All posts tagged: Joints

Instantly relieve stiff, achy joints with these four yoga poses which will mobilize your entire body

Instantly relieve stiff, achy joints with these four yoga poses which will mobilize your entire body

Published by Jenni Sidey

With regular practice, yoga is a great way to improve your flexibility, balance and coordination. That said, some yoga poses can help relieve stiffness right away while still being gentle and accessible. Melissa Leach, certified yoga instructor at fitness app Yoga-Go has shared four moves that will provide immediate relief for achy joints, and help you develop strength and mobility in the longer term. “These yoga poses can be useful if you deal with joint stiffness or discomfort because they encourage gentle movement while supporting strength, mobility and alignment,” she says. Latest Videos From “By regularly working the muscles that support your joints, they can help make everyday movement feel more comfortable and controlled,” Leach adds. Four yoga poses for stiff joints Each move in this routine offers its own unique benefits. You may like “Poses like supported warrior one or bridge help strengthen key muscles like the thighs, glutes, or hamstrings, providing greater support for the knees, hips, and lower back, reducing unnecessary strain in those areas,” Leach explains. “The flowing movements in cat-cow …

You don’t have to run to get fitter—this 20-minute treadmill walking workout is a great cardio session that’s gentle on your joints

You don’t have to run to get fitter—this 20-minute treadmill walking workout is a great cardio session that’s gentle on your joints

Published by Jenni Sidey

When many people resolve to get fit, they decide to launch straight into running. Running is great and all, but it’s demanding and jumping in feet first can leave you saying never again. David J Sautter, a NASM-certified personal trainer at WalkFit tells Fit&Well that walking is great if you want to increase your activity levels. “Performed regularly, it improves your cardiovascular health without putting too much strain on your heart and joints, making it a relatively risk-free form of exercise,” he says. Latest Videos From “It places less stress on your joints than higher-impact exercises such as running and can be adapted to suit a wide range of ages and fitness levels.” “I recommend combining changes in speed and incline. This helps increase the session’s intensity while keeping it low-impact and accessible to most people.” You may like Sautter recommends you spend a few minutes warming up to gradually increase your heart rate and prepare your muscles and joints for the movement. He says the following workout is challenging but achievable. If you struggle …

Think you might be hypermobile? An exercise rehabilitation specialist says you can protect your joints with these six stabilizing exercises

Think you might be hypermobile? An exercise rehabilitation specialist says you can protect your joints with these six stabilizing exercises

Published by Jenni Sidey

Having mobile joints is generally considered a good thing, because it allows you to access a wide range of motion. Joint hypermobility, however, describes the characteristics of joints that are able to move beyond their typical physiological limitations. In some cases, these attributes are related to connective tissue disorders, but for most people with extra mobile wrists, elbows, ankles and knees, hypermobility is relatively benign, and can be managed by favoring exercises that build strength and stability. Latest Videos From You may like Here we break down the key points to consider if you suspect hypermobility—along with six exercises that will help protect all your major joints. Can you self-diagnose hypermobility? If you suspect that you might be hypermobile, you should always seek a diagnosis from a certified physiotherapist, says exercise rehabilitation specialist Luke Meessmann. The owner and master trainer at Absolute Studios explains that it’s not always easy to self-diagnose. “The important distinction between being flexible and hypermobile is not just how far a joint is able to move, but how well that movement …

Fixing the teacher pipeline means looking at the joints

Fixing the teacher pipeline means looking at the joints

Published by skeptic

Each year in England, around a quarter of the people who qualify as teachers don’t go on to take up a post in a state school. They have invested a year of their lives in becoming qualified. And then they don’t teach. Why? This is one leak in what’s often called the leaky teacher pipeline. The metaphor is useful, but it can hide what’s actually going on. Sometimes the pipeline simply isn’t bringing enough people in at the top. Other times the leak is at the joints, where one stage hands off to the next They don’t all have the same cause. Across two new studies, funded by the Gatsby Foundation, we found leaks at different stages of the pipeline appear to need different fixes. Turning on the tap Teaching in England is a graduate profession, so undergraduates are the pool the next generation of teachers will come from. In the first study, we surveyed over 2,000 undergraduates in the UK and US, showing them pairs of hypothetical jobs that varied on things like salary, …

“Your joints need to move to feel good”—a certified trainer shares the gentle mobility routine he uses with seniors to soothe joint stiffness after 60

“Your joints need to move to feel good”—a certified trainer shares the gentle mobility routine he uses with seniors to soothe joint stiffness after 60

Published by Jenni Sidey

As we age, muscles tend to get weaker, joints tend to get creakier and simply getting out of bed can feel like a workout in itself. At least, that’s what we’re led to believe. Certified personal trainer Carter Lee from BetterMe is adamant that you can arrest this decline by simply keeping active, and he’s shared a five-move routine that will help. Article continues below You may like “This workout is built around one simple premise: your joints need to move to feel good,” he tells Fit&Well. “As we age, stiffness creeps in, especially in the morning or after a long day, but this sequence is designed to push back against that.” Lee says this routine works from the spine outward, targeting the hips, shoulders and ankles in a “logical order that gradually wakes everything up” and gets synovial fluid moving to help lubricate your joints. “There’s no intensity here, no jumping around. Just controlled, deliberate movement through a full range of motion, the kind that aging connective tissue actually responds well to,” he continues. …

