Illness and exercise

[watervole]

If I'm ill for more than two or three days, one annoying side effect is shoulder pain.

How come?

If I'm too unwell to get any exercise, then I don't go down the gym/allotment or do my weight exercises at home.  It usually only takes three or four days without exercise for the muscles to start losing tone, and as soon as that happens, the neck/shoulder pain kicks in.

The wretched norovirus around Christmas had me for two weeks without any exercise.  I still hadn't quite got back to my normal level of fitness when I got a bad cold.  Result?  Yep, the neck and shoulder are painful.  I'm working gently down the gym, but it takes time and a willingness to keep exercising when I ache.  (I stop immediatly if it gets painful - it would be stupid not to - but I'll keep going though a low grade ache)

I guess I'm posting this mainly for those of my friends who have health problems that are aided by exercise:

Remember that if the exercise makes your problem improve, then stopping exercise will make it get worse again.  It isn't a one off cure - you have to do it regularly.

A little exercise is better than none.  When I was first recovering from the norovirus, I had to use my weights at a third of what I normally use - I kept it gentle and easy until I was well enough for more.  If you can't walk for half an hour a day, then start with five minutes a day.

Exercise has the handy side effect of improving your overall mood.

Comments

[julesjones]

I noticed last week that I *feel* running for the bus since I cut down my walking speed to and from the bus stop. (Which I had to do, because I'm Officially Middle-Aged and apparently can no longer do 45 minutes of brisk walking five days a week without triggering plantar fascitis). I'm not walking slowly, just not walking at a speed high enough to push my heart rate much, and it's made a difference in my fitness level.

[rockwell-666.livejournal.com]

Regarding the plantar fascitis, if you haven't already done so, you might like to visit your GP and get them to refer you to your local podiatrist.

I've had similar problems (and also knee pain) caused by having excessively flat feet and wearing trainers that didn't support properly.

Now I've got a set of insoles which put my foot in the right position and it makes things a whole lot less uncomfortable.

[julesjones]

I've been to my GP, and had a conversation that in part went, "And... oh, you are wearing sensible shoes." :-) For me it was very much suddenly shifting to doing a lot of high speed, and thus high impact, walking daily. But I suspect that if I'd not been wearing sensible shoes I'd have been a lot worse a lot quicker.