Burn Calories, Get Sweaty and Decrease your Discomfort from Fibromyalgia
The chronic pain associated with fibromyalgia can seem overwhelming to anyone struggling with this disorder. You can take control and decrease your discomfort by adding aerobic activity to your daily lifestyle. Aerobics, in the traditional sense, are the fun classes or activities you find at your local gym.
You can also buy DVD’s to enjoy aerobics at home. But burning calories and getting an aerobic workout today can take many different forms. To help you burn calories and decrease your discomfort form fibromyalgia try out some water aerobics, walking, heated water classes, bike riding or weight training. Getting your body moving is the key component to feeling better with aerobic activity and your fibromyalgia.
Water Aerobics if Fun and Effective
If you have joint pain, water aerobics is going to be a great choice for you to use as your cardiovascular activity. Water aerobics is a fun and effective way to get your heart rate up while enjoying some time with your peers. You will find many other people who struggle with fibromyalgia are turning to water aerobics. Because the water limits the impact of the aerobics on your joints, water aerobics may be the best exercise around for people who have fibromyalgia. Try taking a variety of classes to find the class that fits you the best. You can also ask your friends and family for recommendations to classes in your area.
Walking to get your Aerobic Heart Rate Up
No matter where you are or what you are doing you can get your aerobic heart rate up by doing some walking. Walk around your office on your break time, walk around the local mall if the weather if bad or walk around your neighborhood with your children. Walking is a great way to burn calories, get sweaty and decrease your discomfort from fibromyalgia. Use walking as a fill in exercise between your other actives throughout the week. Fibromyalgia pain sometimes makes you feel like you do not want to exercise, but aerobic activity will help your body rid itself of toxins and is a key to feeling better and feeling less pain.
Join a Class and Have some Fun
The best way to experience aerobics is in a fun class at your local gym. Classes are sometimes themed or specific to a brand of aerobics. Most are high energy and full of lots of fun. If you are new to working out it may be difficult to make it through a full class. Talk to the instructor before the class begins so you can work out some modified moves for you to use if the regular moves are too hard for you. Most gyms will have a schedule of all the classes available and on the schedule it will list the difficulty level of each class. Pick a beginner class and move up to the more advanced programs.
Turn up the Heat and Warm Water Workouts
Some gyms will offer aerobics and Pilate’s classes that are in a warmer room. This is not for the novice person, exercising in a warm room can quickly make you overheat. But if you are feeling adventurous, this type of workout is a great way to loosen your joints quickly and to rid your body of toxins. Make sure to drink plenty of water.
Another warm aerobics option is warm water aerobics. Some gyms have a special pool that is heated just for warm water exercising. This allows you to feel the comfort of the warm water on your muscles while you are getting your workout in.
Ride a Bike to Build Your Aerobic Stamina
If you want to try something a little different for your aerobic exercise, head over to a bike riding class at your local gym. These are called spin classes and will surely get your heart rate up. The benefit of riding a bike to build your stamina is that you can sit down or stand up to change the intensity. Spin classes are a fun way of biking within a group of people; they involve high energy instructors and music to really make the class fun. Of course they are also a great way of building up your cardiovascular stamina.
Combine some Light Weights to Build Muscle
Aerobics and aerobic activity are important to your overall health. So is building muscle, make sure to incorporate some light weights into your physical fitness routine. Some aerobics classes will have you do light weights while you are doing the class. This is a great use of your time and will result in stronger muscles that will support your joints more effectively.
You can use other simple household items to build your muscles if you do not get a chance to go to the gym. Try using some cans of vegetables to do light activity around your home, or lifting your children as a way to build muscle when a set of weights is not handy.
Remember to Cool Down with Stretching
As part of any aerobic workout you should include some cool down and stretching in your routine. If you are attending classes, this might be part of the classes. If you are doing aerobics on your own, you may need to add this step at the end of your workout. Taking the time to cool down your muscles is an essential step in helping prevent injury to your muscles. Stretching your muscles is also going to help prevent injury.
Aerobics is a great way to fight against the painful symptoms of fibromyalgia. You can do a traditional aerobics class at your gym, workout DVD at home, or any number of other aerobic activities. Keeping your muscles moving and participating in these aerobic activities will help your fibromyalgia symptoms and help you reduce the toxins that build up when you are sedentary. Take the time to eat right, drink water and exercise and you will certainly see a decrease in the discomfort from your fibromyalgia symptoms.
Further reading:
Fibromyalgia: Aerobic Fitness for Fibromyalgia
http://www.spine-health.com/conditions/fibromyalgia/fibromyalgia-aerobic-fitness-fibromyalgia
Water Exercise for Fibromyalgia: Easing Deep Muscle Pain
http://www.webmd.com/fibromyalgia/features/water-exercise-for-fibromyalgia-easing-deep-muscle-pain
Aerobics and Fibromyalgia: http://www.fibromyalgia-symptoms.org/fibromyalgia_aerobics.html
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