What Do You Do Regularly (At Least On... - Fibromyalgia Acti...
What Do You Do Regularly (At Least Once A Week) To Keep Fit / Exercise? This is A Members Poll by Skit: This Is A Multiple Choice Poll:
Hi guys,
I sincerely hope that everyone is feeling as well as they possibly can be today? I have some of my own keep fit equipment at home, and I also undertake some very mild and slow physiotherapy on a daily basis. I also presume my gardening helps with fitness, as long as I do not overdo things.
I want to sincerely wish everyone all the best of luck, and please take care my friends.
All my hopes and dreams for you
Ken x 
I walk my dog daily for at least an hour. I am exhausted after the walk and in an extreme amount of pain but feel it's very important to keep moving. I swim 2to 3 times a week. I love swimming and if the water is warm, I feel the least amount of pain doing my exercise in the water.
I feel it's very important to do some sort of exercise daily. As the saying goes,
" if you don't use it, you lose it"
Charlie01
Hello Ken,
I also love gardening - if the weather's conducive, spring cleaning (in frantic bursts - paid for in many spoons later) housework, cooking and decorating - all are considered as exercise by me - especially vacuuming or doing laundry - which I find both painful and absolutely exhausting!
Hope you are all coping. I wish I could donate spoons to all those who need them and borrow back in my hours of need.
Conversely, if anyone has found a way of converting spoons to ladles or spades/shovels - do let me know ok.
Totes agree ! Vacuuming & laundry are exhausting these days ... I used to vacuum every other day, dust, polish, laundry, etc now I'm lucky if I can manage one of those chores a day. I truly miss having the energy and pain free days of 12yrs ago. Changing the bed linen is another issue - I'm 50yrs and feel like I'm 90 !
Chair "exercises" that feels more like stretching than exercise. And I haven't been able to get into it yet. 💗
Chair exercise can be more adventurous. Try conducting a pretend orchestra for the time it take a tune to play on radio or walking in your seat i.e. feet beating time.
What a fantastic idea! I'm definitely going to be doing this one!😅😅😅
I try to go for a walk and i go to hydrotherapy. I also went to the gym through my gp exercise referral but i had to give it up .It was taking me 3 days to recover everytime i went to the gym.
I swim 5 times a week
Brilliant I only manage once a week as my swimming buddy can only commit to that. I lack confidence in being in the water unless someone I know is there also. We swim up to 32 lengths in 25 mtre pool.
With spine degenerative and o/a in knees giving out, fibro fatigue I can't even start exercise and things are getting worse
I am still in employment so going out every day is a form of exercise for me. However, by the end of each day I am unable to do anything else.
I think that is my problem. I do my stretches before work, the work and that's me done for the day!
I go swimming in a warm pool 2 to 3 times a week. I find I can swim better than I can walk x
I go through a series of floor exercise and stretches that were designed to hit the muscles that cause pain.
I couldn't exercise, I can only just manage to get around the house, I'm in too much pain!!!
Me too! I wish I could I loved to swim. 🏊
I don't really exercise as now on oxygen constantly i find it difficult to do anything but am seeing the physio soon so I am sure that they will be able to help me with some types of exercise.
Loraine x
I walk at least a mile every day. I practice Tai Chi at home
Horse riding, even if only 10min
I haven't the energy
Horse riding
All I can say is thank heavens for dogs 😁
I walk almost every day, I do a stretch routine, some using a large gym ball and some yoga type stretches as shown by physio. I wish we had a warm pool locally, the local pools are freezing!
I try to walk at least once a week. I now go to yoga once a week which I just started recently. The relaxation part is very good for me. I struggle a bit with the exercises due to bad knees and back though, but it's a great class and they accommodate me very well. All worth it just for the pure relaxation.
You will "sooohhh" benefit from the yoga I promise! 😊😊 I started at the beginning of the year after losing 4 stones! I try to do some every day, even a bad day! Good luck and please do persivere
I find the more Exercise i do the pain gets worse for me I do walks the dogs twice a day,I find resting helps me more im still on medcations and injections every month, some days good but mostly very painful more down my lower spine and my sides one thing i have found a bit better for my pains is not to have sugar it does help with the pains a bit but mornings a nightmare for few hours.
Francesco
I do gentle gardening & housework as my exercise. I do a bit then stop and then do a bit more. I love being in the garden and I think it makes me feel good even if I cant do the strenuous tasks.
