Hi, my friend with interstitial cystitis (IC) and endometriosis is interested in training with barbells for the first time. Due to her IC, she has to eat an extremely restricted selection of foods, though she fortunately is able to satisfy all of the macronutrients across those select foods. We were wondering, before moving forward with any kind of program and meal planning, if there is any evidence or knowledge y’all can speak on as to whether or not training has any kind of effect regarding IC relief, or better, such as complete eradication of IC altogether (one can dream!)? Thank you.
I’m not aware of much direct evidence on this (and unfortunately none on eradication), but I would start out with similar general exercise recommendations for someone with IC as I would with anyone else, and aim to individualize the prescription from there based on their goals and tolerance.