The Arthritis Foundation and Ad Council are teaming up to help raise awareness in the fight against osteoarthritis pain. Through their “Get Moving” campaign, the organizations are providing informational tips, videos, podcasts and more to give everyone the tools they need to get moving and be healthy. Flexcin wants to help spread the word so we will be posting several blogs over the next few weeks to give our customers easy and quick access to these tips, exercises and resources. First off, if you want to fight your osteoarthritis…get off the couch! Moving is the best medicine to fight osteoarthritis pain. Thus…the “Get Moving” campaign! The Arthritis Foundation shows that regular, moderate exercise offers a whole host of benefits to people with arthritis. Mainly, exercise reduces joint pain and stiffness, builds strong muscle around the joints, and increases flexibility and endurance. It reduces inflammation from arthritis and related conditions and lowers the risk of other chronic conditions. It also helps promote overall health and fitness by giving you more energy, helping you sleep better, controlling your weight, decreasing depression, and giving you more self-esteem. Furthermore, exercise can help stave off other health problems such as osteoporosis and heart disease. So, it’s obviously a no-brainer. You’ve got to move. But sometimes it’s not so easy to get started. When you’re achy and sore, the last thing you want to do is exercise. Getting Started Starting an exercise program can seem like a daunting proposition. The important thing to remember is to start slow and make it fun. It is always good to start with flexibility exercises, which are basically stretching exercises that will improve your range of motion and help you perform daily activities. Check out the Get Moving website for clips of stretching exercise, weight training and endurance videos.

You may be reluctant to exercise because you are in such pain. If this is the case you may want to start with a water exercise program. In the water, your body’s buoyancy reduces stress on your hips, knees, and spine while building strength and increasing range of motion. There are many aquatic programs and exercises that are great for people with arthritis.

The Arthritis Foundation offers an entire range of exercise programs to help you get started. You can choose from all-around gentle exercises that increase joint flexibility, range of motion and muscle strength or aquatics that allow you to exercise without putting excess strain on your joints and muscles. There are also tai chi classes designed specifically for people with arthritis and a Walk with Ease program helping you take the first step toward developing a healthy walking habit.

How to Move and How Much to Move

When it comes to moving, the goal is to do it on a regular basis. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends that adults do a minimum of 2 hours and 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity (brisk walking, gardening) a week or 1 hour and 15 minutes each week of vigorous aerobic physical activity (jogging, aerobic dancing). Whether your activity is moderate or vigorous, keep moving.

There are many different goals for exercise. You want to keep your weight down in order to lessen impact and pressure on joints. You also want to strengthen the muscles around certain joints. And you want to increase your range of motion. So, how do you do it all? Just make sure your workout is well-rounded!

Check out the Get Moving website for details on the best way to slowly incorporate aerobic fitness, muscular fitness and flexibility into your routine.

Movement Tools

Now that you know how important it is to exercise and how often you should do it, here are some tools from the Get Moving Campaign to help you stay motivated to move.

Set your exercise goals and get moving with the Let’s Move Together movement tracker.

Get up and go with motivational podcasts that will psych you up to move.

Follow along at home with exercise videos you can watch online.

Stay flexible with tai chi, yoga and stretching.

Work on muscular fitness with weight-bearing exercises.

Keep an exercise log to track your progress.

In our next post we will take a closer look at osteoarthritis and delve into the causes and symptoms and how the Get Moving campaign can help thousands of people achieve the healthiest lifestyle possible when living with OA.