One of the first thngs that people with arthritis notice is that the affected joints start losing the normal amount of movement that they once had.

This is caused in a lot of cases by the supporting muscles locking up to protect the inflamed joint.

A good way of treating this is by stretching the muscles and allowing the joint to be used through the entire range of movement as this will discourage excessive wear in just one part of the joint and keep the joint capsule in the proper shape for as long as possible.

We have a few stretches that can be helpful for people with arthritis to use outside of their regular Pilates classes that will be helpful in maintaining joint movement.

Of course there muscles should also be kept strong and their are some exercises to assist with this in our daily dozen section.