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

I don't know what your Doc is going to say and I'm sure he or she is wiser than me. I like the gym and even do light, very light weight work.

I would never just give up going to the gym but I test to see what workout or machines or activities end up causing discomfort. I try to build a routine. That is only one thing for a mont, then add something new so if there's a problem I can establish cause and effect and remove the new addition to my routine. and so on.

A class that varies each week doesn't give you enough feedback to let you determin e what is causing the pain. Is it one exercise, exercise in general or a few of the exercises.

Good advice, Orch
Appreciate you giving me a working example there from your personal experience.

I thought doing one class a week WAS taking it slowly, but maybe I just didn't want to admit that even one class is way out of my comfort zone at the moment.

I have been swimming plenty through the summer and added walking into my almost daily routine now.
I thought this was enough to prepare me for an exercise class.
Especially as some of my friends do three classes per week with no problem.
I am obviously not in the same league and need to tone it right down.

However spoilt I sound, I just don't want to!
As the day is going on though, having been resting/gently stretching my pain is increasing and I can feel myself stiffening up especially in my neck, shoulders, upper and lower back. I think this is more than just straining myself in the class, I am flaring and it really hurts.

Thanks so much for the input, I really appreciate it

Hi Steve
You make a very good point about the variety of exercise making it difficult to determine what movements are causing the problem. Sounds obvious now you have said it! lol

As I go through the class, anything which does not feel quite right or actually causes me pain, I stop straight away and have a drink of water and breath for a bit. I step back in when I am on safer ground, but even doing this is not enough to stop me from being in pain afterwards.

I could not even consider going to a class the way I feel today. I went to the last class on Monday and have been gradually feeling worse not better.

The gym class is obviously not something I can continue with at the moment.

I am not sure what the doctor will say either, but I can at least get some advice about what low impact activities I can do in my area and what he recommends.

Thanks for taking the time to offer me some much valued advice

Just a thought Tink - how's abuot checking IF the CHU Bordeaux has Spondy exercise classes going there? Know that is summat that EULAR are wanting to/hoping to introduce in France, know NOT available here in Britany, but, might be available at a first class hospital like CHU Bordeaux. Have you been to see the rheumy consultant there as yet?

Back a step - neighbours? Ya never know kiddo. Feel a move coming on...hahaha Will be looking for a cheap house with largish rooms and an open fireplace. Will need 'good' storage, and enough room for hundreds of books. Plus a small garden - but NO hedges! Prefer mains drains etc...fosse septic are a devil of a pain

Rain here, high winds, not too cold, just utterly vile (the chucks are fed up with it, they are drenched through, poor dears.)

Take care - BTW have you got Pilates classes near to you? Pilates are excellent.

Hi Molly
Have been preparing my AS notes and covering letter to present to my doctor. This latest episode has spurred me on to get down there ASAP. Will take it from there and see what he wants to do with me! lol

The house you are describing... is my house! I am not joking! I need a bigger garden and more rooms as I currently have a small garden and big rooms but not many of them! I feel a move coming on too Once the bug gets you it doesn't let go!

Might take me a time to sell mine, but then I could buy yours...haha Enough room for me chucks in yr garden?

What a fun solution that would be - most amusing. MUST get down to see you come spring - want to see my chums down there as well, husband just DX with leukaemia. Very sad. But doctor thinks containable. Look on the bright side.

Was very disappointed we could not meet up this summer, Molly.
Would love to organise something for the spring!
Something to look forward to indeed - I'll give you "the tour" and you can see what you think!
Very sorry to hear about your friend. That really is sad news.

All the sort of advice I was going to give you, Tinks - except the 'talk to the instructor' bit, as sadly that person will know a lot less about AS and its effects on the body than you do...

My suggestions (from a PT PoV...) would be to keep going to the classes for the benefits that you are seeing....however, don't push your limits quite as far. Maybe stop halfway through a set of exercises, stretches etc, or cut the pace in half. Don't worry that you are having a little rest and the rest of the class *might* think you're a slacker - it's called "being self-protective"!

You can probably work out which bits NOT to do - any standing 'twisty' things for your SIJs, any jumping or prolonged standing for your feet etc...

It's a right royal pain in the *everywhere* (for us! ) that we have to pace ourselves and find out the hard way where our limits WERE.

