While you may worry that exercising with osteoarthritis (OA) could harm your joints and cause more pain, research shows that people can and should exercise when they have osteoarthritis. In fact, exercise is considered the most effective, non-drug treatment for reducing pain and improving movement in patients with osteoarthritis.

What Exercises Work Best for Osteoarthritis?

Each of the following types of exercises plays a role in maintaining and improving the ability to move and function. Walking and aquatic exercises are particularly good for most people with osteoarthritis.

Range of motion or flexibility exercises

Range of motion refers to the ability to move your joints through the full motion they were designed to achieve. These exercises include gentle stretching and movements that take joints through their full span. Doing these exercises regularly can help maintain and improve the flexibility in the joints, and our Fitness PILATES classes focus on all of these in every class.

Strengthening exercises

These exercises help maintain and improve muscle strength. Strong muscles can support and protect joints that are affected by arthritis. Again, our Fitness PILATES classes all incorporate strengthening exercises.

Aerobic/endurance exercise

These exercises strengthen the heart and make the lungs more efficient. Aerobic exercise also reduces fatigue and builds stamina, while helping control weight by increasing the number of calories the body uses. Examples of this type of exercise include walking, jogging, bicycling, swimming, etc, and our DanceFIT or WalkFIT classes, too!

Walking

Easy on the joints, walking comes with a host of benefits. One major plus is that it improves circulation – and wards off heart disease, lowers blood pressure and, as an aerobic exercise, strengthens the heart. It also lowers the risk of fractures (by stopping or slowing down the loss of bone mass) and tones muscles that support joints. Our WalkFIT classes will help you achieve all this.

Always follow the advice from your doctor or physical therapist. In general, range-of-motion exercises should be done every day.

Read more from this article, taken from The Arthritis Foundation ...