Keeping your joints healthy

Speaking of movement: it plays an important role in joint health. Of course, when your knee hurts like crazy, you’d rather curl up in bed. But, unfortunately, that’s counterproductive. The solution: with sufficient exercise and gentle activity, you can alleviate problems and prevent joint pain.

The important thing is choosing suitable sports. Such as? All those that do not put unnecessary strain on your joints. Swimming, cycling and walking are ideal. Extreme jogging is not such a good idea, however. A better choice: aqua fitness. The water will lift your body, thus relieving your joints. Moderate strength training is also helpful.

But why does exercise keep our joints healthy? When you are physically active, you promote blood flow and nutrient supply to your joints. Cartilage itself is not supplied with blood but it receives nutrients from the viscous synovial fluid. Alternating pressure and relaxation are required to ensure that the cartilage can absorb the synovial fluid. This explains why regular activity contributes to healthy joints. Every step you take therefore counteracts cartilage wear, i.e. osteoarthritis.

At the same time, exercise also strengthens your muscles. Trained muscles are more effective in carrying your bones, resulting in better posture. Joints are supported and effectively stabilized by muscles.

More than 100 different joints in our bodies make sure that we are this mobile. Follow these tips during everyday activities to ensure you can enjoy healthy joints for a long time. Joshua Schirm, physical therapist known from the Bauerfeind Treatment App, will show you the correct everyday movements:

Particularly if you who work in an office, you probably spend many hours a day sitting down. This is a problem if your posture is not correct. But what does the correct sitting position look like? The spine must follow its physiological shape. That means the pelvis should be tilted forwards a little, which slightly lifts the chest. Your shoulders should be relaxed and not pulled upward. Also make sure that your hip is not lower than your knees. In addition to an ergonomic posture, it is also vital to regularly vary your sitting position. This leads to increased blood flow to your muscles and prevents tension.

If you have to stand for longer periods, you should make sure that your feet are not subjected to one-sided strain. Standing still should be avoided – alternating movements will put even strain on both legs. Make sure that your hip does not tilt sideways but that it forms a vertical line with your head – this guarantees a healthy posture. Do not fully straighten your legs but slightly bend your knees. A great way to promote healthy joints is to keep doing some short gymnastic exercises. Stand on tip-toes, for example, and slowly return to your feet. You can repeat this many times.

We take our first steps as small children. However, many adults forget how to walk in a healthy way. Shoulders tipped forwards, a hunched back and dragging your feet are the result. What is the right way? Keep your head upright above the spine, push your chest out and pull your shoulders back slightly. Additionally, it is important to perform a correct heel-to-toe movement, from the heel, via the instep and to the big toe. This makes your gait slightly bouncy.

Climbing the stairs is healthy and keeps you fit – provided that you do it correctly. A usual postural mistake: the upper body is bent too far forward, and the neck is excessively stretched. Keep your upper body straight and relax your shoulders. It is also not advisable to put the entire sole of the foot on the step because this subjects the knee to a lot of strain. If you only put your forefoot on the step, your calf muscles will be activated and the load will be evenly distributed across the foot, knee and hip joints.

Carrying heavy objects puts a lot of strain on our spine and joints. The wrong technique may, in the worst case, lead to long-term damage. The following tips will protect your body: if you want to lift something, stand close to the object. Then squat down. Use the strength of your legs to relieve your back. Hold the load close to your body, then stand up with a straight back. By tensing your back and torso muscles, you will improve stability. When you put the object down again, do not bend forwards but bend your knees. Moreover, it is better to make several journeys rather than carrying excessive loads.