Joint Health - Strengthen Connective Tissues With Weight Training

Many of us who do exercise regularly get caught up in the amount of weight we wish to lift as little personal goals. It’s an excellent way to keep you motivated and challenged, leaving you with the urge to come back and better yourself each time.

One issue with this is we get cocky about our strength and jaded by our ability so then we ignore some of the most important aspects of weight training. Honestly, it’s not about the weight you lift which makes weight training ideal for health but that in light loads and moderation weight resistance work is excellent for rebuilding the body’s effects of stress.

Life, work and family chores are essential to get done and if you are feeling cricks and pain it will not make your daily existence a pleasant one. In turn forcing it will ensure injury. It’s hard enough to get through work or chores without aches.

It’s the functional training at moderate loads that heals the body and fortifies the joints. Connective tissue is what holds our joints together and if they are too tight or too loose you will have outlying aches which can refer or expand to the opposite sides in many cases. The effect is a chain reaction affecting stabilizer muscles as well and like a drop in the bucket, it accumulates to hurt more and farther out from the original site.

Working full range of motion with your weight exercises, when possible, will keep the joints and connective tissue optimally greased so to speak, and in best working order. Of course diet will also impact the overall of this, such as sufficient intake of EFA’s or essential fatty acids. Nuts or fish are great for this. Proper produce intake with lean proteins and low GI index carbs will be ideal.

Stretching which gets regularly IGNORED, is a huge part of balancing joint health. Age is not a factor; this applies to all of you!

Now speaking on behalf of the special populations, the above now becomes 10 fold as far as importance and impact. Of course you always want to listen to your body but resistance training will be your key to keeping any modicum of a ‘regular lifestyle’ regardless if your issues are arthritic, organ related or otherwise.

At a minimum everyone should, even if they hate exercise, walk for 20 mins at least per day with 20-30 mins of some sort of resistance work. You can use bands, a broom, cans, water bottles, body weight, you name it. You don’t need heavy weight.

Something as simple as 30 or so pushups, crunches, and squats per day will add to your overall joint conditioning. Add in plenty of water with some slight stretches and you are set. 2-3 times per week is not a lot to ask although many times you end up doing more and actually enjoy it.

Across the board from active to inactive, joint conditioning is essential for all populations as part of your daily life.

By Linda Cusmano