Fibromyalgia And Exercise - Fibromyalgia Makes You Difficult To Exercise But You Can't Afford Not To

Fibromyalgia and exercise - the magic starts with exercise.

It greatly relieves your condition by strengthening your muscles, gives you a sense of well-being and de-stresses you.

Oh, My.........

I'm told fibromyalgia should be pronounced as "fie-bro-my-al-jia".....

And exercise does help to relieve your fibromyalgia syndrome.

However, there's a dilemma here if you've fibromyalgia.

You shouldn't exercise because of your condition and in fact you should limit your exercise and physical activities so you won't exacerbate your condition.

But, on the other hand, you can't afford NOT to exercise because exercise helps to relieve your condition by arresting the downhill going of your muscular and cardiovascular deconditioning that cause loss of their functions.

See what I mean?

What's the best solution?

Exercise in moderation.

Cardios , strength training , stretching and Pilates are all considered as appropriate exercises you can do.

Now let's stop here a sec and go back to fibromyalgia and exercise stuff to clear up what's fibromyalgia and fibromyalgia syndrome (known as FS in short form).

Note: A syndrome is defined as several signs and symptoms which occur together

Fibromyalgia mainly affects your muscles, ligaments and tendons.

Generalized pain is the most prominent feature. You would have aches or pains and stiffness in areas around your upper back, lower back, shoulders, neck and hips. Discomfort may start on one area, then spread to others over time.

The aches or pains are usually affected by weather conditions, sleep patterns, activity level and stress.

You would be complaining of having tension and migraine headaches, abdominal pain, bloating and bladder spasms and irritability that cause urinary urgency or frequency.

You often go through the day feeling like you've the flu and you feel listless and no energy to do even simple chores and tasks.

Your concentration also wanes, making you more susceptible to emotional strain and sometimes depression.

For you, just getting out of bed and moving about can be a painful and challenging task.

That's why the dilemma situation comes in.....

To exercise, you fear it'll worsen your condition....

Not to exercise, your condition will deteriorate....

But fibromyalgia and exercise go hand-in-hand, so you shouldn't hesitate now.....

As you would be grappling with aches or pains, fatigue and stiff and tight muscles, the exercise you do must be gentle and slow enough, that places lots on quality of movement and absolutely with no pain....

I reckon you would like to know a gentle and safe enough routine to kickstart your exercise program?

How about structuring your routine like this?

• Begin and end your exercise routine with a gentle stretching, to soothe tightness in your muscles and to increase their mobility
• Once you can comfortably perform the basic stretches, strength training with light weights can be added to your routine, 2 to 3 times per week.

  Your concern here is not how much weight you can lift but the "quality" of movements you can take your muscles through

Note: If you use too heavy weights and/or doing the movements incorrectly, you'll risk injury and muscular micro-trauma may set in to potentially worsen your symptoms

• Then add in a low impact cardio like walking , 3 times per week for duration of 20 - 40 minutes

And I want to add that when you're really comfortable with these 3 exercises, then you might want to kickstart a Pilates toning routine, which is said to be an ideal exercise program for people with fibromyalgia!

So there.

Fibromyalgia and exercise are meant for each other and I would say may be, the best solution to your dilemma.....

By consistently and regularly doing exercise. It's OK to back off or take a day off when FS overwhelms you. Just don't absent yourself from exercising for too long a period.

With gentle stretchings, strength training and cardio conditioning, you can expect to see improvement in your health and fibromyalgia could be only a minor "thing" to you.

May be I can introduce Chad to you?

I think it's good to discuss your plans with him. By the way, Chad is a certified trainer and I know he can help you to develop your exercise program and guide you as you progress along.

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