Exercising in water works well for arthritis sufferers

By moving their workouts into a pool, people with severe arthritis can not only improve muscle strength and reduce pain but also exercise more vigorously than the American Geriatrics Society now recommends

Water workouts have long been recommended for arthritis sufferers to help maintain flexibility and reduce pain and stiffness. A study has now found that water exercise allows those with severe disease to be engage in much more intense aerobic workouts, the kind that provide cardiovascular benefits.

The study suggests more broadly that patients with osteoarthritis would benefit from higher intensity exercise, either in a pool or in a gym, than is currently recommended.

Researchers from the Flinders University Department of Rehabilitation and Aged Care in Australia divided more than 100 men and women who were at least 50 years old and with osteoarthritis of the hip or knee into three groups. One group did 30-minute water workouts three times a week, another did 30-minute hospital-based gym workouts three times a week and a third group did not exercise. After six weeks, those who did water workouts or hospital-based workouts improved their walking speed and distance compared with the nonexercisers.

The findings appear in Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

-- Jane E. Allen