Joint Health & Exercise
As we age, it is important to take steps to help maintain the function of our joints. As we grow older, the wear and tear on our joints can result in reduced flexibility and mobility, making it challenging to perform even the simplest of daily activities. That's why it's crucial to take proactive measures to preserve joint function and prevent joint health conditions from taking hold of your body.
One of the most effective ways to maintain joint health is through regular exercise. Engaging in low-impact activities like walking, cycling, and swimming can help strengthen the muscles that support the joints and improve range of motion. Additionally, maintaining a healthy weight can help alleviate pressure on the joints, reducing the risk of injury.
Tips for Healthy Joints
There are several ways to preserve joint health. Here are a few tips:
Using the right posture when sitting at the computer
Position your monitor at eye level and ensure your upper body is 20-26 inches away from the screen.
Alternate between sitting and standing:
Sitting for long hours is just as problematic as standing for long hours.
Maintain a healthy weight:
Managing a healthy weight by following a good diet and doing enough exercise can ensure that you not only look good but also feel good. 1
Maintaining an Active Lifestyle
If your joints are healthy, you might run, move, jump, twist, and turn more easily.
Healthy joints for active lifestyle
If you have joint problems, you might consider incorporating a few joint-friendly activities into your daily life. One way to do this is to start walking, cycling, or swimming. Most joint-friendly activities are low-impact, meaning that they put less stress on your joints. 3
How to maintain an active lifestyle for joint health
Excercise is not good for your muscles, but for your bones and joint health as well. Joints become stronger with exercise. The key to a successful exercise regimen is diversity. An ideal exercise regimen should include a balance of aerobic, muscle strenthening and flexibility exercises and weight lifting. Maintaining a lifestyle with good and appropiate exercise provides the base for good joint health for a lifetime. Learn how you can enjoy your exercise and stick to your exercise regimen with these SMART tips. 4,5
Types of Exercise for Joint Health
Regular exercise can benefit joint health is numerous ways. However, any type of exercise will only work if it is the type of workout you prefer or enjoy doing. Therefore, knowing the type of exercises that you can choose from is a good way to start exercising for health. 6
Joint Health Exercises
There are different exercises that you can do for enhanced joint comfort. However, the type of exercise depends mainly on your personal preference. If you are resuming an active lifestyle and are not sure what the best exercise for you is, consult your healthcare provider. Aim to do any of the following types of exercise for joint health every week. A combination of all these can give you the best benefit:
Flexibility Exercises
These exercises have a low impact on your joints and involve stretching for an improved range of movement. They are designed to ease joint stiffness and help improve the muscles around joints.
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Improves Flexibility
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10-20 Secs each Stretch
Strength or resistance training:
These exercises helps strengthen the musclesaroundyour joints. Weight training is an example of this type of exercise. Try to do joint strengthning exercises three times a week and remenver to never work the same muscle group two days in a row. To achieve the best benefits, strengthening exercises are recomended at least twice a week.
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Improves Cardiovascular system
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30 mins a day
Overall fitness exercises
These include aerobic exercise, which can improve cardiovascular health, help in weight loss, abd also give you more energy. About 150 minutes of overall fitness exercises are recomended per week.
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Improves Muscle Strength
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45 mins a day
Remember that all your exercises need to be low-impact, to protect your joints from injury. The best exercises for health that provide flexibility, strength and overall fitness include: 7,8
Posture for Joint Health
While doing a bicep curl, a common mistake is using very heavy weights and bending at the shoulders and back. Ensuring the right posture can help avoid stress and injury to your shoulder joint and back. When doing squat lifts, common mistakes are pressure on your lower back and not placing enough pressure on your legs. To avoid undue stress on the knee and hip joints, keep your back straight and lift with your legs; this is the best posture for joint health. 10
