Watch an infant place his feet behind his head, and you will have a new appreciation for the flexibility and capacity of our joints. Understand the battle between stability and mobility that occurs when two opposing muscle groups are at work, and you can keep serious injury at bay for decades, if not forever.
Each joint offers various levels of support, depending on its design; the bones are surrounded by ligaments and cartilage and muscle to enhance propulsion and provide support.
Over-extend that joint, and feel the pain involved with a strain or sprain. Fail to treat that injury promptly with ice and rest, and witness the balloon-like appearance of the joint for days, and possibly weeks, after. Strengthening the joints through weight-bearing activity is essential, and avoiding excessive pounding today on that same joint will serve you well years later.
How do we know what is enough, and what is too much? Well, the answer is that we don’t specifically know.
There are, however, some training balances that we should be able to achieve to actually improve our chances at remaining upright, powerful and graceful into our twilight years. Remember that what we do today will affect who we are tomorrow.
We do know that vibratory or impact activities such as walking, jogging and running are healthy in small doses, properly spread out over the course of days of recovery and not just hours.
Walking is great, although walkers generally have a hard time walking fast enough to elevate their heart rate to improve aerobic capacity and stamina; running is excellent at improving your pulmonary capacity, but can cause blunt force trauma to the bones and joints.
Balance those activities with non-weight bearing cardiovascular exercise such as cycling or swimming. Opt for the elliptical trainer, and we’re beginning to put a plan into action.
I’ve spoken with many runners out there with knees wrapped, fighting sore or injured muscles and limping along toward their next event, and asked them, “Why?”
The short answer is that they love it. The high is like nothing else. The effect in terms of weight control and confidence is incomparable. I understand that, but at what price? What if you could cut your training in half and then be able to run for the rest of your life?
“Oh, I don’t think I could find anything else that I enjoy this much,” one of our members responded — a very sweet woman who has visited the medic tent for treatment after major events and now constantly suffers from back and leg issues.
I guess that is not surprising as she enters her twilight years, though she is only in her 40s.
Look at it this way: if you were to get repeatedly punched in the face to the point of discoloration and swelling, your friends might be alarmed (one would hope). Yet we think nothing of it if the trauma is in our knees or hips, ankles or Achilles tendons. The effects are just as real.
To borrow terminology during these economic times, diversification has its rewards. Spread the risk around a little. Let’s think of our bodies as the ultimate financial nest egg. Don’t gamble your body’s health on just one form of activity. Hit the streets for a short run on Monday. Swim on Tuesday, take a spin class on Wednesday and try the elliptical trainer on Thursday. Complete the week with a longer run (but not too long) on Friday and yoga on Saturday. Sunday, we rest.
Strength training is also an essential element for proper bone development. Your bones need resistance training in order to re-calcify, and lifting weights on the order of 10-12 repetitions to muscle fatigue will do the trick. There are 206 bones in your body that, right this very second, are trying to regenerate and asking you for guidance. No guidance, and you could become one of the 30 million people expected to suffer from osteoporosis (a severe weakening of the bones often leading to injury and the rounded shape that we see in some of our seniors) by the year 2020.
If the weights don’t appeal to you on a regular basis (two to three times per week), combine these sessions with a couple of Yoga classes. Get “kid-like” and move with curiosity. Try some basic body leveraging movements such as lunging, squatting, push-ups or planking. Balance on a single leg or on a Bosu ball, swing from the monkey bars or climb a rope or wall. It is refreshing and invigorating.
As a side benefit, remember that all that muscle burns calories, effectively reducing the weight on the joints by about a three-to-one ratio. That means for every extra pound of fat which we carry on our frames, our knees absorb about three pounds of impact. Ouch. Feel better, look better and reduce the chance of chronic injury to our joints — that is good stuff.
Finally, your joints thank you for the calcium-rich diet that you ingest in the form of green leafy vegetables and low-fat dairy products. If necessary, try supplements to top off the calcium intake in the 1,200 milligrams per day range for both men and women under the age of 60; 1,600 mg for women over the age of 60.
Calcium’s story is bigger than just your bones. Your bones are where your red blood cells are born, and proper development and repair is absolutely vital at the most basic level of human development.
Calcium also helps to reduce joint inflammation, keeps your blood pressure normal, is a primary catalyst for muscle contraction and helps facilitate the communication between your brain and your nerves.
Combine calcium with about 200 IU of Vitamin D daily, and they form the dynamic duo of bone health. Dr. Oz (now famous from his work with Oprah) has a great line regarding Vitamin D: “If calcium is the ingredient which absolutely, positively has to get to your bones on time, then Vitamin D is FedEx!”
Where do we stand on bone health? Vibratory exercise (but not too much so as to break down your joints), weight-bearing activity (as in strength training and yoga-type activities), and proper nutrition can help you move with power, grace and confidence right past the hospital where the price for today’s choices unfortunately must be paid.
Islander Bryan Welch is the co-owner of Club Emerald.
