This girl can!

LignumVitae

Inspired by my visit to the rheumatologist and her telling me to find some exercises to tone muscles I made a start with a ball of wool and two tins of chickpeas. With the chickpeas I am lying on the floor and focusing on moving my arms whilst anchoring my shoulders so they don't move everywhere as they tend to being a bit wibbly and hypermobile. So far so good.
I've also managed, in two evenings, to use my ball of wool and finally learned to crochet. I have some form of extreme knitting dyslexia - no matter how hard people try to teach me I just go off piste with the order of things (I haven't tried for ten years but it was always the case). I don't think I could knit now if I was capable but i was once told RA patients were given crochet as a hand exercise and I can see why because it's a lot less static than knitting and more possible. I was so proud of my crochet success and hope to take it further. I don't think there will be any inspiring adverts made of me all sweaty whilst crocheting or doing shoulder exercises with cans of chickpeas but it seems that this girl can (in her own hypermobile arthritic way)!

dreamdaisy

We have to find our own ways of doing things and you have! I recall Sticky doing leg lifts or summat similar, aided by baked beans (canned, I hasten to add) in the pockets of oven gloves which were draped over the ankle. Who needs expensive kit or a gym membership? DD

mig

Well done LV I taught myself to crochet,I got a child's learn to crochet book and granddaughter and I learnt together we can make bobble hats at the moment we are doing squares as she wants a throw for her bed.
Sticky's tins in oven gloves is a great idea you could start with small tins and work your way up to catering sizes.

stickywicket

Oh course this girl can - with cans, wool or anything else You have the determination to work out what works for you and I hope this does even though my mental picture of two cans united with wool was slightly inaccurate.

I gave up on the beans as they are very angular and hurty. I now have all the weights from my scales in one side and some bits of lead that Mr SW had in the garage in the other. It works.

mig wrote:

Sticky's tins in oven gloves is a great idea you could start with small tins and work your way up to catering sizes.

:shock: After you, mig

ichabod6

Hello LV,

Could you crochet a bobble hat in blue and white, the colours
of my favourite football team, please?
I often use a footstool to ease my aching hips, legs, ankles and
feet, but on not bad days I am able to put my foot under the stool
and raise it slightly and hold and lower. I can do it with both legs
nowadays and the physio says it it ok, and I get some exercise
and I feel positive about it.

theresak

Very ingenious LV - who needs to visit a gym!!

I might investigate crocheting, as I was a prolific knitter until RA came calling, and I found it too painful. I have tried a few times to resume knitting, as I really loved it, but it defeats me now. It`s not so much my fingers, although they do hurt, but it sets off neck, shoulders, wrists.

Happy exercising!

Slosh

Well done you, very inventive and shows you don't need expensive gym equipment. For one of my exercises which I have to do lying down and involves trying to move my leg out to one side, my physio told me to use a glossy magazine to make it easier as I have carpet not laminate flooring.
The crochet idea sounds interesting. I have had to give up knitting as it sets off my neck, shoulder and arm pain so I might give it a try too.

barbara12

LV we expect no less of you, and now you have a new hobby.. I am the same with knitting and tried crocheting..might just give it another go...have fun with the chick peas..x

bubbadog

See us ladies are clever!! We think out side the box!!

Dizzy

I love crochet! I can't knit for toffee. I used to scrapbook but it's too much hassle to get it all out every time, but crochet is reasonably self contained.

There are some lovely blogs around, a particular favourite is Attic24.

I'm limited to about 10 minutes per couple of hours thanks to my horrid shoulders but I think it helps my fingers!

Most days though it's not This Girl Can, it's This Girl Wants To but the Body Won't Cooperate!

dreamdaisy

Hello LV, how's it all going? DD

LignumVitae

Hi All,

I hope I inspire a few others to try crochet, I do find it so much more forgiving than knitting and the creativity is much more fun than exercising with tins. No catering sizes here yet Mig! I'm proud to have completed the front panel of a jacket for one of the girls.

I'm in my three day count down to my next Humira dose and things are slowing down a bit but I do think slightly less than before. Maybe I'm just being a little more gentle though.

:loverain: I had to use this because it's so lovely! Hope love rains on you all, not real rain all day! LV

stickywicket

Hey, well done with the crochet. I hope you don't find they've grown before you finish them. That was always my problem :roll:

My favourite shoulder exercise (I don't know if they still recommend it) was to fix up a pulley hook (We screwed one into the lintel of a door we never shut anyway), sling some strong cord / braid / ribbon through it, get one's husband to - gently and carefully - pull on one end to raise your arm which was hanging by the wrist through a loop at the other. It really did go higher than usual but, of course, other not-such-fun stuff was then required to get the muscles strong enough to enable it to happen without the pulley.

I hope, after the humira, you'll feel more like this :jheart: