HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

Exercise

Support Forums
>
Crohn's Disease
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 9/25/2008 5:07 AM (GMT 0)
It had been my goal for the past couple of months to gain all the weight I had lost back. I was 97 and am now around 108 or so I was a week ago...god knows now...
Anyway, it's not so much that I want to lose weight but be healthy again. I used to do 200 sit ups almost every night and these leg exercises that I don't know what to call. Needless to say, before all of this I was in pretty good shape.

I'm a little bit lost now though. I was hoping that any of you could tell me what exactly you do for exercise when you are able and how you know when your body is able to take it.
I asked my doctor if I could do sit-ups and he said it was fine if I don't overdo it, but then I think...sit-ups? With Crohn's? Not only do I worry about my insides, but what about my spine? I've been on prednisone for months and can feel a different in my joints and bones, and I just had surgery in the lower abdomen earlier this summer. I really am at a loss as to what I can do because I don't want to cause any more damage and ruin all of the progress I've made.

Anywho, just wondering what you guys do--running, sit-ups, yoga, etc., how much of it you do, and how it effects you.

I don't want to maintain a sedentary lifestyle. Especially considering what I can and cannot eat right now--primarily starches and meat. I can't say I've been too good about avoiding sugars either. Prednisone has not been kind as far as appetite and weight distribution goes.
Posted 9/25/2008 5:32 AM (GMT 0)
I exercise regularly and have to say it's another one of the best things I could have started doing for myself...mind and body...

I do cardio; ride the stationary bike for 10 min, jump on my mini-trampoline for 5 min, jump-rope for 5 min...4 days/week, and I alternate working out my upper body including my abs (stomach crunches, no sit-ups as they're not near as effective and can be a strain on the neck) and lower body also including abs, so 4 days a week I do cardio for 20 mins and do abs and then I follow with either working my arms, back (upper body) then the next day I work my legs, butt, lower body with weights...I have a home gym, I've got everything I need, stationary bike, weider universal gym, dumb-bells, trampoline, punching bag, body slider (I do 1/2 hour of all cardio every couple of weeks on a Saturday including doing my regular work outs monday-thursday...monday; arms/upper body, tuesday; legs/lower body, wednesday; arms/upper body, ect. Each day I start with the cardio then I do the weights so I work out for about an hour and 10 minutes or so total.

If you eat junk and take in too many calories you will get thicker and as a woman you likely won't want that so you have to be careful with diet...diet and exercise go hand in hand, if you're eating junk and exercising you won't get toned or as healthy as you should as you would if you're eating healthy...trust me, I speak from experiance.

:)
Posted 9/25/2008 1:53 PM (GMT 0)
Unless I am bleeding large amounts and have fevers, I try to keep up a regular exercise routine. Mine is not as structured, but it works for me. I have a stairmaster and use it on days it's super cold, rainy or my bowels are not "safe" to go run or hike. I do a half hour on the stairmaster/run about 3 times a week. Then on the weekend, one day, I either do a long hike with a good elevation gain, or I do a trail run (trees everywhere just in case!). After stairmaster days, I do crunches - about 125 of them.

Like you, I get frustrated when I feel weak compared to my pre-Crohn's state. I still don't get quite as much hard exercise in as I did before, but this helps me feel more like myself instead of having the Crohn's monster take over my life!

BTW - exercise is good for those bones! It helps build them back up after steroid use.
Posted 9/25/2008 2:17 PM (GMT 0)
Lets see now,,I do this sit up in the morning when I get out of bed..Thats a killer. I try to swap arms when I eat or brush my teeth so one arm does not get all the muscle. Then there is the leg lift when I get on my Harley and of course the hand exercise with the clutch and brakes and starter button. Lately I have done a lot of bending exercise called pick up the dead fish, and drag the branches out of the mud, shovel the mud out of the floor and pick up all the things I use to have that got destroyed by hurricane Gustav and Ike. I guess the one that works me the most is load all the branches and debris onto the trailer and unload all the branches and debris off the trailer. I do lots of walking too. They say no pain no gain and I can attest to that. If I dont indure the pain I will never gain my yard back. I have tried medatation and yoga but it doesn't load the trailer and it wont fix the roof. I have lost lots of weight though. What with all the evacuating and returning and lost food in the ice box and freezer,,, my wallet is getting very thin.
Posted 9/25/2008 3:49 PM (GMT 0)
Seriously Sniper, you crack me up...

