My relationship with exercise has been one of love and hate since I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease in 2009. I have always enjoyed exercising, especially high-intensity, outdoor activities. That is one of the reasons why I moved to Colorado almost 20 years ago. It is a biking and hiking heaven out here.
But when Hashimoto’s brought me to my knees (literally, I couldn’t walk anymore), I thought I would never be able to get out there and enjoy the beautiful Rocky Mountains again. After my initial diagnosis, I dove head first into AIP to get better. After a few months to a full year of intense healing and recovery, I started thinking again about exercise. I wanted to move, shake out the cobwebs, feel like my old self! In my excitement, I started exercising too hard, too soon, and I ended up in pain, my Hashimoto’s symptoms flaring up. The whole process was very frustrating and disheartening.
I even tried working out with a personal trainer. Even though my trainer was qualified and fully aware of my autoimmune condition, I ended up flaring up again. You can read more about my experience here. Here is what I learned though about exercise and autoimmune disease:
- Exercise is an essential part of recovery from an autoimmune disease. It helps to raise your energy, mood, reduce anxiety, it makes you stronger, and modulate your immune system.
- Gentle to moderate exercise is necessary to reduce the inflammation in your body and regulate cortisol levels.
- Over-exercising can trigger autoimmune flare-ups, which is detrimental to your long-term healing.
I looked around for a long time to find an exercise program adapted to the specific needs of autoimmune patients. I knew exactly what I was looking for: a full-body exercise routine, gentle enough so it wouldn’t send me into a flare, and strong enough that I would get the long-term benefits of exercise.
I found the answer with Autoimmune Strong.
Finally, a safe exercise program specifically developed for autoimmune disease patients!
- low-impact exercise, gentle on the joints
- targeted exercises activating your deep muscles
- for all levels of fitness and mobility
- won’t spike cortisol levels or put stress on your body
- won’t cause autoimmune flare-ups
- gradually and safely improve your strength and stamina
And when you get to know the awesome lady who developed Autoimmune Strong, you will understand why this exercise program is perfectly adapted for autoimmune warriors! Andrea is an autoimmune warrior herself (diagnosed with fibromyalgia and multiple other autoimmune diseases) and was once plagued with exhaustion and pain all over her body. She found her way back to health using proper food and movement. She went on to become a certified personal trainer and nutritional therapy practitioner.
The Autoimmune Strong Exercise Program
The Autoimmune Strong exercise program is divided into 3 levels, slowly progressing in intensity so as not to cause pain or trigger a flare-up.
Each level focuses on strengthening 5 essential areas of the body: core - ankle - hips & glutes - shoulder - back & neck. Your membership gives you access to 15 instructional videos and 12 practice routines. Andrea made sure to include specific instructions for proper posture to prevent injuries.
What you get when you sign up
When you sign up for the Autoimmune Strong exercise program (you can either subscribe monthly or yearly), you have instant access to:
- 27 instructional videos and exercise routines
- Printable calendar to keep track of your workouts
- Community support through a private facebook group
- Food and lifestyle bits of advice
- A 1-hour monthly community call to ask all your questions to Andrea
- Access to small group coaching for an extra level of support and motivation (additional cost apply)
Free 7-day trial
Are you ready to start an exercise program specifically designed for autoimmune patients? A program gentle enough on your body but strong enough to give you all the benefits of exercising? Sign-up now or try the risk-free 7-day trial! You won't regret it.
Enter the Giveaway!
Andrea has graciously agreed to donate one 1-year membership to the Autoimmune Strong program to one lucky winner! To enter, tell me in the comments how you have been doing so far with exercise. The giveaway is open worldwide and the winner will be randomly chosen on Monday, October 1st at 8 pm MDT. The winner has 48 hours to claim his prize after being notified. Good luck everyone!
To learn more about exercise and autoimmune disease, check out these other posts:
- 9 tips to exercise safely with an autoimmune disease
- Exercise and autoimmune disease: beneficial or dangerous?
- Exercise, autoimmune disease, stress, and flare-ups!
I have a love hate relationship with exercise. I use to be able to hulk out during a workout with my trainer. As my (then undiagnosed) autoimmune issues grew worse I couldn’t work out at all. I was in such intense pain from even the easiest workout. I was able to regain some of my stamina and ease of movement after following the AIP diet. However the last 6 months I’ve been pretty miserable, mainly from some other health issues. Working out has gotten pushed to the side and I’ve had a big decrease in muscle mass and stamina. It’s just frustrating. I would love to try this workout plan. It sounds very promising. I’ll have to try out the free trial.
I’m not really getting exercise yet. Infrared sauna, and doing household chores by using pacing techniques. And I’m not sure how to get over the hurdle to more physical activity.
