Question:
Can anyone recommend appropriate exercises FM in general.
Answer:
The appropriate exercises depend a great deal on the individual. Gentle
aerobic exercises that do not put too much strain on the body are best, as
far as improving the fm symptoms. Examples are swimming, walking, and
tai-chi. I find walking where it is level is good, because I can walk a
long way and get some aerobic benefit, but if there are even one or two
small hills, I get worn out very quickly. Swimming is great for me because
it takes all the pressure off my legs.
Stretching exercises are good to help with muscle cramping, and are
essential to preparing for aerobic exercise so we don't hurt ourselves.
Yoga can be useful, but other stretching routines may work as well.
Some people are able to include light weight lifting in their regimine,
but others find that this is too painful.
Everybody agrees that it is important to start exercise very very slowly
and then build slowly. Slowly may mean only 5 or ten minutes a day to
start with, and adding just a minute or two at a time once that is
comfortable. Each person needs to figure out what works for them.
I used to exercise a lot before I became ill, and I found I had to learn a
whole new approach to exercise. Even "building up endurance slowly" means
something different now that I have FM-- like the difference between the
race between the tortise and the hare. I used to be a hare, now I am a
tortise! For example, I have found that there is a limit to what I can do
all at once. I have been able to gradually build up to 20 minutes or a
half hour at once, but I can't seem to go beyond that. But I found that
I_can_ do 20 minutes in the morning, at lunch, and in the evening and get
an hour of exercise a day that way. I know other people with FM who have
no problem at all building up to an hour exercise session. So it is really
important to find out what works for you.
Gardening is a way to get exercise too, but don't over do it the way I did
this weekend! Take plenty of breaks. Housework counts as exercise. But
vaccuuming and washing floors seem to be especially painful, for some
reason-- somebody actually studied this and found that the back and forth
motions and bending really did cause more pain for people with FM. The
study, if I remember right, said that going up and down stairs was also a
problem.
The National Fibromyagia Partnership (USA. Formerly the Fibromyalgia
Association of Greater Washington, DC) has a list of stretching and
exercise videos online with info on where to purchase them. Select
books/videos and scroll way down:
http://www.fmpartnership.org/
I haven't tried these videos, but I have heard that the stretching videos
are helpful while the exercise videos are a bit too strenuous for many. So
folks say they use them by only doing part of what is in the video to
scale it to their abilities, then adding on as they are able.
Taking calcium and magnesium, and getting plenty of dietary potassium and
fluids is extremely important with FM. I take breaks and drink sports
drinks and/or plain water and I spread out doses of calcium and magnesium
during the day. The potassium and fluids help get the calcium and
magnesium into the tissues. This helps get the muscle pain and cramping
under control. For me it makes the difference between being able to
exercise gently and not being able to exercise at all. If you search this
discussion list on Deja news, you will find a number of discussions about
magnesium, etc.
