Working Out

Hi all! I'm new to the blog, but excited to be here!

I'm currently in my first major flare up since my resection in 2006. I've always been slim, and for exercise I'd really only need to run, which I really enjoy and its something I used to be successful in. Right now, running with my right foot jarring my inflamed right side every time it hits the ground makes me hurt just to think about.

I really want to get an effective toning workout in my weekly routine but don't know what to go with. Ab workouts like crunches, sit ups have hurt my stomach in the past, but I was wondering if anyone had pain-free ab results with pilates or yoga? I'm the least limber person in the world, so I've always assumed I'd be terrible at both of those.

Like I said, I'm only working out to stay toned. I don't want to lose weight, gain muscles, etc. I'm a size 2 with a size 4 bloated waist, and that's fine for me!

So if you have any suggestions, or experiences (good or bad) with the yoga or pilates, I'd really appreciate advice! I also am going to the bathroom a lot right now and wasn't sure if all the bending over, twisting of yoga would make an accident likely...

I do stomach crunches, they're more effective for your abs than sit-ups and better for your lower back...working out alone likely won't aid completely with bloated belly though...you should start a food diary and find out what foods may be behind your belly bloating (common with having CD), but it's certainly a good idea to work out and using weights along with cardio is always best.

Yoga and pilates are also excellent to incorporate.

I work out on a limited basis.  I'm a big girl Crohnnie so I actually need to lose some weight if I could.  Frankly, I am not limber either, but yoga has been wonderful to stretch and make me feel better without impact on my achy joints or pressure on my flaring gut.  I just select the stretching and toning positions (Sunrise salutation is my favorite).  Believe it or not, the Wii Fit has actually helped and I am back on it again after it being in a box for a while.  I found boxing workouts (a lot of upper arm, but also some core focus) and hula hoop have helped a lot.  Toning really helps with some weight to it so you could do some circuit training if you go to the gym.  Now if I could join a place with a pool, I really want to do some water resistance exercise---

Hi rolltide15 and welcome to the forums.

I do many things to keep myself in shape, lots of stretching, lift weights, cardio with walking on my treadmill, stationary bike or if it's not too cold out, go for a ride outside. I've also studied martial arts for a long time, for years now I've found Brazilian Jiu Jitsu to be the best all around work out for me.

Here's an excellent website that shows a muscle directory, which exercises benefit those muscles and what exercises to do (shows how to do the exercises too) for those muscles-
www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html

Hope you're feeling much better, very soon.