The Best Quad And Glute Exercise If You’ve Got Sore Knees

The Best Quad And Glute Exercise If You’ve Got Sore Knees

Published by Sam Flores

If you’ve got sore knees, leg workouts can feel a little intimidating. But the Arthritis Foundation points out that movement can really help to reduce pain and maintain movement. Thankfully, moves like Spanish squats and goblet squats can help – and so, it seems, can “reverse lunges”. What are “reverse lunges”? They involve stepping backwards with one leg, while the other leg bends at the knee. It’s a “variation of a [regular, forward] lunge, with a lot less impact at the knee,” strength coach Dr Baird shared. Why are they easier on the knees? Rather like reverse (or “retro”) walking, simply facing backwards takes a lot of the load off of your knee joints. In the case of reverse lunges, it places some of the strain on your glutes instead. And the move also means you’ll be less likely to lean too far forward at your knee in the lowering stage, which can harm your knees further. A 2016 paper found that reverse lunges were best at building glute and quadriceps while applying lower force …

Can’t squat or lunge? This suspension trainer-assisted workout helps target the same muscles while sparing your joints

Can’t squat or lunge? This suspension trainer-assisted workout helps target the same muscles while sparing your joints

Published by Jenni Sidey

Squats and lunges are not easy. They require ample ankle and hip mobility, a stable core to brace the spine and hold your posture in an upright position, not to mention strong thighs and glutes. Most beginners I’ve encountered as a personal trainer have struggled with this move—and plenty of vastly experienced exercisers too. Article continues below You may like But these exercises are worth persevering with because of the life-improving effect on your overall strength, mobility and confidence when undertaking everyday activities, like climbing a flight of stairs or getting in and out of a chair. Over the years, I’ve found that using a suspension trainer, like a TRX system, can help complete beginners learn the basics of these invaluable exercises. How suspension trainers help with squats and lunges Suspension trainers, which can be anchored over a closed door if exercising from home, let you take the strain with your hands to lighten the load on creaking joints. This allows you to better control the lowering phase of moves like squats and lunges so …

How To Get A Heart-Pumping Workout With Joint Pain

How To Get A Heart-Pumping Workout With Joint Pain

Published by Sam Flores

“Spanish squats” can help to relieve some of the knee pain associated with the movement, and “retro walking” can help to strengthen your legs with less joint stress, too. And you might already know that people with a variety of joint issues can benefit from “water walking,” or walking in either waist or chest-height water. But for even better full-body benefits, the Arthritis Foundation writes, “reverse” water walking “engages more muscles, especially around the spine, quads and shins, while also boosting heart rate”. What is “reverse water walking”? It means walking backwards in water. Speaking to HuffPost UK previously, Dr Suzanne Wylie, GP and medical adviser for IQdoctor, said that walking backwards on land is “a useful exercise for balance, mobility and certain joint problems”. This seems to be true of “reverse water walking”, as well. What are the benefits of “reverse water walking”? One study found that, when compared to walking forwards on an underwater treadmill, participants who “water walked” backwards seemed to engage more muscles, had a higher heart rate, and generally exerted …

Why do your joints hurt when it’s cold? We asked a doctor.

Why do your joints hurt when it’s cold? We asked a doctor.

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Each winter, over a million “snowbirds” descend on places like Florida and Arizona to avoid the season’s freezing temperatures and instead, ride it out in warmth. For many, it’s simply because they prefer the weather. For others, it’s a necessity for their health and well-being.  It’s well-known that cold weather can exacerbate joint pain, but why? What is it about plunging digits that often causes endless aches and pains? And more importantly, what can we do about it, other than hop a flight to Tahiti? We asked Dr. Aravind Athiviraham, an orthopedic surgeon at UChicago Medicine, to find out.  Why does cold weather lead to joint pain?  “One thought is that that change in atmospheric pressure during cold weather can expand bodily tissues slightly, irritating the nerve endings,” says Athiviraham.  Barometric pressure is the measurement of air pressure in the atmosphere. Prior to cold, rainy, or stormy weather, the atmosphere experiences a drop in barometric pressure.  As the surrounding …

Why Protecting Your Joints Should Be Your Number-One Workout Priority

Why Protecting Your Joints Should Be Your Number-One Workout Priority

Published by Jenni Sidey

I have been an exercise freak all my life. Aged 60, I sprint up hills, jump on boxes, run 10k races, and lift heavy weights without any joint issues. I’ve never been one for stretching, and I was put off yoga—yet, so far, it’s all worked out. Having spoken to the health and fitness experts, I firmly believe that my joints have been protected by one thing: my own colossal mediocrity. I wasn’t picked for any school teams, and have no particular drive to be the best, break records or find the limits of my capability—I have plodded happily through slow jogs and unremarkable sets of 10 on the bench press. Little did I know how beneficial that would turn out to be. Stuart McGill, distinguished professor emeritus at the University of Waterloo, Canada and author of Back Mechanic, is the man people turn to for advice on back pain and joint issues. An expert on weight training and its effect on the skeleton, what’s his conclusion? “After being in this area for 40 years, …