Fibromyalgia is a condition characterized by chronic pain. This pain occurs in the muscular tissues and is a problem with no known cause. Millions of people suffer from this condition and women seem more prone to it.
Other symptoms besides pain would be sleep problems, fatigue, headaches, irritable bowel syndrome, etc.
The pain can be so jarring and nightmarish that many patients fear any form of exercise. They do not wish to aggravate the pain by exerting themselves of accidentally injuring themselves.
Running, high intensity cardio, weight lifting and even swimming seems like too much of a risk to them. This is understandable because of the pain associated with fibromyalgia.
However, Pilates is not like any of these other exercises. It is low impact, extremely controlled and there is very little chance of injury. People with fibromyalgia will definitely be able to handle a Pilates session because they can do it at their own pace.
If you’re doing resistance training, you need a specific amount of force to lift a certain weight. It doesn’t matter who you are but you’ll need to exert this force. So, you can’t really tailor the workout to suit your condition. You could lower the weight but then there is the issue of jerking and impact.
With Pilates, you can stick to the basic exercises that you can execute comfortably and slowly challenge yourself to improve. Pilates exercises will strengthen the body and help to manage the pain. This is actually a form of therapy.
Studies have shown that patients who exercise actually feel less pain than those who don’t. The improved blood circulation and stronger muscles do help. The blood will be oxygenated and you will feel much better.
Very often, patients who are in pain will develop poor posture or other imbalances in the body to cope with the pain.
For example, if your left knee hurts, you’ll most probably put most of your weight on the right knee just to alleviate the pain in your left leg.
However, this will create an imbalance where your right leg gets stronger and your left gets weaker. This could lead to back pain and other problems. By doing Pilates, you’ll be able to do exercises to strengthen the left leg which is lagging behind.
Since Pilates is mostly done lying down or in a reclined position, there will be very little stress on the knee. There are many ways to work a muscle and Pilates has enough movements to target all the main areas in your body.
When you’re suffering from fibromyalgia, there will be certain parts of your body that are more affected. It will be good to speak to your Pilates instructor and let them know your condition so that they can guide you on exercises that will not affect your trigger points.
When you’re first starting out, even short 5 minute Pilates workouts will do good. You can do them 3 to 4 times a week. As you progress, you can increase the duration of the workouts and do more moves. You’ll be amazed to see that your fibromyalgia actually starts getting better.
Many people who’ve had it have reported seeing improvements once they started Pilates.