A little bit of pacing is what we all would benefit from.
I do garden sat on a low stool with hand fork or trowel.
IIt's hard to keep up when u feel so tired all the time
I swim three times and do strength training (weight lifting) four times each week. If I don't exercise my symptoms get much worse.
I try excersise in my chair every day ..its not much but its all I can do
Pottering. In my small front garden .
I would love to do regular excersize to try and keep fit but my body won't allow me to do anything that would be classes as regular excersize.
That is unless you could call doing my damdest to do my own housework which, even though I live in a very small 1 bed flat, takes me all week as I have to do a little then rest and the do a little more and so the cycle continues...
I tried swimming but it difficult to get there and then when I do I am terrified of slipping over on the wet tiles. I also have difficulty getting in and out.
Unfortunately when I have the rare days when I feel able to do more, I end up in a boom and bust situation.
Have you tried swimming shoes? Idea being swim and walk safely.
For me walking down to the garage where I keep my powerchair counts as exercise, there are times when it is impossible. I also do bits of gardening, mostly sat down or kneeling, with sticks and stools to help me move. I potter in the house too, doing bits of cleaning. All of this is interspersed with lengthy rest periods, but I do what I can.
Well I have recently tried light house work, and ended up in a flare. Also sent my Trapezius and lower back into spasms. Back to the drawing board.
i work part time that is all i can manage with fibro, i am just to tired to do anything else
Like Ken I enjoy my garden in moderation which I believe helps physical as well as mental fitness. I do a bit of gentle muscle stretching and walk the dog with OH when I can.
I do about 30 mins every morning & about 10 mins every evening of yoga, which I find really helps
My heart wont let me exercise but plays up and makes me feel extremely ill. I would love to do it, used to do it and miss it, and continue wishing and hoping and trying and failing. Ah well, maybe one day.
I do gentle stretch exercises at home every day. When I'm well enough I do them for 5 minutes once every hour or two, but not always up to doing them that often.
Since leaving work 2 years ago I have gradually built up my daily dog walk to at least 5k a day. It takes me about 2 hours to recover. When I worked I was lucky if I could get down 1 aisle in my local supermarket due to pain and exhaustion. I am much better now, but I know that if I don't walk every day I will suffer more pain and muscle stiffness.
My group exercise is Yoga. I don't always make it to class, but go when I can. I also like to garden, but have to be careful not to do too much.
Hi
I can't walk my dog any more because he pulls to much the only time I can walk him is for his last visit at night when its dark then he does not pull, I do bits of gardening, housework etc which I think gives you exercise when you can do it, keeping mobile in any form is the best thing to do if poss.
Love & Hugs
Xx
I try to walk as much as I can but nothing works too many things wrong so it changes nothing
Hi All
I do yoga once a week, gardening and look after my twin grandchildren three times a week - added to the housework that is my exercise.
hope you are all well
I walk into town 5 - 6 times a week (7 mins) and do 10 mins on the flabelos machine (vibrating plates). Do all my stretches whilst on the machine, then 3 minutes on the exercise bike, and walk home
Hi movesonout, can you tell me how does the flabelous machine help you, I wondered about these after seeing it on TV ? Thanks
Before starting with this illness,i taught a gentle exercise group so i just keep on with the routines i made,by myself when I'm able.i also bought an exercise bike but probably don't use it as much as i did when it was first bought.depends on the aches really.just do it in moderation really.x
Mostly swimming for me - I am lucky enough to have a health club very close by with a warm pool and steam room for after. I go twice a week to the over-50s sessions and spend 15 mins doing my hydrotherapy exercises (much easier than travelling to the hospital) and 15 mins swimming. I'd like to do more swimming - like someone else said I feel so much happier swimming than walking - but just feel shattered for a couple of days if I do. In between I use my exercise bike and do stretching exercises if I'm not in too much pain.
I swim 2 or 3 times a week, pain is better in water.
I have 2 dogs (god bless them) I walk them twice a day for 20 mins.
I have a daily stretching workout provided by physio, I also do a small amount of gardening.
I cycle but I wouldn' call it a sporting activity...more transport and its easier than walking.
Still good exercise
In the Any other section, I walk about once a week to my local shop, about a mile round trip, and on another day I pay bills, and get essentials in the main town. I use my Rollator as I haven't the arm strength to push myself in my wheelchair. it has a seat so I can sit when I get tired.
