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DID YOU KNOW…?
Every extra pound you gain puts four times the stress
on your knees. Research has shown that losing as little
as 11 pounds may cut your risk of knee joint problem by 50 percent.
"The flip side is that even a small amount of weight
loss will give your knees relief."
So you have plenty of reasons to motivate yourself to lose those
extra pounds. Joints begin to wear down as we age, and as a
result,
you may experience joint pain, stiffness, and deformity. All
of these changes can affect your coordination and posture. Walking
may become more difficult and movement is often slower. Because
of the damage to the joints and decreased mobility it's more
difficult to exercise and you are more prone to put on weight.
But it's important to keep your weight down because being overweight
puts even more stress on your damaged joints. The weight bearing
joints hip, knees, feet, and spine are affected the most, thus
we are in a catch 22 situation. The pain limits movement and
the lack of movement helps to limit movement of the joint or
limb.
LOSE WEIGHT Unfortunately, as you and millions
of others know only too well, losing weight is far from easy.
No matter how much excess weight or fat you have, if you want
to lose weight permanently, your program should be directed
toward a slow, steady weight loss.
Step one: GET MOTIVATED Getting into the right
frame of mind, getting MOTIVATED is the key to
losing weight. Once you are mentally prepared to lose weight,
the rest is a simple equation of decreased calorie intake and
increased burning of calories.
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Step two: HEALTHY DIET Eating proper portions is
key to losing and maintaining a healthy weight and, in turn, lightening
the load on your joints. In particular, a diet with adequate protein
and calcium is important.
Step three: EXERCISE When it hurts to move, exercise
might seem like the last thing you want to do, right? But exercising
can be one of the best things you can do to feel better. Exercise
is very important for everyone, but it is especially important
for people who have decreased joint mobility. You need to find
the right sort of exercise for you, which
you will enjoy enough to keep going
with. Exercises that will help you to
strengthen your joints: Thirty minutes
of moderate weight-bearing exercise
a day can slow changes in the muscles,
joints, and bones. Weight-bearing
exercise includes low-impact aerobics,
walking, running, lifting weights etc.
STRETCH EXERCISES Often
overlooked or just plain neglected,
stretching exercises are a vital
way to strengthen your joints,
doing at least a half an hour of
stretching two or three times a
week will help, but every day
is even better, if only for a
short period of time.
Ride a bicycle. Bicycling is
gentle on your joints and
can be done by people of
all ages.
Climb the stairs. This form
of exercise is probably
one of the most efficient
ways of strengthening
the bones, muscles
and joints of your
lower body.
Swimming is another
gentle and excellent
healthy option.
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