EULAR recommends exercise for arthritis
- The European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology published a 2025 update urging physical activity as standard care for inflammatory arthritis and osteoarthritis. - The update says patients should follow general public-health exercise advice, with tailored support, symptom monitoring, and strategies that also cut sedentary time. - It revises EULAR’s 2018 guidance after new evidence and World Health Organization activity standards. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
Arthritis is joint disease, but the new EULAR guidance says movement should be treated as part of care, not something patients avoid by default. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) (medicalxpress.com) The European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology published its 2025 update on physical activity in people with inflammatory arthritis and osteoarthritis on April 25, 2026, in *Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases*. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) The document updates EULAR’s 2018 recommendations after newer studies on digital tools, behavior-change support, and reducing sedentary behavior, and after the World Health Organization revised its activity guidance in 2020. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) (ard.eular.org) For patients, the basic message is simple: people with arthritis should aim for regular physical activity using the same broad public-health targets used for everyone else, with adjustments for symptoms and function. (medicalxpress.com) (alphagalileo.org) For clinicians, the update shifts the job beyond telling patients to “exercise.” It calls for tailored plans, support to change habits, and follow-up that accounts for pain, fatigue, flares, and physical limitations. (medicalxpress.com) (medpagetoday.com) The recommendations cover inflammatory arthritis, which includes conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and spondyloarthritis, as well as osteoarthritis, the wear-and-tear form that is the most common arthritis diagnosis. (medicalxpress.com) (eular.org) EULAR’s earlier evidence review found that exercise and physical-activity promotion improved cardiovascular fitness and muscle strength in rheumatoid arthritis, spondyloarthritis, and osteoarthritis, with moderate effect sizes. (eular.org) The new update adds newer evidence on interventions that use technology or combine education with behavior strategies to help people move more and sit less. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) (ard.eular.org) That leaves the headline unchanged but sharper: for many arthritis patients, the risk is not exercise itself but inactivity, and EULAR wants physical activity built into routine rheumatology care. (medpagetoday.com) (medicalxpress.com)
