How To Keep Your Joints Healthy When Lifting Weights For Toning
After all, once a joint wears out, there is not much you can do to restore it naturally. And keep in mind that artificial joints wear out much faster than natural joints.
So here is how to keep your joints healthy when lifting weights for toning:
1. Don't overdo the bench press: Not only can it cause extreme impingement of your rotator cuff, but it can also destroy your ac joint. If you have a slouched posture (like the majority of desk workers), this is even more of an issue. So use the bench press is moderation.
2. Strengthen all the muscles in your legs equally: If you only focus on quads, your patella won't move correctly. If you only focus on hamstrings, your patella won't move correctly. If you neglect the inside part of your thighs, your patella won't move correctly.
3. Stretch all the muscles in your legs equally: Don't just do hamstring stretches here. Have a holistic approach towards leg flexibility. You see, overly tight muscles can pull your patella out of its natural range of movement. And over time this can degenerate the cartilage in your knee.
4. Never work through joint pain: Joints are very different than muscles. You see, they take much longer to become damaged and much longer to heal. They don't have very good blood supply and as a result, can take many months to fully recover. If you work through the pain, you can permanently damage your joint.
5. Never let your back round out: Now when I say never, I mean never. You want to avoid lower back rounding in the gym, in your car, in your daily life, etc. Doing this will keep your back healthy for many years to come. And keep in mind that back pain is one of the top complaints in the western world.
Since joint deterioration happens slowly over time, most people completely ignore it when structuring their exercise programs. So make sure you don't make this same mistake and enjoy a lifetime of exercise health.
