Dec 15, 2022

New Years Resolution: Improving Flexibility & Joint Health

by Diib

A new year often imparts feelings of renewed focus after a busy holiday season filled with family, fun, celebration, and relaxation. However, with the dawning of a new year, many individuals turn their attention to making resolutions and setting goals.

What are your new goals and priorities as 2022 comes to a close? As the new year begins, you may feel more determined than ever to stick to a resolution, or you might need a little push to help make this year your best yet.

For anyone fighting bone and joint health issues, eating healthier, exercising regularly, and practicing self-care are great New Year's resolutions that go a long way to answering how to improve joint health and flexibility. If you want to make your 2023 great, consider committing to these resolutions from our team at Rollga and learn how to improve flexibility and joint health while managing pain.

Strengthen Your Muscles

Muscle strength is critical to mitigating joint pain while improving overall function. Working hard to strengthen and improve the muscles around your joints helps to boost overall stability and minimize pressure on your joints. Increased muscle strength can also help you reduce potential risks of painful injuries or tissue tears within the joints.

Are you an individual already suffering from joint pain or flexibility issues? Pain is a signal from the nerves to the brain, informing your body you need help. Instead of pushing through this pain, a specialist can help you identify the optimal exercise form to help you build strength without risking further damage.

Make Movement a Part of Your Daily Life

When we experience pain, the last thing most of us want to do is get off the couch or bed and get moving. Unfortunately, staying stationary remains one of the worst things anyone can do when suffering from joint pain and flexibility issues. Regular exercise is crucial to decreasing joint stiffness and encouraging mobility.

Nevertheless, this doesn't mean you must engage in high-intensity gym exercise daily. Strive to move more. Consistency outweighs duration; consider taking up a hobby you enjoy, like walking, dancing, or yoga.

You can also look for unique ways to incorporate movement throughout your day. Don't underestimate the power of daily activities like gardening, walking steps, or even taking a stroll through the local grocery store.

Minor changes are excellent ways to incorporate movement into your life while still managing to accomplish things in your day. Flexibility equipment, therapy kits, foam rollers, and resistance bands from companies like Rollga are also convenient options that indiscreetly fit into a bag or a corner of the house that can encourage joint flexibility and movement.

Maintain a Healthy Weight

Talking about weight after holiday seasons filled with candy, delicious desserts, and other decadent eating options isn't easy. Nonetheless, the joints carry a significant burden on our bodies, especially during movement. Excess weight puts unneeded straight on weight-bearing joints like the back, knees, and ankles.

We commonly correlate weight loss with appearance. Dropping extra pounds is about more than how we look; it reduces stress on our joints while decreasing wear and minimizing pain. Dieting isn't easy and often represents short-term, unsustainable changes. Alternatively, setting a goal and focusing on incremental changes in your daily habits can help you lose or maintain weight healthily.

Flexibility equipment can help get you moving, burning more calories through your increased activity with gentle exercise. Exercising regimens work best when combined with a well-balanced, nutritional diet. Limit junk food and sweet treats (by now, you've probably had enough during the fall holidays anyway), and eat more protein, fruits, and vegetables.

Manage Your Inflammation

We often associate reduced mobility and acute and chronic pain with inflammation. As muscles, joints, and tissues become inflamed, this signals to the brain that the body suffers from an injury or irritation. Inflammation commonly attacks joint tissues, increasing sensitivity and resulting in stiffness or loss of overall function. Injuries and chronic health conditions can lead to impairing inflammation that harms the joints and joint function.

Moreover, chronic inflammation can negatively impact joint fluid while damaging bone and cartilage. As function decreases, mobility will become more limited, resulting in muscle loss. You can manage joint inflammation and work on flexibility with at-home flexibility equipment and therapy kits. Some regimens include hot and cold therapy, resistance band work, and medicine administrations like anti-inflammatories.

Ask for Help When You Need It

It isn't always easy to reach out for help. Human nature often influences us to think we can manage everything we need on our own or that we don't want to ask for help because it may make us appear weak.

The unfortunate truth is joint injuries frequently occur when people attempt lifting, carrying, or doing activities that are more than they can handle. Avoid injury or aggravation by simply asking for help with heavy or potentially risky tasks. Understand your limits and ask for help as needed.

Asking for help extends to ensuring you don't neglect your aches and pains. While many people brush off pain and soreness as minute occurrences that an aspirin will remedy, experiencing knee, hip, shoulder, and other joint pain could indicate a more serious underlying condition. If you're wondering how to improve joint health, consider visiting a specialist for help managing your aches and pains.