We have multiple joints all throughout our bodies. The technical definition of a joint is that it is where two bones meet one another. Some of our joints are more well-known than others – like the knee, hip, ankle, and shoulder joints. We need joints to help us move around and perform specific tasks.
For example, did you know that the way our thumb joint works allows us to have opposable thumbs? This means we can grip things with our thumbs, which basically sets us apart from chimps!
Anyway, back to the main point!
Joints are essential, but they are often injured. The more moveable joints in your body (the ones mentioned earlier) are prone to get damaged in multiple ways. You can twist the joint and damage the ligaments, you can get arthritis, you can dislocate them, etc. Joint pain stops you from doing many of your daily tasks and can cause problems in your life. While the chances of suffering from joint pain increases as you age, you can easily prevent it. You deserve to have healthy joints, and it is highly possible when you try strength training.
What is strength training?
For those that don’t know, strength training is basically training your muscles to get bigger and stronger. Typically, this means you start lifting weights. As you keep lifting, your muscles adapt to the load and get stronger. By progressively increasing the weights, you will get harder muscles that look bigger and can handle more weight.
Why does strength training help your joints?
Some of you might have heard that weight training is bad for your joints. I’ll forgive this as it seems like it should be the case. Surely it’s not good for your joints to add lots of extra force to them? As long as your form is correct, then your joints will be fine.
In fact, they will benefit in the short and long-term from exercise and strength training.
Look at the knee joint – probably the most prone to injuries. If you took a look at all the different knee injury cases, you’d find many happen in slip and fall incidents where the knee twists. Twisting your knee is preventable through strength training. How? Because building strength in the muscles around the knee will also strengthen the ligaments and tendons that hold the joint together. In essence, you reinforce the supporting structures. This adds more stability to the joint, preventing it from twisting easily.
The same goes for other joints in your body – if you strengthen the attaching muscles, then the joint itself becomes more stable and less prone to injuries.
Furthermore, one of the short-term benefits of strength training is that it increases the synovial fluid in joints. Think of this as oil for a gate. Joints need this fluid to move smoothly and prevent bones from rubbing against one another. Exercise and strength training increases the production of this, greasing your joints up nicely. In turn, this can prevent diseases like arthritis from forming!
You see, strength training is the ultimate solution to healthier joints. If you want to live with less pain and more stability, then pick up some weights and protect your joints today.