Your knees are probably one of the most complex joints in your body. Keeping them strong and healthy is vital and, as many people know, serious injuries can have a lot of implications and usually take a lot of time to correct.
To help you maintain healthy knees for the long-term, here are some of my top tips to keep those knees fit and healthy:
Stay strong and active
Incorporating a weekly strength program for developing the muscles around the knee is a great way to keep your knees healthy and injury free. Strong and healthy leg muscles provide a good structure for your knees and help in preventing injuries.
Stay mobile
A lot of knee pain or injuries are usually not caused by a particular movement, but rather due to stiffness or weakness around the knee capsule. Due so specific activities such as jogging, certain muscles such as the IT band may become overly stiff or tight and can tend to pull on the knee capsule, thereby creating pain. Incorporating a 10 to 15 minute mobility program into your lifestyle twice per week will help counteract this.
Drink more water
Water is vital to knee maintenance. All knees contain cartilage: soft spongy tissue that lines the ends of our joints and enables pain-free motion. Cartilage is comprised mostly of water — up to 80% when we’re properly hydrated. But the older we get, the lower the water content gets (to as low as 70%), which can result in unhealthy cartilage, hastening the onset of degenerative joint disease.
Take glucosamine and turmeric
Both glucosamine and turmeric have anti-inflammatory properties. The National Institutes of Health state that glucosamine sulfate is “likely effective” for treating osteoarthritis. Turmeric is a well-studied and historic natural remedy, and recent research found it eases pain as effectively as ibuprofen.
Check your posture
A lot of people have poor posture due to their occupation or in many cases, since birth. When it comes to your knees, large muscle imbalances can create a number of issues including knocked or bowed knees. Over a period of time these imbalances can put a lot of pressure on your knees and could eventually lead to permanent damage to the knee capsule. The next time you need to visit a physio maybe have them take a quick look at your knees to make sure there are no major issues…
If you feel you are FINALLY ready to make the right changes in your health and fitness, please get in touch to book your free consultation.
To your health and fitness,
Ciarán
