Gain, No Pain! Easy Exercises To Manage Pain While Getting Fit
When you’re suffering from any kind of pain, whether you’re recovering from an injury or dealing with something like fibromyalgia, finding the best exercises to manage pain can be a real struggle.
We’re all taught to associate exercise with pain, to begin with. No pain, no gain, right?
But when you are suffering from pain, the idea of a workout is going to seem absolutely horrifying. Not only do conventional workouts often make your pain worse, but it can lead you to lose motivation entirely.
If a workout is making you miserable, of course, you’re not going to bother to do it.
Fortunately, there are plenty of alternative exercises to manage pain. And they aren’t going to leave you lying in a painful heap on the floor of the gym.
Exercises To Manage Pain
The key is finding the right exercises for what you want to achieve. Here are some exercises to manage pain, reduce it and even get rid of it:
1⃣ Yoga
There’s a lot of stigma around yoga. People seem to assume that, because you’re not lifting weights or running miles, it doesn’t give you a particularly good workout. But yoga is actually a fantastic, low-impact workout.
It’s a surprisingly effective way to build muscle and burn calories. Think about it like this: you’re still lifting when you perform certain yoga poses, it’s just that the weight you’re lifting is your own body.
Not only that but the breathing and meditation that are involved in yoga have been shown to improve both the physical and psychological pain in things like fibromyalgia.
If you’re suffering from any form of pain, maintaining strength and flexibility is extremely important. Try these fantastic stretches for your hips that can help increase your mobility while providing a solid workout.
2⃣ Walking
Perhaps one of the most simple exercises to manage pain. The fact that walking is something that most people can do at any time makes it that much more shocking how often it’s neglected as a workout.
If you’re looking to stay active and mobile, but pain is preventing you from being able to do any more high-intensity exercises, then walking is ideal.
Walking is one of the most effective light aerobic exercises to manage pain that you can do, helping bring oxygen into your lungs, bloodstream and muscles, as well as building strength and stamina.
One of the hardest things, when you’re suffering from any sort of pain, is maintaining the strength in your muscles. Walking is a great way to ensure that your muscles stay active without pushing yourself too hard.
And the best thing about walking is that you are always in a position to choose your own pace and intensity. You can choose to walk on flat paths and roads, or, if you’re in the mood for a challenge, to try climbing hills and mountains.
Not only is this an awesome workout, but it’s also a fabulous opportunity to get out into the great outdoors.
3⃣ Weightlifting
This one might come as a bit of a surprise. Weight lifting is the sort of workout that’s usually associated with huge bodybuilders racking up huge amounts onto the bar and straining until their veins are practically bursting.
But at its core, strength training is a highly effective, low-impact workout that anyone can do. The key is to start small.
Use light weights and lift with slow, precise movements. This will help build up weaker muscles as well as any that have lost strength through lack of use.
This can be a great method of reducing levels of fatigue as the muscles become stronger and use less effort to function.
Over time you can increase the weight that you’re lifting but make sure that you do this slowly and carefully. A good rule of thumb is to see if you can raise the weight twelve times easily, without exerting much effort at all, you may be ready to increase the weight.
Of course, when you do increase the weight then make sure to do so slowly and gradually.
Another great thing about strength training is that you can vary your workout to cover various areas. Not only does this work out much larger areas of your body but also helps keep your workout varied and exciting.
This is an excellent way to avoid getting bored and making sure that you stay motivated.
4⃣ Just Stay Active
This might seem completely obvious, but the very best thing that you can do to get exercise while suffering from pain is to stay active as much as you can.
Doing jobs around the house, playing with your kids, walking the dog. All of these simple exercises to manage pain can keep you active and prevent any loss of muscle strength.
Keeping your muscle strength up is the best way to help to manage your pain and ensure that it doesn’t prevent you from being able to live your life however you want.
Don’t push yourself too far and make sure to rest when you need to. But being able to stay active in your day to day life will make a huge amount of difference.
Most Important
If you remember one thing and one thing only, it should be this: Exercise should not be painful.
We’re all supposed to believe that a workout hasn’t been effective if you’re not left barely able to walk afterward. But this really couldn’t be farther from the truth.
A workout should be difficult, sure, but pain is never a good sign. If you’re working out regularly and are taking care of your body, then you’re probably doing just fine.
Don’t feel like you have to push yourself past what your body can handle in order to get the best workout. If you’re suffering from pain of any sort, please make sure to consult your doctor before starting any exercise regime of any sort.
