Arthritis and Exercise: All About Weightlifting

What can weightlifting do for you? More than you’d imagine! And you don’t have to be Miss Universe or Arnold Schwarzenegger to see and feel the benefits, either.

It doesn’t matter how old you are or what condition you’re in. Weightlifting can help increase bone density and slow the loss of bone, lessening the risk of osteoporosis, which is heightened in people with arthritis who take corticosteroids. It can strengthen your joints and the surrounding ligaments, tendons and muscles, make losing weight easier, and, in many cases, improve your general sense of well-being. It feels good to be strong!

In one study at Harvard, 90-year-olds who hadn’t been able to walk unaided for years regained amazing amounts of mobility after a 10-week supervised weightlifting program. These elderly men and women lifted light weights three times a week.

The Right Gear

What do you need for lifting? For easy lifting, next to nothing. You need something to lift, of course. For some exercises, it can be just a can of food; for others, you can use resistance bands, large rubbery bands that are somewhat like inner tubes. If you get into more serious weight lifting, you may want padded fingerless gloves or a weight belt. All are available at most sporting goods stores.

Getting Started

You need your doctor’s okay, of course. You may also find it easier to work with a physical therapist or a trainer who knows your physical limitations. And it’s a good plan to work out with weights only every other day or three times a week. This schedule allows your muscles time to recover from the deliberate pressure weightlifting uses to strengthen them. You should start easily, perhaps just doing four of these exercises the first day and gradually adding more each week.

Here are a few sample exercises you can do at home.  As with any exercise program, get your doctor’s okay before you start.

• To strengthen your shoulder’s rotator cuff, the muscles connected to the joint capsule: Stand straight with a small weight in one hand (such as a can of food) and lift it in front of you until your arm is parallel with the floor. Repeat 5 to 10 times, then with the other arm. Then repeat again, this time lifting your arms straight out from your sides.
  
  
• To strengthen your triceps, the muscles in the back of your upper arms, hold a small weight behind your head, in both hands. Hold your upper arms still, and just extend your lower arms to lift the weight over your head. Repeat 5 to 10 times.
  
  
• To strengthen your biceps, those “Popeye” upper arm muscles, hold a weight in your hand, with your elbows at your sides. Slowly bend your elbow and raise the weight toward your chin. Repeat 5 to 10 times, and then do the other arm.
  
  
• To strengthen wrists, while seated, hold a small weight with your hand dangling free over your knee and your elbow propped on your leg. Curl your wrist up 10 times with the palm up, and then repeat with the palm down. Repeat for the other arm.
  
  
• To strengthen your quadriceps (the muscles in the front of your legs that let you straighten your knee and bend your leg at the hip), strap a small weight to your ankle and lift your leg straight out while seated. You can also do this exercise without a weight, especially at first. Repeat 5 to 10 times for each leg.

Last Updated: 8/23/2002
The Johns Hopkins University 1996-2003.  All rights reserved. This information is not intended to provide advice on personal medical matters, nor is it intended to be a substitute for consultation.