Yoga & exercise


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Yoga & exercise  

This page will explain how you should practice yoga and what exercises are suitable for people with IBS, Crohn’s & colitis.  

Yoga 

It is important to know that it should be clearly understood that yoga is not an exercise.  Unlike exercise you should be trying to lower your heart rate and allow the mind to become calm and focused. Like everything else yoga should be practiced with mindfulness, that means your approach should be slow and controlled and trying to regulate the breath throughout.  You need to be patient with the body and do not force or struggle with the postures and the room temperature should be comfortable, which means not too cold or too warm. 

Make sure you do not feel too worn out after a practice, try to develop a healthy understanding of your body’s limits and try to work within them.  Always give your body adequate rest in between practices; this will give the body a chance to recover from the last session and it is a good way to decrease the chance of repetitive strain injury 

It is very important that you do the relaxation at the end of any practice (minimum of 5 minutes).  This gives you the opportunity to recover; it allows the blood to neutralise in the body and gives the mind and body a chance to just relax. 

 Exercise  

If you suffer from diarrhoea related IBS, Crohn’s & colitis than you should try not to not over heat the body through exercise. Always be mindful not to over work the body and make sure you do not sweating profusely.  Avoid training in hot weather and always maintain hydration. 

Recommended activities: 

  • Cross trainer 
  • Cycling  
  • Swimming (keeps you nice and cool and minimal impact on the joints & ligaments 
  • Light jogging (always wear the right supported footwear) 
  • Low impact training  
  • Walking  
  • Weights  

If suffer from constipation (IBS) than you can work a little harder but again learn your body’s limits and avoid training in hot weather. 

Again always give your body adequate rest in between training sessions; this will give the body a chance to recover from the last session and it is a good way to decrease the chance of repetitive strain.  It is a good idea to mix up your training, which will work different parts of your body in different ways.  We recommend not training more than 4 times a week. 

We do not recommend anything to strenuous unless you have your condition fully under control. Like everything else it depends how confident you are with your own body. If your body has been used to a certain discipline (martial arts, boxing, rowing) than you have to gauge how much to push. If your having regular flare ups than you have to be more sensible and learn to manage your energy levels more efficiently. We should have the mind set that exercise is designed to improve our health, so we are over doing it than it defeats the purpose of training, do not train for the sake of training.  Please remember life is a marathon race not a sprit, always try to maintain a healthy pace.