Exercise and motivation

[12Chrissy34]

I've developed an annual cycle of being relatively inactive over winter, picking up my walking and incredibly gentle jogging in the spring, developing a flare and avoiding the excess heat in summer, then getting back into walking in autumn until it gets too cold again.

I'm thinking about getting a gym membership again, but it's very hard to stay motivated when I have periods of enforced inactivity where I lose what little progress I've made.

Does anyone have any tips on how to stay motivated or types of exercise I can do even during a flare? I'd rather not swim due to time and finance issues (swim membership at my local is disproportionately expensive). I work full time so it's tricky to find classes that are gentle on the joints after 6/6.30pm and I'm just losing the will.

[gmac01]

Many people find it difficult to be motivated to attend gym sessions regularly, especially if they work full-time. Over the years I started and stopped loads of times and only after my RA got so bad in my hands that I accidentally found that my body reacted in a positive way after about 25 minutes of hard work into exercising in a spinning class. At the time my new consultant decided that it wasn't obvious that I had RA and stopped prescriptions, I had to rely on strong pain killers to help. Spinning classes were a godsend and maybe worthwhile you giving it a go. Wish you well in your battle.

[12Chrissy34 in reply to gmac01]

Thank you! It's just so annoying the year before diagnosis I was the fittest I've ever been and was planning to do my first proper distance runs (10km and the like). Now that's looking less and less likely to ever happen

[cshah]

Hi Chrissy, I have been struggling with the same thing. I used to be very active, I loved going to hot yoga classes especially. The classes I enjoyed were very rigorous and I just can’t do it anymore. It was actually while doing yoga that I first started noticing joint issues. It was a gradual progression but eventually it got so bad that I completely stopped going to any classes.

I started on enbrel about 6 months back and was doing well so I joined a gym and started doing pilates classes. It was going great for a while, but as the class progressed once again the exercises got too hard on my joints.

I’m finally starting to accept that I’ll never be able to be as active as I once was. But I’m also exploring what I can do safely. Lots of the pilates exercises I was enjoying are still accessible to me, so I do them at home. I’ve also started doing some resistance band workouts. That’s newer for me but it feels like a promising option - I can do exercises that feel strengthening without feeling like my bones are going to break.

At the gym if I want some cardio I usually go for the elliptical which is ok for me most of the time.

Good luck figuring it out, be patient and listen to your body!

[12Chrissy34 in reply to cshah]

I might give resistance bands a go! Do you just use YouTube for routines?

[nablur]

I have the same issue with the heat and it’s very hot where I live. Flares are so unpredictable and awful.

[12Chrissy34 in reply to nablur]

I almost think the unpredictability of them is at least as bad as the pain and restriction the flares cause. It's even making me hold myself back at work