Going to the gym while on Pred?

[Wegetarian]

So I want to get into better shape, and have been doing some cardio training like swimming and walking. I'd like to lift some weights too, but not really sure how the disease and pred will affect this. I remember reading from someones introductory thread that he managed to tear up his body pretty bad in the gym while he was on pred. I guess it makes the ligaments softer or something similar?

I tried getting some answers from my physiotherapist, but didn't get any definitive answers. Mainly we discussed that I'd use light weights and lots of reps instead of trying to lift anything heavy. I still felt it was more guessing on her part.

My plan is to mainly use cardio devices like the rowing machine and cross-trainer and maybe do lots of reps with very light weights. Then dunno when I could lift some slightly heavier weights.

I'm currently on 25mg pred / day and 25mg of MTX / week.

I have to say I don't really feel like working out most days, but going for a half hour swim does make me feel better and doing two weeks of exercises in the spa really got me in better shape and feeling a lot better in general. Still very unsure how much I can push myself.

[Pete]

I think your plan is a good one. To prevent ligament damage, make sure you gently and fully stretch and warm up. This should help prevent muscle and ligament pulls and strains. just don't make any sudden moves. Also, don't forget to gradually cool down. Keep hydrated so you can get rid of lactic acid more quickly. (Believe it or not, you can break a good sweat while swimming - especially if the pool water is warm.)

Swimming is great all-around cardio and will also help build upper body strength. Putting a pull-buoy between your legs while just using your arms to pull through the water is good too.

[Savva]

When I was diagnosed back in April 2012 I started to do serious workouts only in April 2013. I was on 17.5 mg pred in April 2013. Tried to do cardio. Very exhausting, suffocating. What I did was I started from almost nothing (I used to be in a good shape before WG). I did cardio, pushups, pullups, body weight squats. I could do only 20 pushups, cardio was very hard - I thought I was going to damage my lungs, and I never managed to do a single pull-up.

Now I am on 12.5 mg pred. I can do this cardio and I am not even tired after it. I am not joking: Crazy 1 Min Home Cardio Workout - How Many Rounds Can You Do? - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCqWeAL2xb4)
I can do 115 push-ups in a row, 24 pull-ups, 20 handstand push-ups and 1000 bodyweight squats (100 squats per ten reps with breaks of course). I also do 5min abs exercises daily and got some abs from the cardio too.
But getting to the shape I am in now was extremely hard. If you aim at loosing weight first - that's a great idea. And cardio is the best out there, there is no substitute. I am not a bodybuilder and do not like heavy weights, and I do not like doing cardio all the time too. I found myself in calisthenics. It combines both. I am even close now to fulfill the "calisthenics kings" requirements (if you know what I mean). Although I can not do freestanding handstand pushups and managed to do only half of muscle-up. Still some work ahead :).

I can not judge from my experience (25 mg pred you're on is a high dose), but I never thought I was over training. Push yourself to the limit may sound nice and cool, but then again it worked for me, maybe I never knew where the limit was. Anyway, if you're feeling great after workout it means you are doing it right.

[pberggren1]

At this point I think your therapist is spot on. Doing reps using small weights is good. One may not think so but you can still tone and build muscle this way very efficiently. Just do as much cardio as you think you can handle, though I would start off small if it were me. Like maybe 10 min on a rowing machine at a medium pace.

[Wegetarian]

Thanks guys! Good points. Yeah, Pete - I think swimming fits me real nice in the way that its hard to over strain myself and I think its relaxing. (Another great thing is that the moist air seems to do good for my nose, it feels really good to breath after the shower. Luckily I'm not the least bit self-conscious about blowing my nose in a public shower :D)

Savva, damn - you are a beast! I've always been fat and its not really my goal to get into super shape like that. Glad to hear it worked out for you though. I mean I've been worried about doing more harm than good to myself by working out, but maybe I'm a bit too cautious. Its just real hard to get any straight answers from the health care guys. For now I'll just focus on dropping some weight and not really worried about getting big and strong. It seems to be working to, if the scale at my swimming pool is reliable I've lost 2kg in the last two weeks :D In addition I was so tired all the time three weeks ago, but now after a fairly active day I still felt fairly fine and not so extremely tired which I often felt (although I still took an hour nap :)).

Phil, yeah - was kind of thinking I'd use the weights almost like it was cardio at the beginning. Like using 10kg weights and doing 100 reps instead of doing 10 reps with heavy weights. I think 30 min on a cardio device should be fine, at the spa at least I felt fine after that. Real swetty though, but fine. I've always preferred to do shorter sessions and doing them more often, so I guess I'll continue with that now. Although I feel they are way shorter now, like when I go swimming I might only do it for 30 min but I hope my stamina will increase quickly since I always used to swim for over an hour.

[pberggren1]

Swimming is very good exercise. If you can go swimming then do that as often as you can. Ya, Savva is a beast, that's for sure. Keep it up Savva, don't let your routine slip away. Being in good shape like that and having a good routine can help the Wegs be kept at bey I think.