Exercise is essential for everyone to maintain and promote optimal health.
Pain can make it hard to exercise, thus reducing health.
However, exercise can also improve pain, so knowing how to exercise when you have pain has two main purposes:
- Reducing pain
- Improving and optimising health
One of the most important points to remember when exercising with pain is to try to exercise with normal movements, posture and technique.
This means that you may have to start with very simple exercises such as walking and using light weights before slowly progressing towards more challenging exercises.
This combined with pacing (the Goldilocks principle) can help you improve rapidly.
These techniques are covered in this exercise module as well as in the restoring normal movement module.
Safe exercise
Exercise should be safe and feel good!
*If you are concerned about your health and safety with exercise, consult your doctor prior to starting*
*If you experience chest pain, excessive shortness of breath or feel faint with exercise, consult your doctor before starting*
*Read the Safe exercise topic below*
Content:
Safe Exercise – how to exercise safely when you have pain and other medical conditions
Goldilocks and exercise – not too little and not too much exercise. Two videos demonstrate the use of a very important pacing strategy for exercising with pain
Gait retraining – the why and how of walking as normally as possible (not limping or protecting your back). Includes balance exercises and videos
Steps, lunges and squats – three videos to desensitise and move your lower limbs better
Progressing exercise – how to do more
Developing an exercise plan – a guide to develop your own exercise program that will be emailed to you