I do not have a car and walk everywhere. I do not generally do strenuous exercise with my lack of energy. Very occasionally bi go to the gym
I go to the gym* sometimes I can manage it sometimes not when I'm there.
I used to go swimming but messed an arm up doing boxing I'm a youth worker and had stepped in to help with boxing.
I was told walking was better than cycling by a cfs team nurse, can't remember why, ha! So I think you must be on the right "path" walking everywhere.
Wow, suprised how many dog owners are out there. I wonder what came first, fibro or dog.
I do yoga postures and stretching many times throughout the day. Sx
Hi folks, my first time posting. Currently I walk the dog every day, was going to the gym and swimming as I recently passed my driving test which has literally given me some quality of life! . . . However I overdone it and have been floored for the last six weeks or so, in so much pain but I'm going to the pool to just get into the warm water as it is the only place I feel normal and almost pain free! Afterwards I usually have a mammoth 18 hour sleep which I am trying to cut down but it's so hard as I just can't wake up! Anyone else have this? Xx
A quick 'hi' from me
Hi my smug cat, love the name lol
P.S I got the dog as a way of forcing me to go for a walk! And she is the best thing that's happened to me in years!!
I agree totally although I tottle behind the dog when at our local woods. Hubby takes them on longer walks.
Hi all.
I have recently discovered the amazing benefits of Pilates. I go to a small class once a week at a local physiotherapist and cannot recommend it highly enough. It is a combination of gentle stretches and also incorporates massage! There are two other people with fibro that go aswell and we all have noticed improvements since starting.
I just wish I'd discovered it sooner!
I used to walk, garden, cycle and do hydrotherapy but it has all become too painful. If I do anything I pay for a week or more afterwards. I love my garden but no digging for me because my knees won't let me. So now the nearest I get to exercise is when I do stretches on the bed with my dog He copies what I do. Not been on for a few days as I had a fall.
I hope you are feeling better Ken.
Hugs Joolz.x
By the time I have done the usual daily chores, laundry, dishes, taking in shopping, cooking lunch, trying to do a bit of cleaning, I'm usually too achey to contemplate further exercise. If I have any spare energy in good weather, I'll do a small gardening job on my list, but that's all I can manage or else I'll be twice as tired the next day, or risk a flare up.
At present going through Chemo so do whatever exercises (walking, stretching,etc) I can manage. But I found gentle swim and exercise in pool helped most.
I do exercises given me by a physio each morning. Last thing at night I donated thing exercises. I try to do light gardening twice a week.x
I am not able to exercise in the normal sense as I have ME and exercise makes me worse. The best I can manage is some gentle stretches whilst lying in bed.xx
Meant to press the last option. I don't exercise as I physically can't, I can barely walk inside and have to use a wheelchair outside.
I do what I can to keep moving though a lot bad days come x
I would love to exercise but been in chronic pain and fatigue all the time
I have put that I never keep fit, but on reflection, I help my wife with some of the housework, I cut the lawn although it is not very big, and a little bit of gardening. These seem simple things, but it takes me a long time to complete them, and I am in excruciating afterwards. I try to do what I can, because I was once told if you don't use it you'll lose it.
Ian
I baby and child sit my grandchildren as well as dog walking. I try and do as much as I can each day even if I do end up in pain and/or in bed as you just have to keep going physically as well as mentally otherwise you'll get worse. Give yourself something else to focus on apart from pain. I belong to a U3A Art Group and it's become an obsession. I love it. Keep going friends, you need to. And laugh; with others and at yourself. It doesn't matter. Take care. X
I love your profile name
Thanks mysmugcat.
gardening and small amounts of walking
I go swimming 2 -3 times a week and find it really helps. I feel great when in the water but must admit I'm tired afterwards. It is so much easier than walking though which I find very painful. I also like doing light gardening which I have to really pace. I do about 5 minutes then rest for 15, so in an hour I can actually achieve 15 minutes! It makes me feel that I am doing something worthwhile.
i do gardening when able
I don't have any equipment at home that I actually use for exercise. I do like to hang quite a bit of things on my treadmill though. I do exercise a few times a week. I have quite a list of exercises I was given to help me, from PT when I was participating in a pain management program. None of them are difficult and I've been told if it hurts, stop.
My job is all sitting and my knees and feet start hurting when I walk more than a block, so that's all I do now.
