Tips for Exercising with Joint Pain

Cara Stewart, RD, LDN, is a clinical dietitian with the Penn Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Program. In this blog, she discusses exercises people with joint pain can perform.

Exercise is essential for successful weight loss. Movement of any kind will help you along your weight loss journey. If you have joint pain or osteoarthritis, try non-weight-bearing activities such as biking, water activity, or chair dancing.

Biking

• When biking, you may want to use a recumbent bike, which seats you so you are low to the ground with your legs reaching forward to the pedals. The seat on a recumbent bike is also wider than the seat on an upright bike.
• For biking outdoors, try a sturdy mountain bike. You can also buy a larger seat to put on your bike.

Water aerobics or swimming

• You do not need to know how to swim to work out in the water – you can do shallow water or deep-water exercises without swimming.
• Many swim centers also offer classes in water workouts. Check with local pools.
• If money is tight, consider a community pool.
• Consider asking your doctor for a physical therapy referral or a prescription to use a therapeutic pool.

Chair aerobics

• Dance in your chair! See chairdancing.com for some ideas and resources
• Use light hand weights

*Adapted from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Weight Management Toolkit

Lose Weight at Penn Medicine

Penn can help you lose weight.

Learn about medical weight loss in Philadelphia, and the Penn Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery Program at a free information session about weight-loss surgery in Philadelphia.

There, you will hear about your weight-loss surgery options, and how Penn can help you lose weight and get healthy for good.

Register for a free information session at Penn today.