“Joint health is important because it reduces bodily pain; allows our joints to last longer, reducing the need for a joint replacement or at least prolonging it; and helps us do our daily activities in a much more effective manner,” says Paige Jones, ACSM CES, an exercise physiologist at Piedmont Atlanta Fitness Center.

Common causes of joint injuries

Joint injury can be caused by a number of things, including:

• Running too fast

• Lifting weights that are too heavy

• Not stretching after a workout

• Not warming up or cooling down

• Overexerting yourself in a class

How to protect your joints from injuries

To keep your joints healthy and strong:

• Wear supportive shoes

• Exercise the muscles around the joints to keep them strong

• Warm up prior to exercise and cool down afterward

• Increase your exercise intensity gradually

The best exercises to protect your joints

Jones recommends the following three exercises to strengthen the muscles around your joints.

Body-weight squat

Protects: Knees, ankles and hips

• Stand in front of a chair or bench with your feet shoulder-width apart.

• Lower yourself to the seat of the chair or bench, touch it lightly and return to stand.

• Tip: Keep your knees in line with your feet and never let them extend past your toes, or you’ll risk injury.

Assisted or unassisted pull-up

Protects: Shoulders and elbows

• For the assisted pull-up, stand on the platform of a pull-up machine and grab the machine’s handles securely. For an unassisted pull-up, start at the bottom of a pull-up position.

• Begin with your arms fully extended, adjust the weight on the machine as needed and pull all the way up until you shorten your joint angle.

• Tip: Remember to breathe normally as you perform the move.

Pushup

Protects: Shoulders and elbows

• Start at the top of a pushup position with your hands shoulder-width apart, keeping your body in a straight line.

• Lower your chest toward the floor, then extend your arms and push back to the starting position.

• To modify the position, do a pushup on your knees or while standing, using a bar or wall.

• Tip: Be careful not to sag your back while doing a pushup.

“Remember, by taking the time to strengthen your muscles, you can keep your joints healthy and strong for years to come,” Jones says.

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