The Missing Piece: How Smarter Tracking Can Help You Pursue Physical Activity with Confidence
Introducing a free beta trial with Mana Medical
In our last article, we talked about the ongoing struggles of engaging in physical activity when you live with chronic inflammation—the constant trial and error, the unpredictable flare-ups, and the lack of real, personalised guidance.
How do you know when to push and when to rest? And how do you keep going when what used to work suddenly makes you worse?
Imagine if you could actually tune into your body’s boundaries—not just with hindsight, but in real time.
What if you had a way to see what’s happening in your body at that moment, not rely on general rules or assumptions, but make decisions based on how your body responds today, at 3pm—not how it responded yesterday, or how it might tomorrow?
Why We Need a Smarter Approach to Exercise
For most of us, managing movement is a guessing game. Some days, a short walk feels great. Other days, the same walk wipes us out. Strength training might help in theory—but it’s impossible to know when it’s too much until it already is.
That’s because chronic inflammation isn’t consistent. There is no reliable pattern. What feels fine one day can cause a flare the next. The only consistent thing is the inconsistency—and that’s why traditional exercise advice just doesn’t cut it.
The Mental Toll of Uncertainty
Beyond the physical impact, there’s a mental and emotional load that’s often overlooked. The fear of triggering a setback. The frustration when something you used to enjoy now feels risky or painful. The cognitive fatigue of constantly adapting and recalibrating expectations.
Our brains are wired to crave routine—but how do you build habits when your body is constantly shifting the goalposts?
It’s exhausting to do everything "right" and still not know how you’ll feel afterward. The trial-and-error becomes more than tiring—it can become demoralising.
For those who used to see movement as a core part of their identity, the disconnect is especially hard.
How do you stop doing something that once brought you joy, that once felt like you? And how do you relearn your body's limits when they change every few weeks?
This isn’t about laziness or motivation. It’s about not having the tools to listen to your body clearly enough.
Introducing Mana Medical’s Beta Trial
A Smarter Way to Track What Matters
That’s why we’re excited to invite you to join a new beta trial with Mana Medical, a team developing smarter ways to track and understand your body’s responses to physical demands.
Using data from your wearable device and short daily symptom check-ins (pain, stiffness, fatigue), Mana’s app aims to reveal meaningful patterns in real-time —not static rules, but moment-by-moment signals that can help you tune into what your body is trying to tell you.
Importantly, it offers something we often can’t give ourselves: external perspective. When we’re too close to our own routines, it’s hard to notice trends or rethink assumptions.
Something you’ve been ignoring as irrelevant might actually matter. The time of day, the sequencing of activities, even subtle shifts in sleep or mood—these could all be influencing how your body responds to movement.
The Beta is for you if you:
Have Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) - diagnosed or undiagnosed - and struggle with inflammation or flare-ups after physical activity and want better ways to anticipate them.
Feel stuck in the boom-and-bust cycle of activity and fatigue.
Want help learning how your body actually responds to physical activity—without second-guessing.
What you get:
A free premium InflamMed subscription - get access to all content for 6 months.
A £20 Amazon voucher
Early access to a tool built specifically for people like you
What Mana needs from you:
A few seconds each day: You’ll get a daily 5PM push notification to input your symptoms (pain, stiffness, fatigue).
An iPhone and an activity-tracking wearable.
Willingness to share feedback as new features are tested—these are shaped by real patient input from earlier stages.
Spots for the beta trial are limited. If you’re ready to take part in shaping a better way to manage physical activity with inflammation, click here to sign up.
Note: Mana acknowledges that this current beta requires access to both an iPhone and a wearable device, which unfortunately excludes many potential users. They are actively working on expanding access and hope to release a more inclusive version in the near future.
If you are interested in being updated when they full launch in a few months time, you can fill out an eligibility form and leave your email on their website.
Because physical activity should work with your body—not against it.