The Exercise Prescription For Reversing Fibromyalgia
The main things to remember with fibromyalgia and exercise are:
Listen to your body - there is a difference between pushing toward improvement and forcing an injury
Learn to establish the difference between muscle soreness and aggravation of fibromyalgia pain
Start out slowly and gently and build up your resistance, intensity and time
Always warm up, cool down and stretch carefully
Fibromyalgia and exercise can go well together as long as you start slow and keep doing it.
Exercise, relaxation, and positive thinking reduce your allostatic load (bad stress response)
and allow you to increase your level of daily activity. Your fibromyalgia exercises should be
designed to gradually build muscle and enable you to do more intense exercise for longer periods
of time without straining or causing undue pain. Exercise will help you relieve your pain and
make you feel more in control over your own care and well-being. The following are some guidelines
as you proceed with your fibromyalgia exercise program:
Stretching, Breathing, Relaxing
Stretching improves your flexibility, ensuring that your joints can move through a full range of
motion. Deep breathing allows additional oxygen to be transported to every cell in your body.
Relaxing your body and your mind allows you to release the pressures and demands of the day so
that you may better perceive your world in a positive, constructive manner. Stretching, breathing
and relaxing are essential to your fibromyalgia exercise program because they allow you to perform
your daily living activities easier and more efficiently. Also, by improving your flexibility, you
prevent your muscles, tendons and ligaments from shortening and weakening, thereby reducing your
risk for injury and pain. To ensure maximum benefit:
Stretch on a daily basis and warm-up before you stretch
Try various techniques, such as meditation, yoga, visualization and progressive relaxation
Get in the correct, comfortable position to begin each session
Select very simple movements to start your program
Concentrate on stretching the muscle; do not bounce, push or be overanxious
Strength or Resistance Training
This allows you to improve the overall strength of your muscles. Developing stronger muscles
will allow you to perform the activities of daily living - such as bringing in the groceries
- with more ease, thereby reducing your fatigue. Having stronger muscles also means an increase
in your lean body mass and a decrease in body fat. This has the effect of helping you burn more
calories that will help in weight loss. Decreasing your weight will have positive effects on your
joints and joint pain.
Cardiovascular Aerobic Activities
Aerobic exercises such as jogging or bicycling improves the way your heart, lungs and muscles
operate. The net effect of this is a decreased heart rate, decreased blood pressure, decreased
cholesterol level, and a stronger heart. By adding aerobic activities of 30 minutes duration,
three days a week, you will reduce your risk for heart attacks, strokes, and other cardiovascular
diseases. You will also find that exercising will improve the amount of energy you have and
prevent you from becoming easily fatigued. Below are a few types of aerobic exercise you may
want to try:
Walking. You may want to start your slowly by walking for 5 minutes the first
day. The following day you should add a minute to your walk. Keep adding 1 or 2 minutes a
day until you are continuously walking for 45 minutes a day. Maintain this level for a while
and then slowly add in another daily walking or other type of exercise session.
Cycling. Cycling takes weight off the legs, hips and lower back. Cycling is a
tremendous heart and lung conditioner. As with the other types of exercises, begin slowly
and work your way up to a goal of bicycling for 60 minutes daily.
Water exercise. Aerobic water exercise may be best tolerated because it eliminates
pressure on the body. Water temperature is important. You should avoid any situations with
extremely warm or cold water as this may make your symptoms worse.
The most important thing is to get started and
keep going.
Start with easy stretches, slow, low impact walking, leisurely swims and light resistance with
elastic bands. Don't try to do too much because it is very important that continuous exercise
becomes a permanent part of your healthy lifestyle.
Caution: For any suspected or known illness or dysfunction,
always consult your physician for medical diagnosis and treatment first. Växa products
are Homeopathic Medicinals and therefore have NDC# (National Drug Control Number)
clearly printed on each label.
