IBD Friendly Activities

Finding IBD-friendly activities can be a challenge sometimes. Over the past few years, I’ve been a lot more involved with hiking and being able to get out on different trails and explore the great parks and trails around me.

Tips to go hiking with IBD

Find trails that are accessible and paved. Look for paved trails that are accessed through the national park website and others that may be lesser known. There are Facebook groups available to people living with Arthritis and chronic illness who share trails within each state. It took me a while to find the good groups that worked for me, and I’ve been keeping tabs on which trails look like they would best fit my needs at a specific date and time.

I have used Rails to Trails Conservancy every year and have applied what trails they mention to my routes. I know which trails are accessible. I like using TrailLink to plan my routes. It’s a conservancy that helps provide an option to become a trail member and contribute a few dollars for a lot of great information about the trails in your area. It also has a great accessibility section, that lists all trails with wheelchair accessibility. You can also leave reviews on this website as well for other users!

Other activities that I can do with IBD

There are a lot of other great activities I've really enjoyed, especially during the Spring and Fall months where things can get a little "blah" and cooped up.

I've lucked out a few times by looking at websites like Groupon, where they have free 3-month trials to different exercise programs that range from stretching to high-intensity workouts that professional athletes do!

Activities for my joints

I have found that PiYo has been very gentle on my joints, which is pretty important when I factor in what I like to get out and do. Many activities like PiYo can be found online for free on YouTube. Do yourself a favor and browse around. There are a LOT of free resources and workout programs, even on your local TV stations in the morning.

Recently, I joined my local community pool and take classes there when I'm able. It gives me the motivation to get out of the house and get into a nice warm pool for my joints when we have 12 inches of snow outside!

It's important for me to get involved in different activities, especially those involving other people. If I'm unable to run and train for certain athletic events, I supplement it with a different workout. Other workouts are swimming laps at the pool and putting in some work on my yoga wheel, which really helps me stretch out when I'm feeling really drained, sore and just fatigued.

What sort of group activities do you participate in? Have you actively looked for exercises to do for free and found something you've enjoyed? Share with us below!