Having read the recent post titled 'After PMR.... energy and strength ' and clicking on ruggers link to the Nuffield Health Joint Pain Program, I have the opportunity to take part in one of these free programs.
Before I commit to it, I would like to hear from anyone who's already participated in this scheme to hear what you thought about it:-
- the positive aspects and things you particularly liked?
- any negative aspects or things you found that didn't work?
- how energetic are the sessions?
- did it genuinely help or improve mobility and aches & pains?
- what happens if you can't attend a session...would that impact on the rest of the program?
- any other information you feel would be useful
Thankyou in advance to anyone kind enough to respond.
Written by
Kendrew
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Hi Kendrew I'm doing this programme - I've completed the 1st 12 weeks which are pt led and then you get a further 12 weeks free with an assessment at the end. After this you can take up the offer of 6months 1/2 price too. I can honestly say its been a great experience. I felt I would.never be able to exercise again but the programme goes at your own pace and is very gentle. It also gave me the confidence to enter a gym again even though I've put on 2 stone in weight since I began this pmr journey. In fact ive just done a gym session. I honestly can't recommend it enough. I guess it will depend on your pt but mine was wonderful and very experienced. Pm me if you want more info
hi, I started this about 18months ago and definitely a good thing for me. Think the course was pretty generic and more geared for people with OA but the fact it got me back to a decent gym for free for six months and l am still a member at a very reduced cost was brilliant . I met some very nice people too. You have access to the pool (a no no for me) and all the classes too. Probably depends on who does the course, I’m not one that particularly likes to “share my journey” or explore my emotional well-being as our group was asked to do while the other one running at the same time with a different “Rehab specialist” was doing gentle circuits and more exercises than talking! However she was very nice and there was no pressure and no problems if you had to miss a session. I’m very happy I gave it a go 😊
No, it’s available in Edinburgh too. I was going to start it but class times offered were 7pm or lunchtime on a Saturday which didn’t work for me. These times vary as each block starts. I didn’t register in the end as was already able to do two Pilates classes a week and walk daily so they felt it wasn’t really for me.
I echo what others have said. I’m 4 weeks in and really enjoying it. We do a circuit type activity each Monday and our Thursday session focusses on a different type of exercise each time. I’ve always been very intimidated by the whole gym thing with machines that look daunting and fit young things in Lycra but this has really helped me to overcome that. I did a spin session last week! The use of the pool is wonderful too. Hope you enjoy it too.
I've heard from people whom have had the chance to take part on these that if you are close enough to be included you should give it a go.Very positive feedback.
Unfortunately, I'm not close enough to take part and find out for myself.
It would be great if you wrote a post telling us all about your experience if you choose to take part , I'm sure it would be a big help to the forum
Hi Kendrew. I’m in my final week of the programme and it’s been a fabulous experience for me. The first part of each session focuses on wellbeing. I’ve met some interesting people with different aches and pains to me and it’s been great to share experiences. I find the use of the pool and warmth of the sauna really help my Polymyalgia and hope to continue after the final session is finished. I’m much more confident in the gym and under the careful guidance of the rehab specialist my movement and strength is progressing well. As I’m at the end of the session I will be weighed, measured and tested next week to compare with my baseline at the start. I feel very positive and I’m looking forward to the result. Go for it! I hope you enjoy and benefit as much as I have. 😀
I'm someone who had never stepped inside a 'Gym', but the sessions were lead by a 'Rehab Specialist' and took part in a studio (aka room!) with no cycles or benches involved! We all worked at our own level and could do some of the exercises sitting down if we wanted. We did have the choice to hold some weights for some of the exercises - I stayed at 500g the whole time, while others, with say bad knees, could lift 2kg. There was no competition amongst us. Others in the class had OA, RA or Fibro - I was the only one with PMR/GCA. It helped me to see just what I could do, in a safe environment. It didn't matter if a session was missed, for holidays etc, as they were fairly repetitive, but attending twice a week certainly improved my fitness and confidence.
As others have said, there was some talking - we couldn't 'work out' non-stop for the full hour! From others' comments, it seems the sessions vary with the Specialist who is leading them.
After the 12 week programme I used the pool for a weekly swim, but would have been able to attend any of the classes if I had wanted.
It is 8 years since I was diagnosed and would recommend it for someone who feels their inflammation is relatively 'stable' and well managed. I feel it would not be appropriate for someone newly diagnosed with PMR.
I've had PMR for 5yrs and go to my local gym most weekdays, but only for gentle exercise. There's no PMR experience amongst the few trainers there so I do my own thing. I've always exercised at the gym and know what I can and can't do. What I don't know, are the alternative things I maybe should be doing!
This course would help bring a new and more joint/muscle-centred approach to my exercise regime.
I am on my final week of the 12 weeks of instructor-led sessions. Then have 12 weeks free access to the gym, classes and pool and then a discount if I wish to join the gym after that. I have really enjoyed it and it has given me back my confidence and made me feel much stronger mentally and physically. We start the group session by talking about how we are feeling and exchanging any tips (not everyone enjoys this bit but I do). Then we get on with the exercise, which is not overly strenuous - I found it a little challenging to begin with, not having exercised for a good while but now I love it and can feel my body slowly getting fitter. We do group exercise in a room and in some sessions we all go down to the gym area together and use the machines. So we are always there to support one another. Our instructor is very understanding - everyone in my group has their own different aches and pains - and really encourages us all. I feel so much more positive from doing the programme and I would highly recommend it.