Some tí. Es it’s hard to come out of the bed in the morning but I started to move a little bit every morning with 10 min yoga classes and started to realize that’s give more energy and to state the day. After a while a could increase the time of my yoga practice and now I feel not good if I don’t star a day with a little yoga practice
I am so thankful to have found AIP as it helped me put my multiple autoimmune conditions into remissions, but the struggle to find exercise options that don’t put me into debilitating fatigue is real. Even getting back into a walking routine can do it if I am not careful . I would like to try a program that would not cause these set backs and help me on the journey I started almost three years ago. Thank you for sharing!
For me its quite difficult. Ik have osteoporosis and a lot of other things going.
That makes me feel bad and tired, I know that excercise van boost your mitochondria but I dont knie what is good.
This looks great!
Thanks for this government away
I can relate so much to your story. I actually don’t deal with pain but I do deal with severe exhaustion as well as issues with the regulation of my ANS (a condition called P.O.T.S which is believed to be Autoimmune) which makes exercise very difficult. My heart rate jumps up 30+ beats per minute just from standing at times. I’ve not been active in 3 years because of this. I exercise and love very little and would love to slowly change that. I know movement is a missing piece in my healing.
It’s a constant struggle and most of the time sleep or rest wins.. especially since I usually feel more exhausted after I exercise.
What you described as your journey with exercise sounds like mine. I am also a Hashi’s Warrior on AIP for 2 years and have struggled to get to the point where I am able to exercise without being couch bound for several days after. I have recently had more energy and have tried working out this last month, but I am in a pain flare and it’s so hard to stay with it. I feel your frustration.
I try to walk around a track everyday, but I would like to be able to do more. Maybe lift light weights to help me build a little muscle and to get stronger.
Having a safe and appropriate exercise is definitely what I need. Thank you for offering this wonderful giveaway.
I have been slowly, slowly adding exercise minutes each day though gentle walking. My Apple Watch helps me set small goals. But I need to get in a little more strength training.
I’ve found it hard to maintain any energy to even start a workout. I most days look to begin with a preworkout of some sort. Which is terrible because those are always loaded with sugar. I strong believe I need a different approach. I’ve notice this mostly after having my son, before baby I had all the energy.
I have several autoimmune diseases. For a while, even though I felt really really tired, I forced myself to exercise every single day because I thought that would eventually make me feel better. After a year, I still was geting flareups and feeling very very tired. Then I started doing HIIT exercises two to three times a week. It was better than trying to exercise everyday but I still feel tired and unwell. I feel guilty about skipping days though. Not sure what to do…
I’d love to excercise. Having RA and Fibromyalgia makes it difficult. I love what Andrea’s approach to exercise.
I have always loved hiking and backpacking the beautiful Colorado Rockies and Oregon’s stunning wilderness. Then 4 years ago I developed crippling pain and spent most of my days in bed. I’ve been diagnosed with chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia. Though I’m always searching for answers and advise, it’s hard not to get discouraged. Ifeel better when I’m following the AIP protocol but exercise triggers my flare ups so easily. I love to learn how to heal and strengthen my body with hopes of one day being strong enough to start exploring the great outdoors again.
I have a few things going on on top of fibromyalgia. I miss me. I have never been diligent with an exercise routine, but love having energy to clean garden etc, and I haven’t felt that, sporadically less and less.
I have let my fitness take a hit with the progression on my disease, I feel I have to rewrite my brain to how to exercise because I can’t do what I was capable to do before. I’m glad I heard that there’s a program fit for our lifestyle.
I have been active my entire life with running a big part of it. I have done crossfit, weight training, spin and function sports training. Over the last two years, I have trained with a personal trainer. Recently, I have been losing strength, had extreme exhaustion and wanting to skip something I was so passionate about. My trainer didn’t understand and kept pushing me. Last week, I broke it off with my trainer. I need to find something that doesn’t leave me in tears. I would love to work with this program.
I have mostly a hate relationship with exercise. I know I need to do it but much like you when I start I always over do it. I see what other people without an autoimmune disease are doing and think I should be able to keep up. I know gaining strength and losing weight would help with my pain and energy.
I keep doing the same thing…feel good, start exercising, do too much too fast and end up with an injury then I have to wait and heal then start all over again! It is so frustrating!!
In college, I always felt energized by working out but since diagnosed with Hashimotos, I feel terrible. When I do anything that requires much exertion.My endocrinologist told me to do yoga and even it was too much! I’m not very hopeful for anything more than walking and gentle stretches.
Exercise has been a journey for me. Before I was diagnosed with Hashimotos, I attributed my fatigue to ‘laziness’ and getting older, and signed up for a gym membership. I think I made it to the gym about 12 times that year… After my diagnosis, I was almost afraid to try to exercise- everything set me off on a stretch of sore muscles and fatigue. Over the past two years, I’ve slowly been working my way up to longer walks and do play some volleyball, and I’m somewhat impressed that I’m not completely zonked afterwards! This is the second time today that Autoimmune Strong has come up… perhaps it’s a sign?
