You’ve now got your compelling reason for fitness. Mine is the desire to get through gardening season without becoming injured and to get stronger each year.
You’ve decided where you’ll workout and if it’ll be DIY or a commute, and if at home, you’ve prepared your space. I’ve chosen to work from home and prepared a corner in my garage room.
You’ve chosen a few different programs that interest you. Mine are, one that is an overall body workout put together by a physcial therapist who specializes in patients with arthritis, one that focuses on physical therapy exercises for my problem areas, and one that is full-body stretching.
You’ve established your baseline fitness so you can see your progress.
You’ve come up with your responses to whiny toddler brain.
And you’ve got your journal ready to evaluate all the ways to get better.
Step 6 – Who
Learn how to step into the new you.
Enjoy the process of becoming a person who exercises; a person who builds strength and avoids injury; a person who knows exactly what their body can do and what they shouldn’t be doing.
You’ll go through an identity crisis at some point in this process. Your arthritis has probably turned you into a person who doesn’t exercise regularly.
- You might not want to like the new you.
- You might have people in your life who don’t understand your need to do this.
- You will have failures.
All of this is part of the process of becoming less prone to injury and pain when you’re gardening with arthritis. It’s not always fun to go through these changes. But it’s necessary because if you don’t, you can’t change your outcome. You won’t reach your goal if you stay the same as you are today.
Can Arthritis Be Cured or Even Reversed?
The jury is still out. Much research still needs to be done. But what you can do is strengthen yourself to support those arthritic joints and know your body. Once you learn how to do those exercises correctly over and over, you will also move correctly in the garden.
If you’re struggling with an activity in the garden that continues to cause injury, reach out to an online physical therapist for assistance. Also be sure and join our Facebook group Pain-less Gardening and find out how others are accomplishing that task alternatively.
You’re not alone. We all want to keep doing what brings us joy – gardening – for as long as we can!
You plan your garden for spring. You start your seeds 8-12 weeks before your last frost date. But what about your body?
Join the Facebook Group Pain-less Gardening and plan to get your body Fit4Gardening!
Join the community! We’re stronger together.
Join the Pain-less Gardening Facebook group to meet other gardeners seeking natural solutions to chronic pain. Click the image below or visit The Disabled Gardener Facebook page to check it out!
