What do you do for exercise? I'm terribly out of shape and a bit overweight and I need to get into better shape. I cannot swim because there is no where near me to do it. There is a Curves and I was thinking about that. I've seen some pretty old ladies there so if there are things they can do there, there must be things an EDSer can do too.

anything that's low impact and where there's attention paid to posture and doing things 'right'
one of the best things is pilates- small movements and all about control/doing things 'right'- particularly good as the main thing about pilates is how it works the core muscles- the little 'inner' muscles that are supposed to do the 'holding'-

t'ai chi can be good- but also just 'simple' (oh if only it always was so simple...) walking and cycling

if you cant afford to go to pilates classes- you could also see a physical therapist and ask for core stability exercises- always a v good thing to start off with those

and with any exercise you are starting, particularly if you also have a chronic pain syndrome, start off sloooooooowly!!!!!
so dont go for a full class or an hour's worth of cycling, walking- start with 10/15 mins a couple of times a week and slowly build up- or depending on your fitness and eds probs you could do 10/15mins, have a little rest, then another 10/15 mins-

as with everything EDS- easy does it!
xxg

depending on your dislocations and your stability level... thats really going to dictate what you should do and especially where you should start.

Examples of where I started when i was so bad i had to be brought home from college... Isometrics. best thing about these are you can choose your resistance level even with gravity. If you lay down and do the isometrics... least amount of gravity working against you. Sit in a chair, you have medium amount, stand... max amount.

The nice thing about isometrics is you're turning on your muscle, getting it to work, but you get to dictate the position your joint is in, and that it stays that way. If you flex your muscle too hard and your joints are very lax, you do run the risk of pulling the joint out... this is why it is -very- important not to over develop one muscle group. If you train one group of muscles, you need to train the opposing muscle group. Easiest example of this that most people know are the biceps and triceps. they oppose each other.

Therabands are also great ways to work out with a bit of resistance, what else... easy walking depending on your knees.

Psst... also i've heard that cleaning burns *tons* of calories (which would explain why whenever I go to clean like... hard core clean i end up sweating like all get out and am gross by the end of it XD) hahahaha just kidding. but hey, whatever your motivations are.

lol * KitKat... I never thought to take that angle with her before... cleaning There, Kherome, now you have a reason to clean

No thanks, cleaning still isn't going to work for me!

As I said in my original post, swimming isn't an option for me.

I also recommend isometric exercise. A doctor I see thinks of it as a miracle cure for EDS. While I scoff at that, I find it very convenient and relatively safe.

There are basic strengthening exercises you can do at home and strapping can help too - that will help with whatever exercise you then do.

I would avoid step machines and rowing machines (too much stress on the knees). Personally I find elliptical machines great as they're low impact and you don't take any joints to acute degrees. Treadmills are great for walking but I'd be cautious of running. And maybe try a bike and see how you do.

Going to a regular gym where you can decide exactly what to do, rather than Curves where it's circuit based, may be more suitable. Most gyms will let you book one session with a trainer to work out what to do and use and how. I highly recommend doing this as with EDS you're more at risk of injuries from incorrectly using equipment.

If you do weight based exercises, make sure that you use relatively low weights and do more reps, ensuring that you do not take joints to acute degrees - e.g. a bicep "curl" becomes an exercise where you hold you arm to your arm and move the hand holding the weight only a few inches rather than lifting it up so that the elbow joint is 90 degrees or less.

Hope that helps!

I have a pack of Yoga cards and Stretch cards, which I used on a pain management program I was at. They are good because you can do as little as you like, modify if neccesary, and they say what part of the body they work on. You also don't have to go anywhere to use them! I don't know where you'd buy them now though - maybe amazon? Somewhere should have something similar if not the same set...Good luck with finding exercise that suits you!