How to strengthen joints and ligaments: tools and exercises

Systematic exercise is important at any age. It gives a lot of benefit to the whole body: it strengthens muscles and joints, saves and even increases the strength of bones, improves posture, elasticity of ligaments and balance, increases endurance and resistance to stress. To maintain the tone of the musculoskeletal system, it is necessary to give it a certain load every day.

Joints and their role in the human skeleton

Joints are the most common compounds in the human skeleton. They provide free movement, but within the limits determined by their shape. The mobility of the joint reduces its strength, so they are additionally strengthened by fibrous ligaments. There are hundreds of joints in the human body. Some of them are small and inconspicuous, for example, in the wrists. And the other large and prominent, for example, in the shoulders, knees and elbows. The mobility of these compounds in the body is very different. For example, a spherical shoulder joint allows you to move your arm in any direction, and flat inter-wrist joints provide only a minimal slip of the bones relative to each other. The question of how to strengthen joints is relevant for today as never before.

The most useful exercises for strengthening joints

Many people are interested in how to strengthen joints. It is necessary to ensure minimum shock loads, such as walking, swimming, exercising on a stationary bike. Strengthen the connections, reducing the risk of injury, help stretching exercises, including yoga and pilates. These are the best means of strengthening joints.

To protect them from problems, it is necessary to adhere to certain rules:

1. To go to the orthopedist. A qualified specialist should assess the condition of the ankle, knee and hip joints.
2. Control your weight. Excess weight is an extra burden on all the joints of the body, especially on the knee and hip. An increase of only 1 kg of weight increases the risk of developing arthrosis by 10-15%.
3. Correct pick up shoes. Uncomfortable shoes, especially on high heels, can ruin posture, gait and lead to leg ailments. The best footwear are legged sneakers with a supinator and a soft sole, such footwear is the best prevention of injuries to the ankle, hip and knee joints.
4. Equip the workplace. An improperly placed computer or an uncomfortable posture at the desk creates problems for the spine, which in turn leads to pain in the back and neck.
5. Use more fish in the diet. Fish is rich in fatty unsaturated acids, necessary for joints.
6. Doing the right gymnastics, which improves flexibility, posture, balance and coordination.

What exercise is useful for joints and ligaments?

A variety of physical activities are of undoubted benefit to the whole body. How to strengthen the joints, muscles and ligaments, will show the effect on them of each individual kind of exercise:

1. Aerobic improves blood flow to the joints, strengthens the ligaments.
2. Stretching increases the amplitude of movements, reduces stiffness, relieves pain.
3. Strength training strengthens ligaments and tendons.
4. Jogging strengthens the ligaments and tendons of the lower body.
5. Swimming improves the maneuverability and blood supply of the joints.
6. Dancing improves blood circulation, coordination.
7. Walking increases mobility.
8. Jumps strengthen the ligaments and tendons of the lower body.
9. Yoga increases the amplitude of movements, reduces stiffness, relieves pain.
10. Pilates has the same effect as yoga.

Exercises for the musculature of the shoulders and unloading of the ligaments

Overstrain of the musculature of the shoulders and upper back is fraught with a very painful condition. The stoop at the desk and the hunched posture often lead to stiffness of the muscles of the chest and stretching the muscles of the shoulders and back, and this, in turn, leads to headaches and muscle pains in this area.

How to strengthen the shoulder joint, will show the following exercises:

1. Shrug. In the standing position, raise the shoulders to the ears, connecting the shoulder blades, then take them off and lower them.
2. Reduction and dilution of the shoulders. As much as possible to push the shoulders forward, then take them further away, connecting the shoulder blades.
3. Stretching of the back. Sit on a chair with your feet on the floor. Slowly bend forward. Pulling your hands between your legs, reach for the legs of the chair until you feel a strong tension in the upper back. Slowly take the original position.

Proper nutrition

Healthy eating is important at any age: in childhood, when bones and muscles are actively growing, and in old age, when tissues become weaker. A healthy bone tissue is always necessary for a certain minimum of vitamins and minerals supplied with food, primarily calcium.

