I am going to be stating the obvious for the remainder of this post, so as you feel your intelligence being insulted, just know that it’s intentional.
Ok, let’s go.
Your joints don’t get more functional as they age.
They trend worse.
I’ll say that again. They trend worse.
In case you don’t know, you are also aging.
So, your joints need your attention.
To sharpen this up, imagine for a second what life would be like if you took away even one of your joints. Just straighten your elbow and don’t let it bend ever again and see how difficult life becomes. If you have ever had an injury to a wrist or an ankle, you’ll know what I’m talking about. You suddenly realise that you use that joint ten times every minute and it’s kind of important.
So, I’ll repeat. Your joints need your attention.
As you go into your daily workout, the main limiting factor to your performance will likely be how well your joints are doing that day.
The root cause of this is likely going to be a multitude of factors like what you were doing the previous day, how well you slept, the food you ate, how stressed you were. But that doesn’t matter for now. What matters is what to do about your joints today. Here’s a list.
1. Mobilise your joints.
As I said, more stating of the obvious. But so we’re clear, mobilising your joints doesn’t mean foam rolling or lacrosse ball smashing. They are very useful tools, but mobilising means moving the joint through all of its ranges of motion. As the godfather of mobility himself will say, motion is lotion. If you are able to get to the gym before class to take care of your mobility, it will boost your workout performance that day more than any pre-workout will.
2. Minimise sitting
Sitting is a big part of everyone’s day, and I am not saying don’t sit down. Of course sitting down is ok(obviously). BUT, if there is an opportunity to not sit, take it. The research is now saying that excessive sitting has become more detrimental to your health than smoking. Read that again…worse than smoking. Some of you have to sit for work and if that’s you, here’s the prescription. For every 30 minutes at your desk or in the car, get up and move for 5. For the rest of us, get up and move as often as possible. Like right now, get up and move.
3. When working out, train your joints
I get it, we go to the gym for our muscles and our circulatory system (cardio, to insult you once more). Joints are not at the forefront of our minds. However, joints are things that determine how well we can continue to train the other two. As I said at the start, joints trend worse over time…if they are not trained. We can improve our joint function as we age if we pay attention to them as we perform each rep. Work smoothly into end ranges, move in patterns that minimise wear and tear, work at tempos that allow for control. Basically, follow the coach’s technique cues and you’re golden.
4. Invest in tomorrow
Once you have finished your workout, cool down with some joint work. Jumping straight into your car for a 20 minute drive home is setting you up for a full-body cast the following day…the very reason you felt crappy arriving at the gym today. Before leaving, reset your ranges of motion, give your tissues some TLC and do a few easy squats/presses. It’s the last thing you’ll feel like doing, but it pays off big tomorrow.
5. Before bed
Watching TV before bed? Do it on a foam roller. It’s a good habit to get into. If you are at home with nothing else to do, why not? Plus, it’s cutting down on your sitting time. This down-regulation of the system will also make you sleep better. Better performance tomorrow, less sitting, better sleep tonight. It’s win-win-win.
So we made it. Phew. I hate stating the obvious, but we all need it.
P.s.
I know we get bombarded with 1000 different things we “should” be doing for a responsible healthy lifestyle and it can all be a bit much, but if you are in a good training rhythm, it’s an easy one to build into the process without too much extra effort. The end result is higher functioning and feeling better. It’s an easy big win.
The most important thing is to start today.
Seriously, get up and move, right now.
Bua Blog 