Living with fibromyalgia can be quite challenging as the symptoms can fluctuate in intensity and may impact various aspects of a person’s life, including work, relationships, and overall well-being. And unfortunately, there’s no cure for this condition.
Despite that, fibromyalgia can be managed with regular physical exercise. There’s considerable evidence that physical exercise can benefit all of the symptoms of fibromyalgia, including pain, fatigue, and sleep problems. Exercise can increase bone mass, improve balance, reduce stress, and improve strength — which are all helpful in managing this condition. Additionally, regular exercise can also help control your weight, which helps reduce the pain of fibromyalgia.
If you’re looking to manage fibromyalgia, the last you’ll need is any form of exercise that will cause you more chronic pain. This is why you must consider well-supervised, gentle, stress-free exercises. If you’re wondering where you’ll get that, we got you! In this blog post, we will share how Easy Exercising can help with Fibromyalgia through gentle, fun exercises.
What is fibromyalgia?
Before we discuss how Easy Exercising can help with fibromyalgia, it is important to understand what this condition is all about.
Fibromyalgia is a chronic disorder characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain, along with other symptoms such as fatigue, sleep disturbances, and cognitive difficulties. While the exact cause of fibromyalgia is unknown, researchers believe it involves a combination of genetic, environmental, and neurochemical factors.
One of the key aspects of fibromyalgia is central sensitization, which means that the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord) becomes hypersensitive and amplifies pain signals. This can lead to increased pain sensitivity throughout the body, even in response to normal stimuli that would not typically be painful.
Just think of your body in this case as a car and the nerves in your body as the wiring that sends signals to different parts of the car. Normally, these signals tell the body when to feel pain, how much energy to have, and how to think clearly. But with fibromyalgia, the wiring can become hypersensitive and send exaggerated or confusing signals.
So, it’s like the pain signal gets turned up too high, causing you to feel widespread pain and discomfort. The energy signal gets disrupted, making you feel tired and fatigued even when you’ve rested. And the thinking signal gets fuzzy, affecting your concentration and memory.
It’s common for individuals with fibromyalgia to experience unrefreshing sleep, waking up feeling tired and not fully rested. This can contribute to overall fatigue and impact daily functioning.
Cognitive difficulties, often referred to as “fibro fog,” are another common symptom of fibromyalgia. It can involve problems with memory, concentration, and mental clarity. People with fibromyalgia may find it challenging to focus on tasks, remember details, or organize thoughts.
You may also experience other symptoms like headaches, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), mood disorders like depression and anxiety, stiffness, muscle spasms, and sensitivity to various stimuli such as light, sound, or touch.
However, it is important to note that these symptoms can vary from person to person. The severity of symptoms and their impact on daily life can also differ. Managing fibromyalgia typically involves a multidisciplinary approach, including a combination of medications, physical therapy, exercise, stress management techniques, and lifestyle modifications tailored to each individual’s needs. We will take a deeper look at how exercise can help with fibromyalgia.
How exercise can reduce pain and fatigue associated with fibromyalgia
Exercise plays a crucial role in managing the pain and fatigue associated with fibromyalgia. While it may seem counterintuitive to engage in physical activity when you’re experiencing pain and fatigue, regular exercise can provide significant benefits. Here’s how exercise can help reduce pain and fatigue in fibromyalgia:
- Increased endorphins: Exercise stimulates the release of endorphins, which are natural pain-relieving and mood-boosting chemicals in your brain. These endorphins can help reduce pain perception, providing relief from fibromyalgia symptoms.
- Improved sleep: Regular exercise can contribute to better sleep quality, helping to alleviate the fatigue and sleep disturbances commonly experienced in fibromyalgia. This can also enhance overall energy levels and help you reduce daytime fatigue.
- Strengthened muscles and joints: Engaging in low-impact exercises, such as swimming, walking, or cycling, helps strengthen muscles and improve joint function. Stronger muscles can provide better support to the body, reducing strain on sensitive areas and potentially decreasing pain levels.
- Enhanced cardiovascular fitness: Aerobic exercises, such as brisk walking, dancing, or using an elliptical machine, can improve cardiovascular fitness. A stronger cardiovascular system can enhance overall endurance, reduce fatigue, and improve the body’s ability to cope with physical activities.
- Reduced stress and improved mood: Exercise acts as a natural stress reliever by promoting the release of endorphins and reducing stress hormones like cortisol. Regular physical activity can also enhance mood and reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety, which are often associated with fibromyalgia.
- Increased flexibility and range of motion: Incorporating gentle stretching exercises or activities like yoga or tai chi into your routine can help improve flexibility, loosen stiff muscles, and enhance joint mobility. This can lead to reduced pain and stiffness in individuals with fibromyalgia.
If you’re considering any exercise with fibromyalgia though, it’s best to begin slowly and gradually increase intensity and duration over time. This is why it’s important you work with a healthcare professional or a qualified exercise specialist, such as a physical therapist, who can help develop an individualized exercise plan tailored to your specific needs and limitations.
How Easy Exercising can help with fibromyalgia
While physical exercise is very crucial to managing fibromyalgia, patients are generally advised to avoid strenuous exercises to avoid overwhelming the body or experiencing a phenomenon called post-exertional malaise, where symptoms worsen after engaging in strenuous physical activity. So, what should you do to avoid this condition? Well, how about easy, gentle, stress-free exercises that do not cause chronic pain or overexertion to the body?
This is how Easy Exercising can help with your Fibromyalgia.
With our power-assisted equipment, you can experience a gentle full-body workout to help ease your pain without worsening your symptoms. The power-assisted machines carry the bulk of the exercise load so that you can relax and chat away while you get your health in order. You will also enjoy the support of qualified practitioners who will monitor, assist and offer suggestions and one-on-one support to make sure you’re on the right track.
Above all, we have a family where you’ll get to meet similar people who will all support you through your journey. I mean, the last thing you’ll need is an unsupportive environment where you don’t feel welcome or lack proper motivation and support. You can come check out any of our locations in Brisbane to see for yourself… And you’ll get a FREE session for doing so!!!
Sounds like a family you’d like to be part of?
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"I had a very good hour doing Easy Exercising which isn’t hard on your joints. I think it’s good for any over fifties to try as they will find it so good for their different problems or just to have some general exercise. There is a qualified person supervising you on each machine & its a very sociable environment." - Margaret
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