How to start an exercise routine when you have Fibromyalgia

This month the Fibro Blogger Directory is running a series on answering questions about fibromyalgia that readers have sent in. One of the readers asked this question:

Can you please help explain how I can get started with exercising – I want to but can’t get up off the lounge most days and can’t even do all my housework From Fleur in Pasadena.

This is a question I have long tried to avoid answering, except in sarcastic form. Exercise and Fibromyalgia is a fraught subject. Too many people in pain have gone to their doctor begging to find answers to their health problems, only to be told that exercise is the cure. Patients who have so little energy that can can barely pull themselves out of bed, clean their house, or take a shower are told that exercise is the cure to their fatigue. This of course, is less than helpful advice and so I often ridicule it.

Telling someone who can’t even get out of bed to use their limited energy to exercise is not only hurtful, it’s actually dangerous. Yet doctors continue to insist that exercise is helpful, and patients continue to insist that it makes their symptoms worse. So where does that leave us?

Telling someone who can't even get out of bed to use their limited energy to exercise is not only hurtful, it's actually dangerous. Click To Tweet

I think that doctors are right that exercise is important with Fibromyalgia, but they are wrong about the type and intensity. Most people with Fibromyalgia shouldn’t be killing themselves running 5 miles a day, and then coming home and spending the rest of the day in bed dealing with the side effects. Exercise should start slow, and should be very gentle.

The key to exercising with Fibromyalgia is to start slow, and know your limits. Click To Tweet

Where to start with exercising

People with Fibromyalgia should start with lower impact options such as:

• swimming
• water aerobics
• biking
• walking
• tai chi
• yoga

The key is to start slow and know your limits. Your doctor may want you to exercise 30 minutes a day, but only you know if that’s possible. Even if you just start with doing 5 minutes of yoga a day, stretching out your muscles will be helpful. It might take some experimenting to find what works for you, but there are yoga routines out there for everything. You can find yoga for Fibromyalgia, for the bedridden, for chronic pain etc.

Once you find a routine that works for you start to increase the amount of time you spend exercising, even if it’s only a small increase. I started out this school year by simply walking around the block every morning. After a long summer and a severe bout of kidney stones, that was all I could manage. Since then I’ve built myself up to about 3 miles a day on average. Some days it’s less, some days it’s more, it just depends how I’m doing physically.

When exercise seems impossible

You may be rolling your eyes at this article thinking “I could never exercise like that, my illness is too severe.” I know this because I’ve done it many times before. It seems like people that are the most functional are the ones always touting the benefits of exercise (and oftentimes it’s people who claim to be cured ). When I feel this way I try to remember:

• It’s not a contest. Which is a good thing, because I would definitely lose to all those nuts who still retain the ability to run.
• Something is always better than nothing. You probably won’t be running a 10k anytime soon, but even if you can make it around the block, or through 10 minutes in the pool, or through 5 minutes of stretching, that is enough.
• Different things work for different people. I like to walk (since I don’t have access to a pool). But for some that is not the right kind of exercise. Don’t let your doctor or anyone else pressure you into hurting your body through the wrong form of exercise.
• Don’t forget the mental health benefits of exercise. Some days exercise actually hurts me physically more than it helps, but I do it anyway. It sounds crazy, but it really helps my mental health to get out of the house and walk around my neighborhood. I come home in more pain, but in a much better mood. Managing the balance between physical and mental health is something that I have to to continually.

Exercising with Fibromyalgia will never have easy answers because every person is completely different, but hopefully these tips will help to get a few people started.

What types of exercise have you found to work for you?