Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion Sporting ASKickers Am I making myself worse?

I joined the gym some weeks ago.

There is a different class every day (I currently go to one class a week) and every week each class varies it's focus. All kinds of exercise aids are used.

Initially, I found the classes hard and after a day or so settled back down to normal and felt my overall flexibility and fitness seemed to be improving. But over the weeks I am starting to feel worse and worse after every class and it is taking longer for me to feel back to normal.

It is not using muscels that I do not usually use that is the problem. I would expect to feel it a bit in my legs, arms, thighs etc. But I don't think I am imagining it, that my main AS sites seem to be getting seriously aggrevated.

My main problem areas are my neck (which also causes referred pain in the form of blinding headaches), shoulder blades, lower back, buttocks and feet. All these areas are causing me problems and after my class on Monday I am feeling the worst I have since I started.

Can I actually be making my AS worse here, instead of better?

Or do I just need to work through a pain barrier as I have not exercised like this in many years?

I am going to see the doctor for some advice, but wondered what you guys thought?

Hi Tink,
I would say gym work is ok for people who have done it for years and there body is used to it. You can easily over do it and its far more beneficial for your AS to do more stretching exercise.Swimming, Badminton is a great way to get fit and stretch I used to play a lot and really got a lot from it. Tennis is another good one. Why push yourself to the point of misery when you can get as much with stretching and feel better not worse.

Kevin

Thanks for your thoughts Kevin,
The reason I thought the classes might be good is because they involve at lot of deep breathing and yoga-like exercise as well as plenty of stretching and concentration on posture and muscel toning. It is not gym as in weights, rowing machines, treadmills etc.

I used to regularly do sport, fitness, swimming and yoga, but have not done any exercise really since my C-section 2 years ago which really made my fitness levels hit an all time low.

I suppose what I am really asking is: could doing the type of exercise i am doing in my class actually make my AS worse and cause me physical damage?
It seems to be making me feel better (stamina/breathing/flexibility/toning) and worse (AS sites aggrevated as mentioned) at the same time.

I suppose I feel I want to try and do something more than just walking to improve my fitness (swimming is out for me in the winter as I have no pool to go to) and I love the social aspect of meeting my friends and it is in the evening and gives me the only break I get from the house and children. There is not too much going on in this area and it is very rural.

I suppose the answer to whether you will cause damage depends on how advanced your AS is. Unless you have a lot of fusion then no it shouldn't cause damage providing your car full. Perhaps your trying to do too much too soon cut back a bit on the amount your doing then as you feel better try building it up again. I know its frustrating for you but its all about control of your limits.
I wish I could do more I hate being like a rigid stick but in my case its a no no.

Kevin

It IS frustrating isn't it?
I know how much things have been getting you down lately, Kevin and that your life has been affected in so many ways by your AS
My AS is not advanced and I have no fusion. I just get inflammation, swelling, pain, stiffness, fatigue etc and that is only when I am in a flare. I can feel fine most of the time.

AS and your body really seem to work against each other, don't they?
AS seems to sabatage any efforts you make to try and improve or ease your AS symptoms - by causing your body to flare up and get inflamed. It's just a senseless illness

I need to slow down, I can see that now. I was blindly hoping I could break through the pain barrier. I think the pain barrier is my AS flaring up because my body can't take the paces I am putting it through. Better just face facts.
Thanks for talking sense to me, Kevin

Are you walking Scoobs today? It is raining a lot here, not sure if I will take the kids for a walk - they have colds and coughs.

Your welcome Tink,
Yes its blowing a force 10 here and pouring hard took him early but keep putting off this afternoon he will have to go soon.

Kevin

Tink - IF it hurts, STOP. You will only exacerbate areas 'of' inflammation. I love cleaning paddocks and mucking out stables - great exercise as well. But...all that scooping ends up hurting my carpal tunnel, heaving shovel loads of poop and wheeling barrow loads of it and throwing it up onto the muck heap, exacerbates sacrum problems (ended up with a humungous bursitis one time!) Heaving those shovel loads cause inflammation in the shoulder girdle, and sure aint good for costo. Great - Not! Don't weaken, but take it easy.

Flippin bore. Sigh.

Go to the gym by all means, but, do NOT overdo it. Let yr body 'tell' you where you are at. So, it con't mean *Stop everything. Continue to go, but, be careful. Spell yourself.

Perhaps a word with yr instructor would be in order. The instructor should know which exercises are good for you, which ones need modification and which exercises to leave out of the regime altogether.

Go well - go carefully.

You are a brave pair
I think we are getting the same weather! Gale force winds and torrential rain are one hell of a combination aren't they?
It's lovely chatting with you, Kevin, you are such a sweetie

Hi Molly
Thanks so much for the advice!
You are a fine one to talk, cracking a rib and then skipping off to a rodeo event! lol Ooohhhh quickly running for cover
You are right I should speak to the instructor - I might need to hire an interpretor though! The subject of the workings of the human body and the effects of exercise did not come up in my idiots guide to French! Now put me in a restaurant or a supermarket and I am good to go!!!
How are your ribs by the way? Are you doing OK at the moment. This weather is rotten and I know you have a lot of outdoorsy stuff you have to attend to. We ought to have been neighbours, Molly. I think about you a lot, you know

I have been running for many years, since 1988. Years ago it took me a long time to increase my running distance. I had to work into longer distances very slowly or I would be in a lot of pain. I don't have that problem so much anymore. I am still careful. I will not go out and run 13 miles if I have only been running 6 miles in my training runs. I was worried when I ran the marathon in 2008. My longest run before the marathon was 21 miles. I had been running a lot of miles during the weeks and months leading up to the marathon. I was worried because I had never made that big a leap in distance before. It all worked out fine. I was not sore the day after.

After all that I am just saying work into new territory slowly.