How to strengthen the joints and ligaments with the help of nutrition? Food provides the body with energy, which is necessary for the entire body, as a car fuel. Protein in food is used by the body as a building material. It is interesting that the human bone tissue is continuously destroyed and grows. For 7-10 years, the mineral matter of the skeleton of an adult is completely renewed. And as a child, when a child grows fast, its skeleton is renewed completely in 2 years. Some trace elements and vitamins are especially useful for bones, joints and muscles. Before strengthening joints with the help of physical exercises, it is necessary to provide the body with proper nutrition.

Products for healthy muscles, bones and joints

The required amount is easily obtained from a balanced varied diet, including the following product groups:

1. Dairy products (milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, cheese, sour cream).
2. Fats and carbohydrates (vegetable oil, nuts, fish).
3. Fruits and vegetables (fresh, frozen, dried, canned).
4. Proteins (meat, fish, poultry, eggs, legumes, nuts, seeds).

If the daily menu does not correspond to a full-fledged diet, it is advisable to take supplements for the musculoskeletal system:

• calcium;
• vitamin D;
• magnesium;
• Omega-3 fatty acids.

The largest dose of calcium a person should receive in the first 20 years of life, when the strength of bones is laid in the period of active growth. In addition, high doses of calcium are necessary and closer to old age, when bone mineral density is reduced for natural reasons and the risk of fractures increases.

Knee joint health

Throughout life, the knees are subjected to enormous loads. Their joints constantly withstand body weight, and also suffer from domestic and sports injuries. The knee is the largest and most complex joint in the human body, many muscles, ligaments and tendons are involved in its work, the coordination of which ensures knee stability and leg work.

The bones of the lower part of the body are heavily influenced by gravity, and with simple walking, the force on the person's knees is exerted, which is 4-5 times greater than its weight. And during sports, when the feet hit the ground, this force can exceed body weight by more than 12 times. Therefore, overweight greatly increases the risk of knee injuries and is the root cause of half of all operations to restore articular cartilage.

The role of ligaments

The knee joint has cruciform and collateral ligaments. These are ligaments that strengthen the joint. Fibrous interosseous ligaments, which strengthen the knee joint, also control movements in it. They can pass inside its cavity, inside the walls of the joint capsule and outside it. These strong connective tissue strands connect articulated bones and play a significant role in their strength, because a healthy ligament can stretch to 5% of the original length.

Further stretching threatens with trauma, sprain. This is the appearance of microfractures inside the tissue leading to pain and swelling of the joint, as well as reducing its maneuverability. With high loads, especially in sports, the ligaments can tear, such a trauma is possible even with a fall. In this case, pain and edema develop, and knee stability decreases.

How to strengthen the knee joint?

Of course, prevention is better than cure. Rarely does anyone think about the work of the knees until there are problems with them. Therefore, it is much easier to prevent problems with the knees and strengthen the muscles that protect the knee ligaments and meniscuses from overloads and help to avoid most injuries. Weak musculature is the main cause of problems with the knees, so it is important to regularly sweat them. For this, strengthening exercises are suitable - the knee joint muscles will receive the necessary load, which will reduce the risk of injury to the knees.

1. Bending of the legs in the knees. Lying on his stomach, straighten his legs. On inhaling, slowly bend one leg in the knee, lifting the shin until it becomes perpendicular to the thigh. Wait in this position for 2-3 seconds, then, slowly, return to its original position. Do the same with the other leg. Make 3 series of 10 such exercises.
2. Raising a straight leg. Lying on the back, one leg bend and press the foot to the floor to fix the pelvis. The second leg straighten. On inhalation, slowly raise the foot approximately 25 cm from the floor. Hold for about 3 seconds, slowly take the original position. Do the exercise with the other leg. Make 3 sets of 10 repetitions.
3. Straightening of the leg in the knee. Sit on a chair exactly, with your back to the back of the chair. On inhalation, slowly straighten one leg almost parallel to the floor, but not to the stop. Hold your foot for a few seconds in this position. Return to the starting position and perform the exercise with the other leg. Do 10 exercises in 3 series.