ACTIVE LIVING
Build up strength and find Arthritis Moves Living with arthritis is a daily challenge, with swollen joints, chronic pain and disturbed sleep all taking their toll. TRISTAN HALL recommends a new online course that focuses on strength training.
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rthritis can stop you doing the things you love and isolate you from others. You are less inclined to be active so your muscles can weaken and waste away. Cold winter days don’t help. So what does? According to Arthritis Australia, strength training is one way forward. It can help you improve your posture, balance and mobility. You become less fatigued. Strength training can stop your muscles wasting away. In fact, research shows muscles can grow with strength training. You can gain stamina and lose weight. It is also good for mood and general confidence. With strength training, the muscles work harder than in everyday activities. You work against resistance. This is done by using hand weights, exercise bands, household items or your own body weight. For instance, bench push-ups and squats are strength exercises.
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Walking in itself is not a strength exercise but standing on one leg builds strength. It’s important to get professional help so you are exercising the right way, avoiding pain and extending your skills. It’s easy to stick with a familiar exercise routine but you will gain more benefit from a varied program. Our bodies tend to stagnate if we don’t mix it up. To help with professional guidance, Arthritis Queensland has been funding online exercise programs. The next program is called Arthritis Moves and will run for 12 weeks. The program focuses on strength training to reduce
pain and increase mobility and flexibility. Groups are kept small so instructors can give individual help as needed. Each instructor is a health professional such as an exercise physiologist. You can access the classes for free or contribute according to your circumstances. There is a pre-assessment. Once you register and select your preferred time and day, you will be assigned to a group. Given the online nature of this program, you may be assigned to a teacher from anywhere in Queensland. Having the sessions online means they are accessible if you are housebound, in lockdown or living in a remote community. To find out more visit the Arthritis Queensland website and look for Arthritis Moves. Alternatively, call them on 1800 011 041. Tristan Hall is an exercise physiologist with Full Circle Wellness. Call 0431 192 284 or visit fullcirclewellness.com.au
FIT HAPPENS With Tom Law A NUMBER of years ago I was contracted by Community Assisted Transport to give some of their clients a beachside experience. The clients were bussed to Redcliffe, and I was there to meet and greet them then take them for couple of hours to enjoy the beach. They were, in some instances, not the most mobile. Some were, but they were mainly women and without telling how old they were, all of them were past retirement age. I would take them for a little walk and then get them to take off their shoes and wade in the seawater. Once or twice the sea was full of seaweed and not suitable so I got them to wade in the local lagoon at Redcliffe. In most instances they needed assistance to walk on the sand and beach and once or twice I carried them to the water. I would dry their feet for them, put on their shoes and we would buy some chips and sauce and just enjoy the scenery and talk about whatever they wanted. It was hardly work for me as I loved it and so too did the clients.
Is it any wonder? Seawater is full of minerals and apart from being really good for us, there is something nice about taking off your shoes and getting sand between your toes while cool water swirls around your feet. Studies tell us that sunlight is great for us and is thought to release the hormone serotonin into the body. Serotonin can lift your mood, calm you and even help concentration. How about just taking in the fresh salty air that the beach provides? Not everyone lives on the beach in Australia, although 80 per cent of us live near the coast. A trip to the beach every now and then has so many benefits. Even if you just sit, rest and daydream, the elements provide great rehabilitation for body and soul. Regardless of being active, still working or retired, I recommend regular visits to the beach even if swimming is not on the agenda. Tom Law is author of Tom’s Law Fit Happens.Visit tomslaw.com.au
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