Walk With Ease

by Arthritis Foundation

No matter if you need relief from arthritis pain or just want to be active, the Arthritis Foundation’s six week Walk With Ease program can teach you how to safely make physical activity part of your everyday life. Now get the guidebook that has helped thousands of people take their first step toward better health.

Studies by the Thurston Arthritis Research Center and the Institute on Aging of the University of North Carolina show that Walk With Ease is proven to:

• Reduce the pain and discomfort of arthritis
• Increase balance, strength and walking pace
• Build confidence in your ability to be physically active
• Improve overall health

Used on your own or as part of a group, this guidebook will help you: create a fitness program tailor-made for you, improve your flexibility, strength and stamina, fights the I-don't-want-to-exercise blues, follow simple warm-up and cool-down stretches, keep track of your progress with a walking diary and motivate yourself to finally get in great shape.

Walk With Ease is based on the popular nationwide fitness program brought to you by the experts you trust here at the Arthritis Foundation.

176 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 25, 1999

Reviews

[Hailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great little informational and resourceful book for those managing arthritis pain when walking, especially beginner walkers, the elderly, middle-aged folks, or those who may be carrying a few extra pounds and experiencing joint pain for that reason. I stumbled across and picked up a copy of this at a thrift store just a couple days after joining Fitbit. Thought I had to have it of course, for that reason. ;-) While most of the information was general info, I learned a few helpful tips that I didn't know before. The information was also well organized and supported, in my opinion. Thanks to this book, I'll be looking into getting fit for some orthopedic inserts to relieve my knee and back pain when walking.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is very simply written, understandable for most adult readers even if they are new to science or health nonfiction reading. Some sections felt repetitive, but not inappropriately so for an introductory instruction book, especially since readers will likely reread only small parts, or may refer to only certain sections.

I do wish there was an index, I've had a little trouble going back to find sections.

As for the program, an angry 5 stars. Life is complicated, problems are complicated, I am totally on board with the memes depicting a person offended by a simple solution. (Clinical depression cannot be fixed with a walk. IBS cannot be cured by drinking more water. Sometimes solutions are complicated.) But I've had long-term issues with my hip and quad, going back years by now, and I've tried a lot of things-- yoga, physical therapy, different kinds of exercise done religiously, acupuncture, drugs (well, legal drugs), more physical therapy... nothing really worked. Sometimes it's really painful, like interfering-with-work or limiting-mobility-noticeable-to-other-people. I don't have arthritis in that area, but I have been told I have arthritis in another joint and I have general, global, very high inflammation. And I'm angry at how much better I feel for following this program. I did the stretches the first two weeks, comparing them to the complex and very long stretching programs I've tried in the past and it would be an understatement to say that I had doubts. I didn't have anything except doubts. How could 4 stretches target all these problematic anchor points?
I'm not pain-free, but I'm in the middle of week 4 (of this 6-week program) and I haven't had to take any OTC pain medication for my hip in over 2 weeks. If I have a bigger gap of days between walks+stretches-- like 2 or 3 days, instead of going every other day-- I definitely feel it.

This program is flexible to meet people where they are. If you can do a lap around your living room or a single trip to the corner of your block, you can start. If you live in a more urban area, there may be walking groups you can attend that are specific to this program. (I couldn't find any in my area.)

Wow, recommended.

[Bonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good for starting an independent walking program.