Every joint in your body connects two bones together. Several connective tissues make up those joints, including ligaments, tendons, and cartilage. As we all know, exercising keeps you in shape and maximizes your health, but it also does put  you at risk for joint injuries. Though the benefits of exercise far outweigh the risk of joint injuries, injuries still happen. However, If you take the right precautions, you can minimize your risk of injury while maximizing your athletic performance. 

At Chattanooga Non-Surgical Orthopedics, we specialize in helping you achieve the best physical conditioning through our patient Clinical Exercise programs while at the same time, providing excellent care when you do need an injury addressed.

The key to protecting your joints while you exercise is to make lifestyle changes before you step on the field, court, or into the gym, and also to taking precautions while playing and exercising.What you can do before you start exercising is to make sure your body is strong and that you have the right equipment.

Here are a few tips to get you ready to exercise safely:

• Lose weight or maintain a healthy weight. If you’re overweight, you risk putting extra stress on your joints. It’s essential to get to or maintain a healthy body weight, especially for high-impact exercises and sports such as running or tennis. In fact, one study found that there is a four-fold reduction in stress on your knee for every pound you lose.
• Strengthen the muscles around your joints. Adding a strength training routine into the mix with cardiovascular and stretching classes can help ensure that the muscles supporting your joints are strong, which increases joint stability and reduces injuries.
• Use properly fitting equipment. Whether you’ve been exercising for a while or starting something new, wearing proper equipment that fits — shoes, helmets, knee pads, or assisted devices such as knee braces — goes a long way in reducing your risk for joint injuries.
• Protect your joints while in motion. While you’re running, playing, jumping, or swinging, don’t push through pain. While you may think that pain is a sign that you’re working hard and that you should play through it, that’s not good advice. Pain is a sign that something is wrong. If you feel pain while exercising, stop and rest.
• Pay attention to your body mechanics. Using proper body mechanics or form while exercising puts less pressure on your joints and helps reduce your risk of strain or overuse injuries. Our Clinical Exercise program can help you understand proper form for strengthening.
• Try lower-impact exercises. If pain is a persistent problem, consider changing your running goals and trying low-impact activities such as swimming, walking, or biking.

With these tips in mind, you should be able to head out this fall and keep your joints in pain-free working condition. If you want to know more about our  Clinical Exercise program, call us today and set up an appointment: 423-499-0003. #bestinchattanooga  #nomorepain