Exercise
Regular exercise can improve your heart function, increase your hematocrit and hemoglobin levels, improve your glucose control, and decrease your blood pressure. Improved exercise tolerance can improve your overall physical well being and lower your level of anxiety and stress. These changes will occur at different rates in different individuals, depending on your age, health, type and frequency of exercise and fitness level. First consult your doctor and remember to start gradually, exercise regularly and have fun!
Booklets
Exercise: A Guide for People on Dialysis
This 44-page booklet provides step-by-step instructions for starting and maintaining a sensible exercise program. Written by exercise physiologist and nationally-recognized expert Patricia Painter, PhD, this program focuses on building strength, endurance, and flexibility -- three key areas for dialysis patients who want to stay active. Profiles and quotes from dialysis patients who enjoy the benefits of regular exercise are featured.
http://www.lifeoptions.org/catalog/pdfs/booklets/exercise.pdf
Exercise & Physical Activity: Your Everyday Guide from the National Institute on Aging
This comprehensive 124-page guide is the centerpiece of Go4Life, the National Institute on Aging (NIA) campaign on exercise and physical activity. It is filled with sample exercises and suggested activities and charts to record your progress.
This booklet, although geared towards older adults, is a valuable resource for kidney patients. As with any exercise program be sure to discuss your program with with your health care team and ask for help in tailoring suggested activities and recommendations to your needs while on dialysis.
To find out more about Go4Life visit www.nia.nih.gov/Go4Life.
To download this guide or to view chapters online, visit the NIA Web site publications section at http://www.nia.nih.gov/HealthInformation/Publications/ExerciseGuide/
Related articles:
- Exercise Program Tips for Dialysis Patients
by By Jamie Shish, RD, LDN, ATC/L (Article posted to Kidney Times Web site February 2007. Accessed September 28, 2010. Also available in Spanish). - Be Good to Your Body and It Will Be Good to You!
by Kathy Howard, RN, BSN, CCTC, CCTN (This article originally appeared in the September 2010 issue of aakpRENALIFE.) - Physical Activity and Exercise: The Wonder Drug
by Daniel Bayliss, MS, CES (This article originally appeared in the November 2005 issue of aakpRENALIFE, Vol. 21, No. 3.) - Keeping Fit: Why Dialysis Patients Should Exercise
by Stephen Z. Fadem, MD, FACP (This article originally appeared in the January 2003 issue of aakpRENALIFE Vol. 18, No. 4.) - Home Exercise Program for Patients with Kidney Disease
[Link to PDF download onThe Ohio State University Medical Center site]
by Rehabilitation Services/Dialysis of The Ohio State University Medical Center (5/2002).
Last updated on: October 27, 2010