To protect your joints, maintain a healthy weight, exercise with low-impact activities, and build muscle strength to support your joints. Additionally, stay hydrated, warm up before and cool down after exercise, and practice good posture to prevent strain.
Exercise and movement
- Choose low-impact exercises: Opt for activities like swimming, cycling, or walking on an even surface to keep joints moving without excessive stress.
- Strengthen surrounding muscles: Building muscle around your joints provides stability. Incorporate strength training with weights or resistance bands at least twice a week.
- Improve flexibility: Incorporate stretching, yoga, or tai chi to maintain a good range of motion and reduce stiffness.
- Warm up and cool down: Always begin your workout with a 5-10 minute gentle warm-up, and end with a cool-down and stretching to prepare your joints and muscles for activity and help them recover.
- Listen to your body: Take breaks when you feel pain, especially sharp pain. It’s okay to feel muscle soreness, but joint pain could indicate an issue.
- Keep it moving: Regular movement helps keep joints lubricated. Avoid prolonged periods of rest, which can lead to stiffness.
Lifestyle and habits
- Maintain a healthy weight: Excess weight puts extra stress on your joints, so managing your weight can significantly reduce the strain on them.
- Stay hydrated: Cartilage is 80% water, so staying well-hydrated helps keep it from drying out and becoming damaged.
- Practice good posture: Standing and sitting with good posture minimizes stress on your joints. Keep your back against the chair, feet flat, and shoulders back.
- Protect from the cold: Keep joints warm, especially in colder weather, to help reduce stiffness and discomfort.
- Choose supportive footwear: Wear shoes that are flexible, supportive, and have a good amount of cushioning.
Before and after activity
- Warm up before exercise: Apply heat with warm towels, a hot pack, or a warm shower for about 20 minutes to relax joints and muscles before starting.
- Ice after activity: After exercise, apply ice to any joints that are swollen for up to 20 minutes.
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