Just watch me!

My co-workers wonder why I go to the gym - they are not gym people - as I have so many ailments. But I tell them that I am much better off because I go three times each week, and was a regular gym person before RA and fibromyalgia. I think this is very true - my exercise habits put me in better shape physically before the onset of both of these.

Now when I have a training session with a physical therapist, we talk about my goals of keeping flexibility, balance, and range of motion. Face it, I am old enough that I need to think about these. I switched to one of the physical therapists last year from one of the trainers (there is a difference) because I wanted more direction with RA. The PT was somewhat wowed by my ailment list and the fact that I did come in and work out like a semi-normal person. He had no idea I had so many issues before then.

However the problem with my working out is sometimes my three times a week workout is compromised by my body revolting - with pain. I have a chart where I track my workouts. I put in little notes as well. Things like 'foot pain', 'back pains', or, my other favorite, 'fatigue', cover my chart by the time its full. Some days I start my workout with a pain pill.

The rule of thumb at the gym is 'if it hurts, stop doing it'. But if I followed that rule, I would never get a full work out in. But I make an effort to get there and do as much as I can.

Why do I exercise?

Why do I exercise? I read this post on the Huffington Post about a woman with stage IV breast cancer who asked that very question. She isn't giving up on half marathons either. She says its endorphins that keep her moving.

I don't have stage IV cancer and some days just getting downstairs is difficult itself. I read somewhere else recently that only 20% of Americans get the recommended 2.5 hours of exercise each week. That's just pitiful. I am determined not to put myself  in that category.

I also exercise because it  helps me feel better. Really. I may hobble in to the gym but about an hour and 45 minutes later I may hobble out. But in between I get in 45 min - 1 hour of cardio and then another 35 minutes or so of weights followed by 15 minutes of stretching. The benefits to me are huge:

• cardio keeps me moving which is good in more ways than you can image - your body moves so all your body systems do as well.
• I have muscles (they may not be big but they are three) and can pump iron with the best of them with my 1 pound weights (yes they are girly and pink)
• I am flexible, my balance/stability is pretty good, and my muscles are nice and stretchy.
• I have less pain. My core muscles help me support my wimpy back.
• It helps me destress. I come in to the gym stressed and leave relaxed. 

I never stopped exercising through cancer treatment. Back then I used to walk every day but I never stopped unless hospitalized. Eventually I found I needed more than a walk and joined a good gym. I go three times a week and try to walk with a friend another day.

But I'll keep going as much as I can.

A new picture of my garden - the azalea in full bloom.

Treating Chronic Pain with Exercise

It seems a bit contradictory but exercise helps relieve chronic pain. Its one thing if you have an injury that needs to heal but then they send you to physical therapy to regain range of motion and start movement. It may be include some ouching but it means it is helping as well.

I have fibromyalgia and RA (in case you  haven't figured it out yet) and I go to the gym three times a week. I am one of the 40% or so (or whatever that low number is) of Americans who get the recommended amount of exercise weekly. At the gym, I do 45-60 minutes of cardio followed by strengthening exercises and weights (yup, I can lift the giant 1 lb weights with ease).

Some days are a little harder than others. Yesterday the muscle on the top of my right thigh was very unhappy with some of what I was doing and my left hip told me how I could not do some exercises. But I did finish 95% of my workout which is just fine.

Exercise does make me feel better. Some of my doctors are impressed with the range of motion I have in my shoulders and hips because of my ailments. Exercise and stretching has allowed me to retain this. It has been suggested I try swimming. But since I hate swimming laps, that has not happened.

However there are always overachievers. I am not an overachiever regarding exercise these days. Katie Pumphrey is an overachiever. She swims to help with her fibromyalgia. But if that wasn't enough, she is training to swim the English Channel. No I am not kidding. The English Channel is not what we call an easy swim. To put it in context:

"Fewer people (1,429) have crossed the channel solo than have climbed Mount Everest (more than 4,000), and only 446 of the swimmers have been women. Eight people have died trying since Matthew Webb first accomplished the feat, in 1875 — though the success rate, which was tiny in the early 1900s, has risen sharply in recent years.

If all goes well, Pumphrey will enter the water in Dover, England, on Aug. 8 or 9, 2015, and emerge in Cap Gris Nez, France. The distance is 21 miles, but the shifting tides guarantee that few swim directly across. In July 2010, 56-year-old Jackie Cobell reached Calais, France, after swimming 64 miles in nearly 29 hours."

This will be a feat for the record books as far as I am concerned. So to the non-exercisers out there, I just say aim high and start moving. For those with pain, remember every journey starts with a single step.

I try to be flexible

In July I went to see my new rheumatologist.  We talked about all sorts of things related to my rheumatoid and fibromyalgia. Among other things, she wanted to see how my flexibility is doing. She said my knees are 'snap, crackle, and pop' which did not surprise me at all.

However she was impressed with the flexibility I have retained in my shoulders and hips.  I said it was due to the gym that I go to where they work with the members and their ailments. My back pain doctor is also impressed with my flexibility.

Yesterday I was at the gym doing all sorts of complex things like balancing on the flat side of the BOSU and pumping iron at the same time - with my giant one pound weights - and 30 second planks. I am a stellar athlete. I can even balance on one foot and sit down on a bench and stand up again unaided. These are complicated tasks.

It has been just about a year since I was told I had fibro and a few weeks later I learned about RA. In that past year, I have had to significantly alter my workout program because there are many things I can't do any more. Mostly I can't get through the same workout I could a year ago.

First we cut it way back, then we started stretching things out - more reps and lower weights, etc. Now I think its time to start trying to build more things back in.

The thought did occur to me as I pumped iron yesterday that it is a very good thing I have been going to this gym for as long as I have. It means I was in relatively good shape (for me) when diagnosed and I have been able to maintain the basics of balance, strength and flexibility which are some of the biggest problems for RA and fibro people.

I really want to retain some flexibility in my body as well as balance. All I can say is I am trying.