Best water exercises? | Arthritis Information

 

My son absolutely loves to swim and we have a year round indoor pool in the village.  There aren't many exercise programs that I can do due to having a small child but I thought that if I could learn what exercises are most beneficial, I could do them on my own while I'm in the pool with him.  Anyone have any experience with water exercise?  My main areas of concern are wrists/hands and ankles/feet.  Some elbows, too.Well Sunam it hasn't done me any good weight wise - but the doctor swears it's because of the prednisone...

At our local YMCA, they designate lanes for walking.. I bought new shoes to wear in the water that have little gills in the back that give more resistence.. Walking around the shallow end; lap swimming.  My shoulders can't take too much regular swimming at times, so I grab a kick board and do laps just using my legs to power me.  I also put on swim fins to increase the resistance when doing laps.


JasmineRain2008-08-03 19:24:15My aquatic PT focused on walking/marching forward, walking backward (exercises different muscles), squats, walking sideways with squats in between (if that makes any sense), calf raises (get up on your toes just a little while holding on to the side, squenching your butt muscles), and things like that.  Key points are keep your shoulders back and down, keep breathing, and keep your weight over your knees (hips, knees and ankles all in a vertical line, not leaning over one way or the other).  Hope that helps a little.I went swimming at a friend's pool and didn't really excercise. Did some kicking on a noodle, floated on my back alot, and swam across the pool under water. It's just one of those round pools. Well, when I got out about a half hour later, I felt so bad. I felt like I weighed a ton and could hardly move. Has this happened to anyone? I am too afraid to go back because of that. I was sore for days. Do you think that was just because I am so out of shape or cuz' of ra or any ideas? [QUOTE=CinDee]I went swimming at a friend's pool and didn't really excercise. Did some kicking on a noodle, floated on my back alot, and swam across the pool under water. It's just one of those round pools. Well, when I got out about a half hour later, I felt so bad. I felt like I weighed a ton and could hardly move. Has this happened to anyone? I am too afraid to go back because of that. I was sore for days. Do you think that was just because I am so out of shape or cuz' of ra or any ideas? That's what I thought too. In the water you feel so light and when I got out I felt like a Mack truck fell on me. I could hardly even pull myself out of the pool. My hubby was pulling and my son was pushing my butt. Maybe I will try it again and not do so much. Tomorrow might be good since it's supposed to be in the upper 90's with the heat index in the hundreds.In all the years I've had RA, I was physically at my best the time I did water exercise/pool therapy.  I highly recommend it, get a dvd or find some info online, take a short session from a aquatic exercise instruction or a physical therapist.  The resistance of water as you move through it strengthens your muscles, and the bouancy supports you, helping do stretching movements.  And its relaxing.  Take care. I actually joined the Arthritis Assoc. water exercise program years back. You exercise and then you put a vest on and swim laps at your own pace. Pretty good. However I have gone into the hot tub after and was so drained I could hardly drive home. Felt like a cooked noodleYou can do as much or as little as you want in the water.  I take several different aqua classes each week.  some we focus solely on cardio work where we will run in the water, do jumps, kicks skiing type moves.  some days we spend a bit more time on strength and we work with buoys and noodles.  we will also put on flotation belts and work in deep water.  The arthritis foundation has a dvd for sale you can use to get started.  Oh and one more thing...ideal water temp for therapeutic exercising is 80-82 degrees Fahrenheit.  My therapist said to make sure I went to a pool that was warm enough because even some indoor pools are only kept in the 70's.  I know when I go in the outdoor pool, I can only do a little or I'll be hurting badly afterwards.
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