How to Keep Joints Healthy
Even if you’re not actively thinking about it, you use your joints for almost everything you do all day long! Whether you’re standing, walking, running, or even sitting (yes, sitting!), all these activities require healthy joints to avoid pain or injury. Some of these joints provide stability while others help us move easily. Knowing how to protect and improve joint health will have you ready to take on whatever life brings!
Today we’re talking about ways for how to keep joints healthy with simple lifestyle adjustments. Keep reading for tips and ideas for joint health!
Simple Methods for How to Keep Joints Healthy
As we said, knowing how to keep joints healthy is crucial for maintaining your overall health. Healthy joints go hand-in-hand with how to increase mobility and flexibility in your body. They’re what you use to move everything from your arms and legs to your fingers and toes! Healthy joints will keep you active and ready to take on each day.
Some tips and potentially effective ways for how to keep joints healthy include:
- Stay active (a body in motion stays in motion!)
- Using a zero gravity chair for joint health
- Reduce excess weight pressure on joints
- Practice eating an anti-inflammatory diet
Wondering How to Keep Joints Healthy? Stay Active!
Staying active is an easy and important method for how to keep joints healthy. A body in motion tends to stay in motion, right? The same goes for your body!
While those who suffer from joint stiffness or swelling may think physical activity sounds like a bad idea at first, it’s actually quite the opposite. Movement eases joint stiffness and can improve joint health dramatically. It also helps alleviate joint pain and strengthen the muscles around joints!
Staying active for how to keep joints healthy doesn’t just mean exercising regularly (though you definitely should!). Keeping active also means knowing when to stand and stretch if you’re working at the office or from a home office setup. This regular stretching and simple activity helps prevent pain from sitting too long and keeps your joints from stiffening up.
Maintaining Healthy Joints by Reclining in Zero Gravity Chairs
Speaking of sitting, next up in our exploration of how to keep joints healthy is using a zero gravity chair! The health benefits of zero gravity chairs help improve joint health and prevent injury.
In the zero gravity position, the legs are elevated above the heart level, reducing excess pressure on your back and pelvic regions. How does this help with joint health, you ask? The zero gravity position also allows for better blood circulation. Better blood flow helps reduce swelling and inflammation that can be a primary cause of joint pain.
You can also easily integrate zero gravity chairs into your fitness routine to stay active and moving! You don’t need a home gym to stay healthy. Some activities to combine with your zero gravity chair for how to keep joints healthy include flexibility and core strengthening exercises.
When you’re looking at using a zero gravity chair for how to keep joints healthy, you may want to consider luxury zero gravity chairs with massage features. In various studies, massage has been shown to be effective for improving joint mobilization as it helps keep your muscles loose, preventing joint stiffness and pain. Massage also helps alleviate stress and anxiety, which may cause your body to tense up and result in joint pain, as well.
Zero gravity chairs with heat therapy features are perfect for how to keep joints healthy, too! Using heat therapy before physical activity may help increase mobility and flexibility, keeping the body loose and less prone to injury. After physical activity, heat therapy is great for preventing muscle stiffness and even helping prevent the effects of Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) which can occur even days afterward. For treating swollen joints, zero gravity chairs with heat therapy features can be used in alternation with cold compresses to help provide pain relief and recovery.
Reducing Weight Pressure on Joints
Another simple lifestyle adjustment for how to keep joints healthy is losing excess weight. Reducing weight pressure on joints can help prevent pain felt in your back, legs, and other weight-bearing joints. Just one pound of excess weight adds four pounds of extra pressure to your weight-bearing joints. Obviously, this can add up quite quickly for even just a few extra pounds!
Maintaining a healthy weight can help limit the excess pressure on these joints making it a prime method for how to keep joints healthy. In fact, studies have shown that weight loss significantly reduces knee pain, function, and stiffness associated with knee osteoarthritis.
Choose a Diet to Reduce Inflammation in Joints
The easiest way to maintain a healthy weight is by eating the right foods. When looking for how to keep joints healthy, choosing a diet to reduce inflammation in joints takes this a step further! An anti-inflammatory diet involves avoiding foods that increase inflammation such as red meats, refined carbohydrates, fried foods, and sugar-sweetened beverages.
Instead, a diet for how to keep joints healthy should include foods like nuts, fatty fish, and green leafy vegetables (also called cruciferous vegetables). Some sources suggest a Mediterranean diet may be a good choice for keeping inflammation under control and for how to keep joints healthy. Improve joint health while eating delicious food? Sign us up!
Before beginning any diet changes, check with your primary care physician to ensure it’s safe for you to do so. They can also provide guidance on caloric intake and optimal food choices for how to keep joints healthy.
Joint Health Benefits of Good Posture
Practicing good posture is also effective for how to keep joints healthy. When you have bad sitting habits or stand with bad posture, it creates excess pressure on your joints and muscles. This can lead to joint pain and soreness.
Good posture decreases abnormal wear and tear to muscles and joints. Excess joint damage can result in chronic health issues such as degenerative arthritis. So then how do you improve your posture? You can easily combine efforts for how to keep joints healthy here by using a zero gravity chair. There are a number of activities to do in a zero gravity chair to improve posture including simple exercises and zero gravity meditation! Outside of a zero gravity chair, take care to practice being mindful of your posture while sitting, standing, or lifting to prevent injury.
When it comes to how to keep joints healthy, it’s about taking cues from your body and taking care not to add excess pressure to weight-bearing joints. If you’re starting to experience joint pain, it’s important to take action to alleviate the pain and prevent further damage. Preventative measures like muscle strengthening, maintaining a healthy weight, and choosing a zero gravity chair for their numerous health benefits will keep you feeling your best and ready to take on each and every day!
If you do experience injury, be sure to speak to your primary care physician before beginning any treatment to ensure safety and get guidance for optimal recovery.
Curious about more healthy benefits of zero gravity chairs? Check out these resources to see how they may help improve your overall health:
