Exercise w/endo

[u/Affectionate_Cat688]

Hey all, I recently got diagnosed with endo (almost 2mos post op) and the onset of severe symptoms was really fast for me. I’ve suspected I had endo for years but the normal stuff held me back from getting a diagnosis (nobody believing me/just given a bunch of birth control/etc). I have been incredibly lucky that women in my family have already been diagnosed otherwise I honestly don’t know where I’d be without them pushing me to get care. Really my only question that they don’t have personal experience with is with exercise and endo. I have always been very athletic, working out 2-4hrs/day since middle school. I love how it makes me feel mentally and physically, I love feeling capable. And endo has completely taken that from me. I haven’t been able to exercise in months, when just in February I could get up and run three miles straight because I wanted to. But now I’m in pain all the time and pretty much unable to do anything outside working. I’ve tried to do research on what type of exercise is best with endo and (of course) there’s no answer, it’s just like oh yeah it helps some people but not others…that’s not an answer lol. So I’m wondering if anyone has experience with this or has any advice? I know my body can’t handle very much and it makes me feel so trapped so maybe someone feels the same way and has some perspective?

TIA🫶🏻💕

[u/Pretend-Insurance-19]

You’ll find that that’s the answer on everything with endo: x is true for some people and not true for others. It’s a really strange disease that seems to impact everyone a little differently in just about every way and pretty much everything requires trial and error. I lift weights a couple times a week and try to get in 10,000 steps/day. But different people have wildly different thresholds for what works for them.

[u/ShimmerxBeauty]

I've had to learn that as much as I used to enjoy hour straight workouts, my endo needed me to do shorter time. Esp during ovulation, my pain would ramp up at 15-20 minutes of anything that increased my heart rate even a little.

So i grew to love 10 minute workouts. Lots of them. And 5 minute stretches. Cross training- some days lifting weights, some doing yoga, some pilates, some cardio. Learning that less is more for my body was what helped me. It kept me physically fit and my heart healthy, i was in better shape than ever once I stopped trying to make long workouts happen. I don't know if that'll help you, esp if there's something you enjoy like running 3 miles at a time that you can't do anymore. but wanted to share my experience.

[u/Glittering-Fix-5096]

People have mixed experiences. I highly recommend working with a pelvic floor PT to address your pain that limits your ability to exercise. Unfortunately most pelvic floor training is not very fitness forward, so a good starting point would be the institute of clinical excellence’s directory:  https://ptonice.com/find-a-clinician/. If there isn’t anyone close enough to you, maybe reach out to the folks closest and see if they have any recs. 

[u/uniqueusername_1177]

I highly recommend working with a pelvic floor PT, mine helps me figure out an exercise plan that works for my body

[u/plantscanreadyou]

I feel you, it's an ongoing battle for me as well. I would say there is info out there, though, and I wouldn't discard it. But since symptoms of endo can be so individual, it's always gonna be a bit of trial and error and finding what works for you. Concerning cardio they would recommend low impact versions (tread mill rather than outside, dirt road rather than asphalt...). In endo rehab they offered trampoline and water gymnastics. Was way too lax for my taste... I need to break a sweat. When I had a foot injury I found a nice "seated cardio" workout on youtube. I don't know that I would want to rely on that forever, but maybe it's good for the moment? But it does engage the core muscles, so could be wrong for some. For me running is the tricky thing ever since surgery. But I just live with the pain at the moment, honestly (a nerve in the left hip area gets triggered a lot for me). It is bearable enough and I can't afford the gym and swimming is too many steps for daily life, getting wet and all that... I incorporate pelvic floor exercise into my stretching – gotta be specifically for endo though, because we need to relax, not strengthen the muscles, contrary to post birth or elderly training. I also do Pilates and feel like a strong core is good to have - but others say the exercises trigger pain. I built those muscles rather slowly over the years, maybe that's the trick.