In the past I've talked about one of the key secrets to staying active is to keep moving. And this is especially true for joints. The old saying "use it or lose it" definitely applies to your joints. But there is another easily accessed, often free source which goes a long way to helping keep your joints healthy.
It's something you use every day. You always have it available at home and work. And you can easily find it at any convenience store, grocery store and many other stores around town. Often it is available for free at parks and offices too.
Can you guess what it is?
Water. Yep, water can help keep your joints healthy. How? Well, when you are a child, the cartilage around your joints is made up of about 85% water, but as you age, that number usually drops to about 75%. And even less if you aren't fully hydrated. So drinking lots of water helps to keep your joints resilient.
And water can help your joints in other ways too. Sometimes joints wake up stiff. The warmth of a shower can help relieve this stiffness. You might even try stretching in the warm shower to help shrug off the stiffness.
Another way to use water to help joints is to exercise in a pool. The buoyancy of the water takes pressure off your joints. The water also slows down your movements, which means you are much less likely to injure yourself. If you don't like swimming, there are other exercises you can do in the water such as water marching or walking, stretches, jumping jacks and many more.
So drink up (water that is!)...dive in...and shower off for healthier joints. And while we are on the topic of joints, send me your questions about which joints give you the most trouble. You can submit them to me personally by going to http://mikeryanfitness.com/faq.php.
Also, if you wouldn't mind forwarding this to a friend, I am doing some research for a project I'm working on. What's the project you ask? Can't tell you a whole lot about it yet, but I can tell you what I am looking for: the top questions Baby Boomers have regarding Sports Medicine. Thanks in advance for your help!
With Healthy Regards,
Mike Ryan PT,
ATC, PES
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