How Much Exercise is Enough When You Have Arthritis?

Between 2013 and 2015, 22.7 percent of Americans were diagnosed by a medical doctor with some form of arthritis. The most commonly diagnosed type is osteoarthritis, although other conditions include gout, fibromyalgia, and rheumatoid arthritis. It is widely known that exercise can help to improve function, decrease pain, and improve overall quality of life for individuals managing their arthritis symptoms, but how much exercise is enough?

Current federal guidelines for adults recommend a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week (or a combination of both). These recommendations are important because research has shown that people who are more active have lower rates of coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, stroke, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, colon cancer, breast cancer, and depression.

Unfortunately, people with arthritis are not meeting those guidelines because they are in too much pain. The CDC reports that 23.6 percent of adults with arthritis are not completing any leisure-time physical activity, like walking, gardening, swimming, and completing household chores.

Another study published in 2017 changed the game for Americans struggling to manage their arthritis pain. The new study reports that adults with arthritis only need to spend 45 minutes a week completing moderate to vigorous exercise in order to improve or maintain high function. That’s less than seven minutes a day if you exercise every day of the week!