Keep Your Joints Moving

Joints are the junctions that link bones together. Test your joints on how far you can move them in various directions. Without exercise and conditioning, your joints range of motion may become limited. The amount of tension in the muscles surrounding the joint, due to lack of exercise, may become less elastic and thus the inner working of the joints are affected. Without exercise, the muscle can shorten, making it harder to keep moving. Bad posture complicates the situation. Habitual bad posture results to muscle spasms that may affect the joints.

Without exercise, the tendons, that are flexible cords of strong tissue that connect muscles to bones become less flexible. The ligaments that are tough fibrous bands of tissue that bind bone to bone may become weak and result to injury, like anterior cruciate ligament injury (ACL) in the knee joint. Less movement of joints result to other problems, including weight gain, poor balance, and difficulty in walking.

Extend rate of joint motion through stretching

Stretching exercises can help extend your range of motion. When you stretch, you’re also working out muscles and tendons. You become more flexible. The less your joints, the less likely they’ll maintain their full range of motion. Even if you have arthritis, stretching can be the best exercise to alleviate arthritis pain.

Stretching strategies

1. Warm up thoroughly. Take extra time to warm up before you stretch. A warm shower can be an excellent warm up to loosen stiff joints before you stretch.

2. Stretch during your least painful time of the day. Mornings may not be the best for you. Some feel the pain during walking hours. If you’re taking anti-arthritis pills, the best time to stretch is when the pills are already at their peak of efficacy or already have taken effect. When the pain has gone away, it’s time to stretch.

3. You may sit while stretching. Use some useful things around you. Use a pillow or a rolled-up towel to adjust your range of motion. Improve the range on each and every following day as long as you feel comfortable and there’s no pain. You’ll soon realize big improvements in your range of motion.

4. Expect some pain and discomfort. If pain lasts longer that two hours, or is more severe that your usual pain, ease up on your routine. You may step up your stretching by trying to hold the stretch for a longer period of time once stretching becomes easier.