Years ago, I not only had hypothyroidism, I had thyroid cancer.  I lost my entire thyroid and my parathyroid also.  Keeping weight under control can be an ongoing battle for many people.  Adding hypothyroidism or Hashimoto’s auto-immune disease to this issue can feel like a nightmare!  We may not only have trouble losing weight with this disease, but we may actually gain weight.  Exercise can be very important and helpful, however, it is very important to pay attention to your body and what it can safely handle.

First, if you are not currently on an exercise program, you must start very slow to determine what is safe for your body to not cause more inflammation and deterioration.  Start with low impact aerobic exercise for 15 minutes.  If you’re not too sore the following day, then you know you can add more time or intensity.  The key is to add exercise slowly, not overdo and have to cut back.

Cardio, whether performed outside, or inside, is beneficial to get your heart rate up 3 to 4 days a week.  Start off as stated above, slow, with exercise inside or outside such as walking, elliptical, or bike.  You can eventually moving into a HIIT program, but only after being sure your body can handle the intensity, and not tax the adrenals.  The HIIT program will be defined below.  If you have been an avid exercise enthusiast, you may want to cutback slightly, slowly building back up to your normal regimen.  It’s very important not to overtrain.  Take longer rest periods.  Your body doesn’t recover as quickly and the joints are under more stress.  Overtraining can also tax the adrenal gland, causing adrenal fatigue.  You may want to cut down on long cardio sessions and move toward heavier weights to build muscle and burn calories throughout the day.

Yoga and Pilates are also beneficial to improve the core and take the pressure off the back and hip pain that can also be associated with Hashimoto’s.

Strength training is always beneficial to those with Hashimoto’s because muscle burns more calories than fat.  Building muscle helps counteract the weight gain that is associated with hypothyroidism.  Strength training using the large muscle groups, and performing movements such as squats, lunges, pushups, and full body movements burn the most calories.  These exercises should be performed 2 to 3 days a week.

Examples of Exercises for Hashimosto’s

Squats – Stand with feet shoulder width apart, hands clasped at chest.  Squat down to floor, keeping heels down.  Press through heels to stand tall.  Repeat.

Lunges – Stand with feet together. Lunge forward with right leg, leaning forward, not allowing knee to extend beyond ankle.  Pushing from toes, step back. Repeat with left leg.

Deadlift – Stand tall, bend at waist by pressing hips back.  Keep back flat, knees slightly bent. Reach for floor. (Back should look like a table, keep eyes up) stand back up.  Repeat.

Plank – Get into pushup position, either on hands, or elbows. Body in flat, board-like alignment. (Butt down, not up in air) Hold for 30 – 60 sec without drooping.

Pushup – Get into plank position.  Do pushup with a slow 3 sec lowering rep count to floor, 1 sec rep back up.  Do as many as possible on toes, then drop to knees to finish.

Overhead Press – Using Dumbbells, turn db so they are facing forward and press straight overhead, locking elbows. Lower back down to shoulders. Repeat.

Lat Pulldown – Grab pulldown bar barely wider than shoulder width grip, palms facing away from you.  Pull the bar(activating your lat before elbows to pull)  down to upper chest, return back to beginning position to a slow 3 sec count.  Repeat.

DB Row – Stand in a bent over position with feet together.  Rest one hand on knee, and use other hand to raise db to same-side lat.  Repeat on other side.

Rowing – Cardio Machine, or weight machine.  Sit on the bench of the row machine holding the handle of the row machine attached to the cable.  Lean back 15 degrees.  Pull cable back to stomach under control and release to a 3 sec count.  Repeat.

Squat to overhead press – Hold db to sides.  Squat down, stand, push db overhead.  Repeat.

Begin with 6 reps. Work up to15 by adding 2 more repetitions each day.

Next, go back down to 6 reps, but increase the weight to build more muscle.  The last 2 reps should be difficult.  It they’re not, you’re not using heavy enough weight.

HIIT – is exercise performed in which you give all-out, one hundred percent effort through quick, intense bursts of exercise, followed by short, active, recovery periods. This keeps your heart rate up and burns more fat.

EX:  Begin with a 2 min warm up on treadmill on level 3 at 3.5.

Increase to level 5 at 4.0 for 1 min
Increase to level 7 at 4.0 for 1 min
Increase to level 9 at 4.0 for 1 min
Increase to level 11-12 at 4.0 for 1 min
Drop back to level 3 at 3.5 for 2 min

Repeat 3 times

Again, listen to your body.  Do not over fatigue yourself during the workout.  The next day you may feel sore, but not so sore you can’t move.