This week I received a call from a lady who attended her first mobility class last week. "I'm not sure it is for me, as I've got arthritis in my hip and back." she said. "Thank you very much for the class but I won't be attending in future."
I responded "The first class is always the hardest. Your body maybe hasn't moved in such a way for a while and you are learning what level you should work at. Come back and give it another try."
For many the feeling after exercises is of happiness, muscle release and a reset mind. For others it is a feeling of fear, unfamiliar muscle sensations and doubt.
I was going to write a few words on this, however just by chance the Live Longer Better in Cumbria Newsletter has covered this topic in their newsletter so here it is:
In December’s newsletter, (read here) we talked about how if the brain perceives danger, (whether this is biological, psychological, from our social situation or environment), it can produce pain. Therefore, if we educate and support people to…
• reduce the things that signal danger to the brain
• increase the things that signal safety to the brain
…we can help turn down the volume of persistent pain.
One of the proven, best ways to make the brain feel safer is (you guessed it!) moving more. When we’re moving and active, our brain releases natural pain-relieving chemicals (endorphins, enkephalins, dynorphin), which can also help with stress resilience, cardiovascular protection and food intake control! What’s not to like?
By gradually increasing the amount of physical activity we do (including the movements we may be avoiding), we can allow the brain to realise that these movements and activities are safe. And it will produce less pain when doing these same things in the long run.
We recommend people go to see a health professional if they have any concerns, but it’s almost always safe for people with persistent pain to move. It might produce a bit more pain, especially at the beginning until they get used to it: but as the science shows, an increase in pain does not mean an increase in injury. Movement is also the best way to improve strength, balance and overall function, all things that reduce when we are not moving.
The trick is for people to find ‘sweet zone’. The ‘sweet zone’ is when you do just enough to push yourself, but not to the point where it’s too uncomfortable or you can’t do your normal activities for the rest of that day. This technique of gradually moving more is often called pacing: there’s a lot more information to support people with pacing on the Live Well With Pain website.
Hope this helps you understand some of the feelings you get when you start moving more.
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