Exercising with a Chronic Condition: Helpful or Hurtful?

A chronic condition is a health problem that you have over a long period of time, such as diabetes, heart disease, benign prostatic hyperplasia, or arthritis.

If you have a chronic condition, it may be difficult to deal with the ups and downs of your health problems. You may feel overwhelmed, tired, and depressed a lot of the time. Exercise may be the last thing on your mind. But it shouldn’t be. There is strong scientific evidence that regular exercise can help you with these feelings. It’s true that exercise will not cure the condition, but what it can do is help you to live with it better.

Tips for Exercising Safely

First, talk to your health care providers. They can give you advice about what types of exercise may work best for you.

• Be sensible. Recognize your limitations. Think about which exercises can help and which can harm.
• Start out very slowly. Exercise for short periods different times during the day. Little by little, build up your activities and how hard you work at them. Doing too much too soon can hurt you, especially if you have not been active.
• If you have balance problems, consider exercises that are less likely to make you fall. Swimming, riding a stationary bicycle, and seated exercises may work best for you. Exercise equipment with handles to steady yourself might be another option.
• If you’ve had surgery, it may take some time before you can start exercising. It depends on where your surgical wound is located and how it is healing.
• If you are experiencing pain and nausea, you need to get these problems under control first. Don’t try to tough it out. Ask your doctor for medications that can help before you begin an exercise program.
• If your condition puts you at risk for infections, you may want to avoid going to a gym or other public places. If you do, wash your hands frequently.

When can exercise be harmful?

Physical activity may help your condition, but only if it’s done during times when your condition is under control. During flare-ups, exercise could be harmful. If you have any of the following problems, it’s important to check with your doctor.

• Any new symptom you haven’t talked about with your doctor
• Chest pain
• Shortness of breath
• The feeling that your heart is skipping, racing, or fluttering
• Blood clots
• Infections or fever
• Unplanned or excessive weight loss
• Foot or ankle sores that won’t heal
• Joint swelling or severe joint pain
• Pain or trouble walking after you’ve fallen
• A bleeding or detached retina, eye surgery, or laser treatment
• A hernia
• Hip surgery
• Platelets less than 50,000 platelets per microliter

Safety Tips

Here are some things you can do to make sure you are exercising safely.

• Don’t hold your breath while straining — when using your muscles, for example. That could cause changes in your blood pressure. It may seem strange at first, but the rule is to breathe out while your muscle is working, breathe in when it relaxes. For example, if you are lifting something, breathe out as you lift; breathe in when you stop.
• If you are taking any medicines or have any illnesses that change your natural heart rate, don’t use your pulse rate as a way of judging how hard you should exercise. One example of this kind of medicine is a type of blood pressure drug known as a beta blocker.
• Use safety equipment to keep you from getting hurt. That means, for example, a helmet for bike riding or the right shoes for walking or jogging.
• Unless your doctor has asked you to limit fluids, be sure to drink plenty when you are doing activities that make you sweat. Many older people tend to be low on fluid much of the time, even when not exercising.
• Always bend forward from the hips, not the waist. If you keep your back straight, you’re probably bending the right way. If your back “humps,” that’s probably wrong.
• Warm up your muscles before you stretch. For example, do a little easy biking, or walking and light arm pumping first.

Exercises should not hurt or make you feel really tired. You might feel some soreness, a little discomfort, or a bit weary, but you should not feel pain. In fact, in many ways, being physically active will probably make you feel better.

 

Additional Resources

American College of Sports Medicine

P.O. Box 1440

Indianapolis, IN 46206-1440

317-637-9200

www.acsm.org

 

American Physical Therapy Association

1111 North Fairfax St.

Alexandria, VA 22314-1488

1-800-999-2782

www.apta.org

 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

1600 Clifton Road

Atlanta, GA 30333

1-800-311-3435

www.cdc.gov

 

Fifty-Plus Lifelong Fitness

P.O. Box 20230

Stanford, CA 94309

650-843-1750

www.50plus.org

 

The President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports

200 Independence Avenue, SW

Room 738-H, Dept. W

Washington, DC 20201-0004

202-690-9000

http://fitness.gov

 

Small Steps

www.smallstep.gov