Exercise and GCA

[alvertta]

Good morning. What advice re exercise? I have always been very active. First 4 months on prednisone, could hardly get off my couch. Now I am in a warm sunny vacation spot, I feel like swimming and walking. So far, so good. Any tips??

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Gently, gently.......and give your muscles plenty of time to recover between activities.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Don't be tempted to try your former level of exercise and have a day off between until you know what you can do. If you walk - be sure you can bale out if it gets too much - it is very embarrassing to be out in the sticks and hit the brick wall of fatigue so you have to be rescrued!!!!

[piglette]

I love swimming and go every week. The important thing is to know when to stop and not overdo it. I tend to be rather competitive and try and beat other people in the pool with me, that is not a good idea. PMR is very intolerant of exercise, so just take it easy and don’t overdo it. Walking is excellent exercise for PMR.

[66Mac]

Hi Alvertta,

Just to re iterate what the knowledgeable members above said , take it easy and don't push yourself too far , too fast and get plenty of rest . In my case I was at the top of my game ,cycling , running , walking until I met my little PMR friend ,totally knocked me for six . Three years on and down on 1 mg of Preds , someday s I can cycle 20 -30 miles followed by an afternoon in bed . Somedays I don't feel strong enough to even pump my tyres up . And somedays I feel the man I was 3 years ago .

So it's how you feel in yourself , but even a short stroll seems to make all of the difference .

Good luck

[alvertta in reply to 66Mac]

Thanks. We used to go on bike trips with friends. 50 km per day over 5 or 6 days. That might not happen soon.

[Devonspinner]

It can be very frustrating. I used to run , 5 miles 3 times a week, before I was diagnosed in April. I find swimming is good xx

[PMRCanada]

Deep water exercises work best for me (I can swim some lengths, but building up very slowly due to sore shoulders afterwards). I used to walk regularly, worked my way up to 25 minutes, but alas, my knees are in bad shape with pending knee replacement surgery, so that is limited now.