Louise, you are an angel

Thank you so much for the professional advice (cheque is in the post!)lol

We did do one week where we did tons of twisting (with the song let's twist again in the background) now you come to mention it, and that did cause me problems! When I twist my torso I find it impedes my breathing and makes me short of breath, I get this kind of grinding thing.

Jumping also - we did sort of bunny hops at one point in the last lesson and that did not feel great either, so I rested that bit out after a couple of jumps.

I am not embarrassed to take things at my own pace, I have not told the instructor that I have AS, but she does keep a good eye on me and corrects me if I am not in a good posture etc because I am new to the class.

I like the idea of still going to the class but not participating fully. That is certainly something to consider. I am not good at putting the breaks on, however, I tend to throw myself into things, push myself and try to give it my best (as I had always done before my AS kicked in in my early 20's). Slowing down to protect myself is not so easy. Having said that, the way I feel today I do not have much choice in the matter.

Thanks so much for your kind advice, hon

I am not totally sure if I have done myself an injury or another by going to this class week on week or if pushing myself too hard has brought on a flare. It feels like a bit of both. If I have inflammation due to overdoing it is it better to rest or to carry on doing a bit of exercise? I guess this is where the doctor comes in, as he can access me and advise me in person.

I love exercising and sport, always have. I love being active and doing things. This is a bit of a knock for me, but I will get over it. Things could be much worse.

As I sit here typing I feel like some of my muscels in my neck and back are in spasm. My body is definitely not happy at all today.

Take care, Louise
Love Tink

hi tink!

gonna echo the others' advice, put in a few of my personal opinions and examples as well.

if you are "injuring" anything, maybe the tendons or ligaments, but they do heal up, that's what i irritate / injure.

i used to think, in my 20s, "oh, walking isn't really exercise!" but now that i am in my 40s, i see that clearly i was wrong and its one of the very best exercises one can do. it is great cardio, it is great for the bones, great for battling insulin resistance / diabetes, great for increasing HDLs. i love walking, but that's partly because where we live is pretty rural too, so lots of nice scenery, flora and fauna to observe. but not everyone enjoys it as much as i do, so if you find it not exciting enough, i understand. and the best thing about walking is that i rarely "hurt myself" doing it, and easy to note when i've had enough and stop.

as for overdoing it, funny the things we can and can not do, some totally surprised me. when i took the yoga class, was very good at the shoulder stand and it was a great stretch for my neck, better than traction even, and very similar, but i pulled a hamstring tendon doing the bow, pulled other tendons along the way. quit the class before i did real damage. i could have stayed there, done the things i could do, then done more of what i could do while everyone else was doing what i could not, but i always felt myself doing more than i should, so i just do a kind of PT exercises / yoga thing myself at home. i'm ok with that. but sounds like you want to get out of the house.

then i found after a while that weights always irritated my tendons, especially the entheses (tendon attachment points) but using the therabands or exercises that use gravity but no weight are ok for me for strengthening. so it was a learning curve for me.

and i think i'm the only person on this planet that failed water PT. high stepping and side stepping irritated my SI joint and my hamstring tendons. moving my arms back and forth in the water, especially with the floaties for resistance flared my upper back so bad had trouble laying to sleep for a month after that. also flared the left ulnar wrist ligament tear that i had been slowly healing so nicely. did some other crazy stuff to myself in just a few sessions. and this was with a PT and i warned her before, during, and after about my limitations and being careful, but she thought i was just "out of shape", so kind of ignored my warnings. so telling your instructor may or may not work, depends on what kind of person they are i guess. anyway, we got to a point where really all i could do in the water was walk normally and figured i could just do that on land a lot cheaper and a lot more conveniently and it would be better for my bones as well.

so to sum it up, yes, wouldn't be surprised if you are flaring entheses or some such thing. i know it do if i'm not careful.

i used to be able to swim along with the walking and biking. now i can walk and bike. hope that the flector patch (or maybe a drug) will settle my SI enough that i can swim again. also can do PT / yoga stuff at home (some of it, but never the bridge! evil for my SI! even when i do it properly) and i can use the therabands and exercises without weights (both stretching and strengthening).

but that is my list. i'd say listen to your body and discover your list.

there have been periods of time (at one time an entire year) when i could not even take a walk, thus i feel so fortunate to be able to walk, maybe that's why i love it so much. something i always took for granted, but when you literally can't do it, boy do you appreciate it afterwards.

be careful out there!