I have found that my pain from symptomatic tarlov cysts in S1 and S2 increase when I sit down or stand up for extended periods of time (for me these days that's about half an hour or less ) so I'm currently avoiding that. I enjoy long walks with my dog at a good pace but walking through a mall and stuff like that is nearly impossible these days. I do find some pain relief in exercise, just getting my pulse up and using my body seems to help a bit but I avoid any exercises that involve lifting and stuff like that.

My question is - which kind of exercise is sensible to do to not risk making matters worse? What should be avoided?

I attend self-defence classes and have fun with that even though I only participate in half of the things they do but still I do get a blow to the body now and then. Would it be wise to discontinue this kind of exercise or are the risks of worsening the condition minimal?

I have tried googling but haven't found exactly what I was looking for... Thank you in advance for any advice, it'll be greatly appreciated