Keep Your Joints Healthy and Protected
By Stephen R. Farris
Our joints are one of the key components that help make us flexible. We use our joints for bending, twisting, walking, lifting, and many other things that contribute to body movement.
If our joints are now functioning as they should, we may end up facing downtime from our job or simply doing everyday chores around the home.
That's why it's important to protect your joints as much as possible, especially in your hips and knees. So take a look at a few ways to help keep your joints protected for the long term.
Try Low-Impact Exercise
Doing low-impact exercising will take a lot of stress off of your joints. Low-impact exercises include:
- Swimming
- Riding an exercise bike
- Elliptical machine on low resistance mode
- Walking on a level surface
- Using a rowing machine
Another way to help protect your joints is to keep the muscles around them strong. The best way to do that is by lifting weights. However, you want to use lighter weights, but heavy enough to give some resistance so you can do more reps and build up stamina in the muscles.
Utilize a Physical Therapy
Whether it's a personal trainer, physical therapist, or your local chiropractor, they can help guide you or set up an exercise routine designed to help protect your joints. They can also show you the proper technique you should use when doing low-impact stretching and movements.
A Few Exercises to Avoid
Unless you're competing in contact sports, or for bodybuilding, you probably should avoid exercises such as lunges, deep squats, as these could put undue stress on the joints in your knees. Find a gym that not only has free weights, but also has machines you can use. If you want to work the knee area more, use a leg press machine. If your joints are sore, or if there is pain in and around them, avoid doing these types of exercise as you could cause more damage.
Don't forget, when you have questions about exercise, be sure to ask your local chiropractor to hear some of the tips and suggestions they may have to help keep you active. And if you are experiencing pain in your back, neck, and joints, they can help you get relief.
To learn more about your health, wellness and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Rockford, Ill.