haven't used it since 30 lbs ago (about a year) because it hurt my foot (plantar fasciatus) but the weight loss may make a difference. My foot is all healed and if I want to get my heart rate up and do some strength training. I've a very old model of the one featured on the home page of this site but the concept is the same.

http://www.healthrider.com/