8 Things I Wish People Knew About Arthritis and Exercise
Key takeaways:
When arthritis in her hips derailed competitive triathlete and nutrition coach Joanna Chodorowska, she found joy in new lifestyle and exercise routines.
Eating anti-inflammatory foods and practicing stress management techniques help her manage pain.
She finds fun in exercise by learning from pain and then strengthening muscles to support joint health.
At age 47, Joanna Chodorowska’s entire left hip hurt. For decades, she had been able to “hang with the boys” — to cycle at top speeds on group training rides with fellow triathletes. She was a top competitor, with three Ironman triathlons under her belt and a thriving career as a sports nutritionist and endurance athlete, sponsored by the likes of Hammer Nutrition.
“I was suddenly unable to cycle even 30 minutes without being in pain,” she says. “My power dropped ridiculously. I went from going 18 miles per hour to barely doing 10 or 11.”
Joanna’s doctor diagnosed her with moderate-to-severe osteoarthritis in her left hip. Medical imaging showed the joint had become misshapen, with little healthy space between the joint’s ball and socket. That was damage, she says, caused in part by strain on the joint from a prior, chronic leg muscle and groin injury. Inflammation and overuse, during decades of athletic competitions, had also damaged bone and cartilage.
“I was devastated,” she says. “I am the athlete. I am the one who loves to move. Exercise was a huge source of my self-esteem.”
Joanna’s osteoarthritis diagnosis landed her among 32.5 million Americans afflicted with this common condition, which typically occurs at midlife and often affects the hips, hands, or knees.
Joanna’s weakened left hip displayed classic arthritis symptoms. Besides pain and loss of athletic power, she also experienced stiffness and, sometimes, clicking or popping sounds.
A decade later, Joanna still works as a holistic nutritionist and inflammation coach. She passes on to her clients the new mindsets, dietary habits, and exercise and training techniques that helped her cope productively with pain and once again seek joy in exercise.
Here are eight things that Joanna says she wishes people knew about managing arthritis with diet and exercise.
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1. Cut out sugar from your diet to reduce arthritis pain
Diet changes may help reduce inflammation that causes joint pain. The first step, Joanna says, is to eliminate processed sugar as much as possible. That includes not only white sugar, but also brown sugar, dextrose, and corn syrup — to name a few. Reducing processed sugar intake can improve inflammation symptoms, she says.
2. Read labels and eat real food
Processed foods and artificial ingredients, such as dyes, preservatives, and hydrogenated oils, contribute to inflammation. Inflammation causes arthritis pain. First, Joanna learned to scrutinize food labels to avoid these hazards. When she found these ingredients in a product in the store, she says, “I put it back on the shelf.” She swapped out Clif Bars, Gu, and other processed endurance snacks for homemade energy bars with natural sweeteners like honey and maple syrup. Managing your diet when you have arthritis is a comprehensive endeavor that involves eating more fruits, vegetables, and healthy protein, she says.
3. Don’t let arthritis stop you
“When anyone is in pain, they typically stop moving. But being sedentary digs the hole deeper,” says Joanna, who is now 55. “With arthritis, you have to keep moving. I had to find movement that I love that did not make anything hurt.”
4. Focus on exercise you can do
Joanna’s self-esteem took a hit when she could no longer ride 18 mph and rank top in her age class in triathlons. But she discovered joy again, she says, when she got back on the bike anyway and enjoyed simply being in motion, no matter the speed.
“To know that I'm still riding a bike and I'm going to enjoy the scenery,” she says, “became a new reason. I learned to bicycle for all the reasons that I like riding my bike and disregard the ability portion of it.”
5. Understand what hurts and find the right help
Years before her hip joint began to fail, Joanna slipped in the mud and pulled her hamstring and groin muscle. She went to physical therapy but her injuries did not fully heal. Instead, she says, her left leg overcompensated for those weakened muscles by moving in ways that ultimately contributed to her hip joint deterioration.
“Explore. Ask, ‘Why is my body not wanting to move that way?’” she says. “The answer often is that I must have a weakness in some muscle area.”
It sometimes takes trial and error to find the specific exercises and strengthening regimens that help, she says. Often, opposing muscle groups can be strengthened, which can be helpful. For example, she has found with clients that arthritis in the lower back can be helped by building up opposing muscles in the abdomen and core.
“For me, I learned to engage and work on the muscles that actively engage and support the hip joints,” she says.
6. Stay curious and learn arthritis-healing exercises
Low-impact exercise like yoga, weight lifting, and swimming are often recommended for people with arthritis who wish to remain active.
“Even swimming would irritate my hip,” Joanna says.
But that did not stop her. She slipped resistance bands around her hips for swimming, to help her mind focus on identifying and engaging hip stabilization muscles. While swimming, she focused her mind on working her glutes and related muscle groups.
“I found it fun to be swimming, even though it was rehab swimming, so to speak,” she says. “I was learning how my body was working.”
7. Manage stress
Before being diagnosed with arthritis, athletic training “was my only source of stress relief,” says Joanna, adding that she once cycled 136 miles to help vent the frustration and grief from a romantic breakup.
“I was one-dimensional in my coping skills. Now, it is just about being present. Mindfulness can help restore your sense of well-being.”
8. Accept your arthritis
Whereas Joanna once rode at the front of the pack with pride, she ended up doing a “solo group ride” last year. She started out strong, but her hip was not happy that day on hill climbs. As a result, the ride she started with a group turned into a solo journey on the road.
“In terms of my competitive abilities, I’ve lost a little bit of the freedom to do the things I want to do, in the way I want to do them,” she says. “Sometimes, I have to go with what I can do that day.”
These days, Joanna continues work as a nutrition and exercise coach to beginners, elite athletes seeking to improve performance, and, in some cases, people like herself, who are looking to eat right and exercise after joint replacement.
Ultimately, she had to have joint replacement surgery on her left hip. In 2020, osteoarthritis was also diagnosed in her right hip. She is working on strengthening the right hip with natural, functional techniques she has learned — painfully — over the last decade.
“I have learned the body can heal, given the right tools. This is where I am,” she says. “There are so many aspects to arthritis. I have to trust that there is a bigger purpose in this thing.”
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