Joint health and aging

Aging Gracefully

Old people are always wearing those ugly, gray, unfashionable velcro shoes. It’s not because the shoes are more affordable. It’s not because people magically lose their sense of fashion when they hit a certain age. It’s not because they think it’ll get them an extra discount at the early bird special at the buffet. It’s because they can’t tie their damn shoes! They can’t bend over anymore because they have back problems or because their knees don’t bend that way anymore. If they CAN bend over, their dexterity is gone because their bad habits earned them a one way ticket to wholly preventable types of arthritis in their wrinkly, spotted, old people hands. We don’t know about you, but when we're 80, we don’t just want to be able to lace up our sneaks. We want to strap 'em to our feet and run fast, lift heavy weights, play basketball (full court), and dunk on the grandkids. And you know what? There’s nothing standing in the way of you doing the same thing, excepting maybe the dunking part. Not everyone is gifted with mad ups. 

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How To Protect Your Joints

So how the hell do you live like there’s no tomorrow without wrecking your joints and suffering the fate of velcro clad feet? There’s a veritable multitude of things you can do to keep your knees and shoulders ready for prime time until the day you drop. 

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Eat Better

The first thing you can do is eat properly. And not just in order to be less fat. Being less fat is clearly going to put less stress on the joints and that’s a kick ass side effect of staying away from the all you can eat buffet that’s all the rage with the seniors, but that’s the tip of the iceberg. Eating a proper nutrient-dense nose to tail diet won’t just make you shaped more optimally than the average sloppy modern adult. Fat soluble vitamins D and K will aid in keeping your bones healthy and strong to prevent debilitating injuries, osteoporosis, and osteoarthritis. Calcium, which is regulated by vitamin D does the very same. Magnesium, collagen, omega-3 fatty acids, chondroitin, and glucosamine keep the bendy parts of your body lubed like your bike chain, unless your bike is like Debo’s. Debo’s bike probably wears velcro tires… That’s the best analogy we could conjour up with without getting nasty with it. 

Anyway…

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Move Better

Just being less fat and lubing your joints alone will not protect you entirely. Proper movement is also essential. Working out with bad form is certified joint abuse at best, and that’s not the only movement you should be worried about. The way you walk, the way you sit, the way you stand, even the way you sleep… these all play a major role in how your joints age. Paying attention to your posture and your gait are paramount. One of the easiest ways to force proper posture and gait is to spend some walking barefoot every day. It’s nearly impossible to walk wrong without pillowy footwear. 

And then, of course, stretching affects long-term mobility and joint health. We could write a dissertation on this one, but the Fittest performance experts can guide you (for FREE) in all of these areas to keep your joints feeling ripe and ready for shoe-tying, running, lifting, or whatever else you want to do now and when you’re old. Email us at dominate@thefittest.com.