If you are in your twenties or thirties, you may now be obsessing more with your waistline now, than with your knees. Most don’t think much about this almost miraculously designed joint, until problems arise in later .
Knees are in constant use through the day whether you may be sitting, standing, walking, running, jumping or simply bending. They bear 80% of your body weight when you’re just standing still and in multiples of that when there is the added impact from movement.
However, if you take care of your knees in your early years before problems such as osteoarthiritis show up, chances are you wouldn’t have to deal with the complications of poor knee maintenance later.
One of the cornerstones of reducing impact on the knee is ensuring that your weight remains within healthy range. If you’re already doing that, that’s one ticked off the list. But certainly that’s not the only one. These are a few other things you can start early to reduce risk of long term knee damage from simply the normal ageing process, excessive impact and repeated motion.
Exercise
Too many repetitions of movements involving the knee may actually cause injury over a period of time. However, too little activity is also harmful as with no or too little movement, the knee starts to lose cartilage from lack of use. Exercise also strengthens the various muscles, ligaments and tendons that support movement of the knee joint – giving it better support. Exercise also reduces risk of chronic inflammation. However, it is more advisable to do a wide range of exercises, varying them frequently. It’s a better idea to run, walk, lift weights, play a sport etc. different days to reduce the number of times the knees repeat the same movements.
Ensure the right technique
For those who practice some form of sport, the right technique goes a long way in reducing risk of overuse injury. Even in something as simple as running or fitness walking ensuring you do it right helps. Trainers, coaches and physiotherapists can help ensuring you are doing it right. If you don’t feel the need to consult experts, today there are tons of expert videos available freely that might help in refining your technique. Check out some videos here. Link 1 Link 2
Warm up
Regardless of your choice of exercise starting with a warm up and some stretching helps minimise potential injuries in both the short and long term. Even if not exercising – simply stretching daily helps. #KhabarLive #hydnews
