How do you balance pushing yourself to exercise more vs ending up overdoing it?

Hi . Pacing and finding the activity balance is one of the hardest things to manage for many in the community. Heck, my wife, Kelly Mack (a contributor here), was diagnosed at age two, 45 years ago and can still struggle with this. Our patient leaders have written a number of articles on dealing with the "activity hangover," such as here: https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/living/activity-hangover-recovery and here: https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/living/activity-hangover.


When it comes to managing exercise, I want to share with you this article from our patient leader on the S.T.O.P. method: https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/living/new-year-resolutions-exercise. Note: you may also want to check out the extensive conversation in the comments section. In addition, Monica wrote about pacing here: https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/living/learn-pacing. I hope this information is helpful. One common theme, unfortunately, is of a lot of trial and error. In fact, what worked one time may not the next - it tends to be the nature of RA. That said, it will get easier to get close, to learn some limits, and to manage the recovery. Hopefully others will chime in on what has helped them. Wishing you the best and know that people here understand. Richard (Team Member)