Ps I forgot to say - I had to miss a few sessions due to a holiday and a rotten cold but it didn’t matter - I just picked it up again.
Oh, and I have had PMR for 8 years - I agree with Rugger that it would not be good for someone newly-diagnosed with PMR.
I am in my third week. I was not assessed on arrival, nor has there been any detailed talk of my GCA. The cheery instructor is a little lackadaisical. I’m embarrassed to keep asking him if I am using the machine correctly. I fear pulling a muscle through inexperience and ineptitude. I have never been using machines in gym before. That said, quite a lot of people don’t come, and last week we were just three. It’s fascinating (yes: youth on phones) and I found it tiring. However, twice weekly sessions make the muscles respond, with machines targeting specific muscles that chair or floor based exercises fail to reach. I’m impressed that it’s a free programme and I am determined to carry on. Thank you to whoever posted the first information about it I’ve been sharing relentlessly!!!!
It certainly seems to differ from one gym to the next. For the whole 12 weeks, my sessions were studio-based and we never set foot into the part of the building where the machines and cycles etc were. All our exercises were floor or chair-based. It seems that Nuffield do not have a standard syllabus across the country, which is surprising.
Our Specialist was very experienced and at the end of our 12 weeks, he moved up to manage all the Rehab Specialists at 3 Nuffield establishments. Throughout the 12 weeks, the only absences were for holidays, as our Programme was last summertime - I think that says how confident we all felt in our trainer - there were 11 of us in the group.
I start on Monday 25/3. It is literally walking distance from my home and sounds pleasantly structured. 12 week classes then free use of all facilities including the pool for 12 weeks. Then £25 per annum gym membership thereafter. This earns Nuffield its charitable status. It sounds too good to be true. I will keep you posted.
The Joint Programme is completely free for us. Not membership dependent, the consessionary membership follows after 12 weeks of classes, then 12 weeks free use of the gym. When the U.K. is good, it is very, very good .
Joining the gym is great for the tendency to quit and there is a pool! We have lost so much active life.
In Australia our rental was literally 15 yards from a quiet lagoon. I bobbed about with an inflatable unfazed by being briefly joined by a gentle stingray. I think that was the turning point - something shifted. It is very tough and scary to get moving again after years of PMR and or GCA.
There are 3 Nuffield gyms in Edinburgh - all relatively close together and in the centre! Every one of them 17 miles from Nat's new house. What was wrong with being a bit more widely spaced?
I feel a pang when you say “Edinburgh”, you don’t want a glossy gym spoiling the medieval beauty. I received an unsolicited email from another gym offering a similar scheme. It may be worth shopping around a bit. I deleted it because I don’t like unsolicited emails, but it may be catching on especially gyms with charitable status.
Can't afford to live in Edinburgh!!! It is even flabbergasting how much more house you get for your money to the west of Dunfermline compared to the east side!
I know! I told you about the converted coal hole / bins, basement in my childhood home in New Town in the West End. It is now a beautiful flat going for £600,000. The house went with my dads work. I wanted my old playground badly.
Well near there. Somewhere with lovely architecture and a pristine beach apart from a dead seal that my crazy dog wanted to roll in to feel and smell divine. We always refer to it as Dumfries, er not Dunfermline.If it always had that glorious weather it would be rammed. X
Nuffield bought up existing gyms in Edinburgh from other companies (Greens and Virgin Active I think - possibly others) so the locations are just where the other gyms already were.
Maybe they will! They seem to be taking over! When I used to live in Edinburgh I was a member of the one at Slateford. I hadn’t realised it was now a Nuffield one.
There are 3 Nuffield gyms within a 6 mile radius of my house. I think 2 of them were other establishments that Nuffield has bought - the one I went to certainly used to be "Greens". It's the luck of the postcode again!
Hi kendrew l completed this course just before Christmas. It was well worth doing and found it really helped me build up my strength. We could go at our own pace with encouragement from the trainer. I ended up going to the gym twice a week doing a simple workout plus aqua aerobics. All included in free 6 months membership. I also made great friends. Unfortunately as l now have had a pelvic floor repair l am 6 weeks of recovery. The trainer is very good though as he will plan me a gradual phase back in routine and l will take up offer of reduced price gym membership.
I began the free 12 week course in Sept 2022, followed by another 12 weeks of free use of the gym and classes. I joined and continue to go to classes 3 or 4 times a week. It is very popular here, with all sorts of issues. We are not forced to do anything and are encouraged to work within our boundaries. If I book up a place on a pilates session, I ensure that I do not have to lay on the floor, so I book onto Chair Pilates. Why? I struggle to get back up. There are Tai Chi, Joint Pain, Wellbeing, various Pilates, Aquarobics, even kick boxing classes plus some that I have not got a clue as to what they do. I did a Tai Chi but found that tedious. I feel so much better as it keeps me moving.
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