Prevention.com - 4 Things You're Doing That Are Ruining Your Joints - Dr. Mark Kemenosh and Associates

Dr Tim Legath forwarded me this article the other day and stated he thought it would be important if we linked it up on our blog! Before you go reading some of what has been copy and pasted below, you need to realize that we share this information for everyone’s benefit and that we are not trying to knock running, yoga, or pilates, but hoping that you need to realize that a wide variety of exercise and cross training best benefit your joints.

Prevention Magazine: http://www.prevention.com/fitness/4-mistakes-making-joints-weak

The following is taken from the article written by CASSIE SHORTSLEEVE

“It used to be that joint replacements were a problem for older people. But today orthopedic surgeons are seeing people in their 40s, 50s, or younger. In fact, surgeons at The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City say the number of people younger than 60 going under the knife is up at least 15% in the last 2 years. Plus, data from the National Center for Health Statistics finds the number of hip replacements more than doubled in a 10-year span, skyrocketing by 205% in people ages 45 to 54.

Surgeons attribute the rise to people wanting to stay active while they age, says Calin Moucha, MD, chief of adult reconstruction and joint replacement surgery at The Mount Sinai Hospital. Today’s implants also last longer than they once did, sometimes up to 40 years, he says. This means joint replacements are now an option at a younger age, since physicians aren’t as worried about having to replace them.”

So what does this all mean to you? Well, our runners might not like what comes next…

Moucha says that many patients seeking joint replacement are in good cardiovascular health, but not necessarily good physical health. If you’re running marathons or triathlons only, you might have imbalances when it comes to muscle strength and flexibility. And this, paired with repetitive trauma over time, could lead to arthritis, he notes, causing your joints to wear away.

“It’s important to cross-train,” says Moucha. Giving certain muscle groups (like the ones you use on long, slow jogs) a break once or twice a week while activating new muscles (like the ones you might use sprinting) can fend off injury, he notes. (You should consider working these strength-training moves into your exercise program.)”

Well what about all that Yoga that I do? That’s probably good for me right?…

Intense workouts like HIIT and mud runs aren’t the only way to injure your joints. While yoga and Pilates are great ways to boost flexibility and strength, anything extreme when it comes to range of motion—like reaching for that pose your body’s not quite ready for—can put you at risk for a joint injury, notes Moucha. “When you create range of motion extremes, you can create bony spurs (projections along a bone’s edges) that may predispose you to arthritis,” he says. Your best bet isn’t to skip yoga but rather to stick with the modifications that work for you, and give yourself time before trying anything you might not be ready for.”

Check the article out for yourself today! The link is below.

Prevention.com Article: http://www.prevention.com/fitness/4-mistakes-making-joints-weak/