Exercise to Build Strength
Together with the use of small hand weights, yoga is one activity that can help you gain strength. Another choice is tai chi, which uses slow, martial arts-inspired movements to improve strength and balance.
Exercises that strengthen the core are essential for controlling back pain in AS, according to the Spondylitis Association of America. [4] Your core muscles, which include your abdominal and back muscles, can be strengthened to relieve back strain and discomfort.
Exercises for Deep Breathing
You could occasionally struggle to take a deep breath if you have AS. Even when going about your usual business, you might feel out of breath. This is due to the chest cavity’s potential for inflammation and stiffness, which prevents it from expanding properly.
Exercises that involve deep breathing can maintain the chest wall flexible, especially around the joints where the ribs meet the spine’s vertebrae. Your ability to take deep breaths may progressively improve with regular breathing exercises.
To feel how deep breathing can help your chest expand, do this easy practice of alternating deep breaths with normal breaths:
- Take a sitting or lying posture and inhale slowly, take a deep breath. Allow your stomach and chest cavity to fully expand.
- Slowly breathe out and feel your abdomen relax as you exhale
- Alternate regular breaths with deep ones several times.