Exercising From Home - Arthritis Action

Keeping active and exercising doesn’t have to be expensive. Going to the gym is one way to remain fit and active, however there are other ways of remaining active if you find yourself unable to leave the house or are trying to cut down on your expenditures. In this article, we have set out some simple advice below on how to stay more active from home.

Exercising Top Tips

If you have arthritis, it is vital that you try to stay active or increase your level of activity, as this can help reduce pain, improve function and keep you more active.
Building your muscles and improving your balance doesn’t have to be hard. It can even be done during your everyday activities around the house.
Exercise does not have to be very vigorous to produce benefits. Even gentle stretching or Tai Chi can improve balance and help keep the joints moving, and simple walking can dramatically improve fitness and reduce joint pain.
If you are quite active and feel sore the following day, this is completely normal and will settle after a day or so. The pain after exercise will eventually become less if you keep going. Exercise will not do any harm to your joints, and will actually help to build the muscles which protect and support your joints.
Always listen to your body and take lots of breaks, especially if any activity is making you feel tired or sore in your muscles or joints.
Speak to your GP or healthcare professional before starting any new strenuous exercises to make sure that you do it safely. At Arthritis Action, we can also give you advice on exercising safely.

Ways to Stay Active at Home

Try standing on one leg while brushing your teeth to improve your balance. If you struggle at first, you can hold onto the sink with one hand while raising one foot slightly in the air.
When you walk around the house, pretend to be walking along an imaginary tightrope where you can only put one foot in front of the other. You can follow a line in the floor or on a carpet to guide you.
Standing up from a sitting position is a good strength and balance exercise. You can challenging yourself to standing up and sitting down again it a certain amount of times, each time you stand up.
Wall press ups or press ups against the sofa can be a safe way of strengthening the upper body.
There’s no need to buy weights to start weight training from home. Try using a tin of food or bottle of water (using different sizes depending on your strength) can strengthen the arms and shoulders from home.
Carrying bags of shopping can be another great way to strengthen your muscles.
Push yourself by using stairs wherever you can, even if a lift is available. If you feel confident, going up two steps at a time creates a deeper-than-normal movement that can help strengthen your muscles over time.
While vacuuming the house, try lunging instead of walking as normal. This can be great to build lower body strength.
Finally doing a lunge movement if using the vacuum can be great for lower body strength.
In the garden, weeding can be good for strengthening your grip, arms and shoulders. Pulling weeds from a kneeling or sitting position can be safe and effective.
Lifting and walking with a wheelbarrow helps to build your muscles, as long as you make sure to only lift a safe amount.

Home Stretches

Below are two of the most effective stretches for dealing with stiff joints, painful muscles, or headaches which commonly effect those of us who sit and work in one position for extended periods.

Remember, try to get moving and warm up before you stretch to gain maximal benefit. Even just getting up from your desk to make yourself a cup of tea will help!

Aim to stretch several times throughout the day, prioritising the end of a seated working session or at the end of your working day.

The Neck Stretch

Sit upright and firmly hold the underside of your chair with a straight arm. Gently lean away from that hand and feel the stretch on the side of the neck. Hold it for 20 deep breaths. Once done, do the same using your other arm.

This stretch aims to release tension commonly felt in the muscle in the back and sides of the neck, running up to the base of the skull. Tension here often leads to soreness and tension headaches if we sit for too long at a desk.

Chest-Shoulder Stretch

Stand up and place one hand against the wall. Make sure the fingers of your hand are facing behind you. Step forward with the leg nearest the wall, and feel the stretch across your arm, chest and shoulder. Hold for 20 deep breaths. Once done on one side, turn around and try with your other hand.

This stretch focuses on opening up the chest and shoulder muscles that have moved forward to enable your work at a PC/laptop. It is important to release this tension, as not doing so alters your posture and places tension on your upper back and neck in the long term, which can lead to aching muscles and headaches.