Improve the Health of Your Joints with These Exercises

As you get older or as you exercise more, even if you are still young and reasonably fit, you need to be concerned with the health of your joints because people tend to overuse them. That said, it’s important to note that joints need to be used to be healthy.  Therefore, a careful balance is required to make sure that you maintain the health of your joints without overdoing it and causing them harm.

Here we will discuss the health of your joints, helping you understand what joints are used for and what can go wrong with them so that you can be better prepared to keep your joints healthy. By informing yourself about them as early as possible, you’ll be able to take on the right lifestyle changes to keep yourself healthy and in comfort for many years to come.

The Purpose of Your Joints

Your joints are what bolster your bones and hold them together. Essentially, they are what will hold your thigh to your calf, your foot to your ankle, and so forth. At the same time, they make sure that you are capable of movement.  After all, your joints aren’t just designed so that your body parts don’t fall off.  They’re connection points that allow for movement between other bones.

The joint bones have a very important job to fulfill, yet people tend to take them for granted. Joints bear the brunt of your weight, and anytime you gain weight, you place more pressure on them. When they’re working right and when the health of your joints is as it should be, it’s very easy to forget about them.  They function properly and they’re comfortable. What’s to think about?

Yet if someone asked you what you do for your joints, you might look at the person with a furrowed brow and confused expression because people tend to not acknowledge their joints until the joints begin to ache or hurt–and by then it’s too late or, at least, more difficult to address the problem reactively than proactively.  Still, while it may sound like an odd question – What do you do for the health of your joints? – it’s a valid one. It’s one that more of us should be asking ourselves.

Increased Susceptibility to Issues with the Health of Your Joints

People with certain lifestyles are more susceptible to joint pain and stiffness as well as degeneration and injury. This high-risk group includes people who are constantly using their joints in a repetitive way, particularly when it comes to positions and movements that place a great deal of pressure on the joints while using them.  This explains why it’s as commonplace in the knees of someone who stands all day every day as it is among people who engage in extreme amounts of fitness activities and sports.

However, a lot of folks don’t do anything they would consider to be extreme yet suffer from joint pain and injury. They then seem shocked when their joints act up.  Though it could indeed be a matter of hereditary issues, the odds are that there are lifestyle habits at play without the individual even realizing it.

Most people who experience such issues have issues with their lifestyle that will contribute to strain on the joints.  This could include not enough exercise, exercising using only the same identical motions every day, weight problems (as the joints must carry more weight with each movement, especially in the knees and hips).  Even wearing the wrong kind of footwear can place substantial strain on the hips, knees and ankles as well as individual toes.

Many people are also under the misimpression that you have to have a ton of weight on your body to stress your joints. That said, every little bit makes a difference. If you are carrying five pounds more than your ideal, it adds a bit of extra stress to your joints. Make that ten pounds, and you may impact the health of your joints without realizing it. After all, if you always had to carry around a 10-pound bag of potatoes, you’d expect to feel more tired than you would without it. Your joints go through the same thing.

Best Types of Exercises for the Health of Your Joints

The best types of exercise for joints are the same practices that physical therapists utilize. Such exercises are incredibly easy to practice anywhere that you are. They are called “full range of motion” exercises. While you are sitting, standing, or even walking, you can work your joints.

Free range of motion exercises are done by rotating the foot or the hand, as well as the arm or leg, at the joint. This is done clockwise and then counter clockwise as many times as is comfortable. You can also take Conjointin to supplement your joints. Maintaining the health of your joints by such means is important to your overall health, especially as you age or engage in an active lifestyle.