Karen
I'd like to exercise more but the pain stops me
I bought a yoga mat and DVD'S to follow (yoga and Ti Chi) I also bought a small dumbbell to do arm exercises when sitting down. 💪Much love to all....Ninja. 💞 💞 💞 xx
I see a physio and do streatches
I do stretching exercises everyday. Granted it will see not an lengthy regime but it does keep me flexible. If I do any form of exercise is causes more problems than it cures, maybe I am doing it all wrong
My aim is to be able to do a simple walk with my dog, not too much to ask for but it seems impossible to achieve!
I use a stepper at home twice a day and try to walk for 30 minutes 3 times a week.Anymore is too tiring for me and my feet hurt.
Hey,
Sorry but I can't see the multiple choice options!
I go to the gym for 30 mins 4 times a week with the intention of increasing to 5.
I do boxing, legs bums and tums, weights and spinning. I suffer a lot from it but I'm trying to lose weight, re build my lost muscle and keep healthy xx
I go beachcombing, woodland walks and am into amatuer landscape archaeology. Photography also gets one out and about
I have sports equipment but very rarely use it. I just don't have the energy to do any physical activity. Instead I aim to do 5k steps per day.
What would we do without dogs??? I walk our dog a couple of times a day (about 20minutes )... I find I can cope better with 2 shorter walks rather than a long walk. My group exercise is hatha yoga once a week, and I swim once a week, and do some gentle stretching each evening. I really believe it is important to do some gentle exercise each day to help maintain some muscle strength.
I have paper exercises which I have from the health centre. I go weekly for one and a half hours on wed. then we all have to do 8 things twice a day. We have a lady who teaches us how to do it with a chair infront of us - was scared incase I fell outside thats why I joined. It is hard work but feeling more confident.
As a former yoga teacher, I do my yoga at home the way I can now.
Yoga stretching and gardening - plus walking my dog.
Looking at this poll, so many walk the dog or go walking. Well if you have a dog it will help you do gentle exercise, please though get to know a good dog walking service for the days where you don't feel up to the walk. Dogs also provide so much loving time, they are also good to talk to so help with low moods. Most of all people enjoy what ever you do regular, don't do what feels like a chore.
xxx
Been bed bound for some time now,to be honest if I manage to wiggle my toes & occasionally try to move my ankles I feel I've run a marathon,same goes for fingers & wrists !!! Sorry for not being very helpful X 
I do very little just standing washing a few dishes hurts so much or putting clothes away I find it impossible to Hoover or do a full clean sometimes just getting out of bed hurts I get frustrated with myself as I'd worked full-time and reared my boys on my own and no I can't even pick my grandson up
Walking my dog
All I am capable of now is stretching out muscles and my back. As with many, I am totally locked up in the morning usually in pain unless taken pain relief earlier as woken by hip pain from lying on side.
I don't want to do it and sometimes have moments of dispair. But I know if I just start moving and flexing I will feel better. I start with my fingers which feel like sausages, stretching and making claws, then my wrists, toes and ankles. Then I struggle to sit up as lower back problem. I sit on side of bed and rotate neck and shoulders and bend at the waist a bit. Then I grab the chest of draws and go for launch! Sometimes I don't make it and plonk back on mattress, at least it's soft! When up I bend at the waist some more and flex my legs, then shuffle off for a wee!
I wash my face and teeth and have some water and first pills if I haven't taken them during the night.
I will potter around house during day between resting lying flat to help back. As the day goes on I try to stretch my back some more. I have to be careful as the area above my knees is prone to give way and I fall hard.
I'm 49 ex MoD, rugby player, accomplished horse rider, outward bound instructor, off road driving and playing with land rovers. I can't even drive anymore! I feel 89 yet people who visit say in suprise how good I look as if there was nothing wrong with me!
Patrick
I try an d excersise as much as my fibro will allow I have bad days still but try and do excersise then come home an d rest when can. Is it helping not sure but will keep trying. As long as possible .
I enjoy Tai chi at least once a week sometimes twice a week. I still have pain and it doesn't ease that but it is exercise that keeps me moving and that has to be good. It is very gentle and the class I attend is recognised by GPs so everyone who attends has been referred for one medical reason or another. It is also a good social occasion again this has to be good.
I have just started do a exercise DVD at home called The Fibro Guys . I am on my knees with all this pain day in day out . As this similar condition runs in my family IE cousin .
6 miles a day but it always catches up with me
My job involves being on my feet all day and rushing around etc. I find this is my exercise because after a day in work i am no good for anything.
