Arthritis and exercise: four women on how they move with arthritis

Women with arthritis on how they exercise

Credit: Versus Arthritis/Hodder

Strong Women


Arthritis and exercise: four women on how they move with arthritis

By Amy Sedghi

4 years ago

Arthritis isn’t a condition exclusive to older people; around 15,000 young people live with the condition in the UK. What happens to your fitness goals if you get diagnosed in your 20s, and how possible is it to live a life rich in movement when you’ve got to cope with chronic pain? Writer Amy Sedghi talks to four women on how they move with arthritis.

What kind of person does the word “arthritis” immediately bring to mind? For many of us, it’ll be a frail gran or grandpa – someone older and less mobile. Now imagine being young and active, and being diagnosed with arthritis at just 20-years-old. 

“I was absolutely devastated,” says Bobbi Nickless, a dance teacher who at the time was in the midst of studying for a musical theatre degree in London. “It was hard to process it emotionally because the physical pain was so overpowering.”    

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