This has been the BIGGEST struggle for me. I was pretty active before and I have gained a considerable amount of weight after having my thyroid removed. I try to get some exercise in but I end up doing too much and then I’m down for days after. Not to mention the depression doesn’t help me get motivated to do much of anything.
I can’t decide whether I need help or just patience with myself.
Exercise has been a struggle since 2014. I would really like to be able to work on building muscle tone, but it seems the only thing I can do without pain is walking on an elliptical machine. Even the impact on a treadmill is too much. I couldn’t even enjoy a simple hike on vacation with my family last week because of back pain which is really depressing. I’m only 42!.
For several years, I would get to the point where I felt strong enough to start exercising again, but then two weeks into a routine, I would flare up. I had always been an active, athletic person. More recently I have slowly moved into doing yoga, starting with one gentle class a week and adding a class as I felt I could handle it. I have started taking a Pilates/Barre class and it is quite challenging. I try to give myself permission to stop doing a particular exercise until I feel my body/muscles recover before I rejoin the class. My doctor has asked me to work out at up to 80% of my capacity and then take a break if I feel I’m going over 80%. That seems to be working. I always felt I had to keep up with the class, and that would get me into trouble. I would be very interested in seeing what Andrea has to offer.
Today, I feel like I’m having a good day so I try to walk the treadmill or try low impact yoga, plus extra chores around the house. Maybe 30 minutes in, I am spent and hurting. I rest and try again. Pattern continues the rest of the day. Tomorrow, if I am able to get out of bed it is only to move to recliner. I hate this!!
My experience with exercise has been very up and down. I think it’s normal to have fear of pushing too hard after recovering from a major flare, but that fear definitely infringes on my rebuilding process. I mostly go on walks and hikes but I’m very careful about timing. Yoga and dancing in my room feels safe but I’m eager to find something I can trust.
I’m pretty young and have fibromyalgia and gut disorders and so I definitely am still learning about balance and self care. Thanks for sharing your experiences here and offering a giveaway as well.
“Where, did all my strength and endurance go?” seems to be the question most of us are asking (once we are, eventually, diagnosed with an AI disease. So many trainers have no idea how to effectively train those of us with AID.
My own story echoes these shared – pain, frustration, despair, a sense of being lost somewhere out in the ‘exercise translation’ of well-meaning trainers that struggle themselves with the, “N=1” facts of AID ..
Sophie, it is so encouraging to read about Andrea and Autoimmune Strong! What a brilliant program offering such hope! Let’s ‘spread the word’ so other trainers can learn from Andrea’s, and help every single one..
Thank you, thank you, thank you! 🙂
Exercise is honestly a tough thing for me. I have no problem eating healthily, but when it comes to exercise, I rarely if ever bring myself to actually do it because I often feel worse rather than better afterward. I’ve had widespread muscle pain, fatigue, and joint pain for several years, and recently a Rheumatologist diagnosed me with Fibromyalgia. Actually, my symptoms have become so problematic that I’m currently taking a three month leave of absence from work so I can rest and also go through a physical therapy regime that my doctor recommended. He suspects that the increased activity will cause flare-ups of my symptoms, so he prescribed this extended leave from work so I’ll have more time to rest. The Autoimmune Strong program greatly interests me because I desire to exercise and be more active, which I know would greatly benefit and improve my health, but in a way that won’t cause additional flare-ups.
Exercise used to be my hobby and passion. I started at age 12 waking up to Joni Greggins every morning at 5:30 am before school. 2014 began the first of many failed surgeries that left me with terrible chronic pain and ever since the metal has been put into my body, I’ve displayed many autoimmune symptoms and have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia. I try to do a little swimming once or twice a week, but laying down and heat is the only thing that gives me relief. I would love to try Autoimmune Strong. I miss exercise so much. I had just started personal training when this all happened. I am struggling.
Hi… I would love to win the exercise program. So far, I have not been doing so hot. I tend to feel injured …as if I have the flu after exercising. . I have osteoarthritis and my hip, back or knees seem to get very angry when I walk longer than twenty minutes. My body shape is like that of a lollipop. I am round on top with very skinny legs. I know I need to build stamina and muscle and am beginning the journey of going back to the gym during CoVid because I think I need swim time. I also have psoriasis which brings me to the AIP world. I have cut out food before but never dairy. I thought I loved dairy more than myself but that attitude has to change and is changing. Thanks for all the hard work you have put into all of your recipes and for what you share. You are appreciated. A friend shared you with me. I can’t thank her enough. I start the AIP cookbook this Sunday forward.