Posted 9/25/2008 5:13 PM (GMT 0)
im just getting over a huge flare up and a month of hospitalization..my plan is to wait a week or 2 to gain some strength back, do this muscle toning routine i found in a magazine..it focuses on toning the whole body! and then when i get a little stronger hit the gym up again..i used to do cardio like the eliptical or the tredmill for either 20 or 30 minutes..then alternate on lower or upper body weight training..this time im not going to do as much lifting on my legs..they got huge because i could press about twice the amount of my body weight! so im starting with a fresh and flabby body now..i just want to make sure i put on lean muscle..not fat..and being on the low residue diet which allows me to eat hamburger, turkey, all that good protein i think it can totally b done! i cant wait to get my body back!!!!! :)
Posted 9/25/2008 6:44 PM (GMT 0)
Jenny when I was young I took a home body building course, but they never sent me my muscles. I'm still waiting. ImAud says she cant wait to get her body back. I lost mine so long ago its not returning. I think if I donated my body to science they would say no thanks.
Posted 9/25/2008 7:07 PM (GMT 0)
definately excercise in some way...prednisone can do wonders for our guts, but it's the other stuff that suffers.  Do you have access to a gym or ymca?  I took some basic one on one instruction at my local ymca many years back with the specific purpose to learn excercises that I could do with consideration to my crohn's...my trainer was great, very understanding and worked with the good and bad days!!  I don't use the trainer anymore, but I still use the programs she set up for me.  My best excercise is to get out for a walk around my neighborhood at least 5 days a week...weather and health permitting...your body will thank you in ways you cannot believe:)  Good Luck!

Posted 9/25/2008 8:32 PM (GMT 0)
I do Pilates twice a week, it is being really good, I used to have this terrible joint pains and with the exercises I am feeling better.
Posted 9/26/2008 3:25 AM (GMT 0)
I'll definitely take what you guys say to heart.
I'm really surprised at how much exercise can be done to be honest. I suppose now it's just a matter of finding time to set aside amid all the schoolwork and housework..
I guess I am still worried about the situps, but I will try something :) A treadmill sure would be handy right now.
Posted 9/26/2008 3:34 AM (GMT 0)
i try to do something every day - bare minimum be it just walking somewhere. i do the gym 1-2 times per week for about 40-50 min. full body work out with weights only though. the routine my personal trainer brother has me doing is a total arse kicker! i have no need to run away from people and i have a car so i dont do cardio. i surf when i can, but that depends on mother nature and work of course. i do tai chi a few times per week (another reason why i dont do cardio - why run if you know how to fight?). i'd like to work yoga back into my routine, at least 1/wk.

exercise is easy. you dont have to get creative. gyms can be boring. go for a hike. get a bike. go swimming or hiking. learn a martial art. go rock climbing. get a kayak. learn to box. join an adult sport league. and dont under estimate walking!
Posted 9/26/2008 5:48 AM (GMT 0)
I've been trying to get in 45 minutes' worth of exercise every day, and add another 18 minutes' worth of abdominals three times a week. I bought the "P90X" (as seen on TV!) stuff, and- it's surprisingly good. Note there's a pretty good slug of high-impact stuff in there, although the emphasis is not on shocking the system by landing on the toes as quietly as possible.

Also note that I'm feeling MUCH better now that I'm on the SCD for 9 months, and off all my meds. My doctor does not approve of the choice with the meds, and I'm fairly sure he wouldn't like the exercises I'm doing, either.
Posted 9/27/2008 7:26 PM (GMT 0)
Something is always better than nothing, and you can make it so much fun too with the variety out there, if you're a swimmer then aquasizing is a great alternative (probably even if you're not a swimmer it's a safe choice), and there are so many forms of yoga, then there's pilates and you can combine all these things so you and your muscles don't get bored.

:)
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply