It’s easy to take your joints for granted until pain suddenly appears. When such joint pain does arrive, completing basic tasks can quickly become difficult to impossible to perform. Suddenly, normal activities such as walking, sitting down, or exercising present significant challenges.
Exercise For Joint Pain
When approached correctly, following through with appropriate exercise workouts can:
- Improve muscle strength
- Increase flexibility of the connective tissues located near your joints
- Improve mobility
Exercise also supports your ability to maintain healthy body weight, which helps prevent your system from becoming overwhelmed from pressure or stress. Whether you are interested in addressing joint pain or are trying to prevent potential pain in the future, consider the following workouts recommended by our Atlanta orthopedic doctors that may help:
Natural Resistance
Working out your entire body is excellent for ensuring that every major muscle group is supported on an active basis. By following through with particular exercises that leverage your natural body weight, you are able to easily strengthen your legs, arms, lower back, and core muscles.
Training In Water
Swimming and other forms of water training are ideal for strengthening your joints without exposing them to additional pressure or stress. Water allows your body to experience buoyancy as you work to develop your tone and strength. Training in water also provides additional resistance, which elevates the intensity of your exercise program without negatively impacting your joints. If you are not a swimming enthusiast, consider taking a water aerobics class with friends or family.
Improve Your Core Strength
Maintaining a weak core exposes your weight-bearing joints to excessive amounts of stress and pressure. Following through with an in-depth core-strengthening exercise routine is imperative for ensuring the long-term health of your hips, knees, and ankles. Make sure you engage your abs and lower back area by following through with planks, stability ball exercises, yoga, and pushups.
Walk More Often
An easy way to improve your core strength is to slip on a pair of comfortable walking shoes and go for a hike a few times each week. Walking up and down hills and over natural terrain helps strengthen micro muscles that help support healthy joints. Hiking or walking is ideal for those who have sensitive hips or want to avoid overwhelming their joints. It also serves as a suitable alternative form of exercise for those who want to improve their heart rate, as well as their bone density.