According to the Mayo Clinic and WebMD, proper and regular exercise can help:

• Strengthen the muscles around your joints, and increase joint flexibility
• Build and preserve bone strength
• Leave you with more energy during the day, while making it easier to sleep at night
• Help you lose weight, which makes it easier on your joints.
• Maintain joint movement
• Help keep bone and cartilage tissue healthy

With that in mind, let’s explore some easy ways for you to reduce arthritic pain and improve your overall health through exercise (remember that exercise only helps — don’t substitute workouts for your regular arthritis treatment program).

Workouts for arthritis relief can best be broken down into four categories:

• Range-of-motion exercises like dance help keep your joints moving normally and without stiffness. It just takes simple exercises like raising your arms over your head and rolling your shoulders forward and backward — all designed to move your joints through their normal range of movement. Try to do these daily.
• Strengthening exercises like light weight training and swimming help keep or increase muscle strength. Strong muscles simply protect your affected joints. Try these kinds of workouts every other day, but don’t be afraid to take some time off if the exercises lead to any extra pain or swelling.
• Aerobic/endurance exercises like bike riding, walking and swimming can help you improve cardiovascular fitness, control your weight (important to relieving stress from your already beleaguered joints), give you more energy to get through the day, and improve your overall functionality. Studies have even shown that aerobic exercise can reduce joint inflammation. Try aerobic workouts for 20 to 30 minutes, three times a week.

Check out our Guide to Joint Health for more information and remember to continue using Castiva Warming Arthritis Pain Relief Lotion with Capsaicin or Castiva Cooling Arthritis Pain Relief Lotion for fast acting temporary relief from arthritis and joint pain.