Exercise is so good for inflammation, your body and your mental health. However, it’s important to find the right balance of exercise when you live with an autoimmune disease. Doing too much or too little can work against you. Here are my tips for finding the right balance for your exercise routine.
Find the Right Duration
The first step is to figure out how long your body can safely tolerate exercise. You should be able to finish a workout and not feel drained and exhausted the rest of the day and/or the day after. This may take some trial and error, and I would start off on the lower end of your duration ability and work your way up.
In addition, this exercise tolerance may increase as time goes on. So it is something you should test out every once and a while.
Find the Right Number of Rest Days
Next, figure out how many days a week you can do some form of exercise. I always recommend taking at least 1-2 rest days a week. If you are just starting out on an exercise routine, set a goal of at least 1 day per week. Once you feel like that is easy to do, increase it to 2 days, and so forth.
Your rest day doesn’t mean you do absolutely nothing. I use rest days to take a nice walk or easy stretch. It’s the one day you don’t have a planned exercise day, but you can still get out and move your body. Just make sure the intensity is very low.
Find the Right Mix
Now that you are exercising and moving your body, it’s important to find the right mix of exercise. Exercise can be broken down into 4 different components: cardio, strength, balance and flexibility.
Cardiovascular Training
For cardiovascular training, or “cardio”, the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommend that you get at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise per week. Moderate intensity exercise includes brisk walking, dancing, tennis, water aerobics or recreational cycling. Vigorous exercise includes things like running, hiking uphill, fast cycling, swimming laps or jump rope. You can also do a mix of different intensities to reach this goal. However, make sure the intensity matches your tolerance. If this seems like a lot at first, it’s something to work up to. The 150 minutes a week breaks down to 20 minutes a day, or 30 minutes a day for 5 days. This is also a minimum amount, so if you do more than this, great.
Strength Training
Strength training is something that many of us neglect but it’s incredibly important for our health, especially as we age. The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommend 2 days per week of strength training that targets all major muscle groups. This can be body weight, resistance bands or actual weights. Females should absolutely start a weight training program. As women age, our bone density declines. Using weights can help maintain that bone density. Heavy lifting is also recommended for perimenopause and menopause stages of life.
Balance and Flexibility
Balance and flexibility are the last 2 components of exercise. The ACSM recommends balance training 2-3 days per week. These can easily be worked into your daily life. Try standing on one foot while waiting in line, or stretch your legs while you watch your kids play sports. Yoga is a great combination of these. Mobility training is also fantastic for your body and joints. This is similar to stretching but focuses more on joint movement than stretching.
While this all seems like a lot, once you get a routine together it’s actually not that much. I focus on strength training 3 days per week. I fit in cardio either separately as my 2 other days, or I take 1-2 20 minute walks during the day. The flexibility and balance I do either during the day or on my 2 rest days per week.
Avoid Overtraining
Lastly, it is important to avoid overtraining. For one, people with autoimmune diseases can sometimes trigger flares if they overtrain. Also, it doesn’t make you feel good. Signs of overtraining include:
- Muscle soreness that lasts longer than normal
- Feeling tired and fatigued
- Poor sleep quality
- Not feeling recovered after exercising
- Lack of joy from things that made you happy
- Irregular bowel movements
If you are noticing some of these symptoms, it is a good idea to take a step back and give your body rest. As I always say, listen to your body because no one else can or will. Also, it’s super important to work with a qualified trainer when starting an exercise routine. They can help you monitor signs of overtraining while also making sure you are doing exercises (especially lifting) safely.
Finding balance within your exercise routine will help you stay healthy, consistent and focused. If you need help managing your autoimmune disease, please contact me. For more information on managing your autoimmune disease with diet and lifestyle, follow me on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.
