One of the saddest things about aging is that our bodies stop responding in the way that they used to. Of course, we don’t all expect to continue to be able to act like 20 year olds when we’re 40. We all understand that the body wears down overtime and we expect that and we accept it when it happens. The problem is that when you are an active person and you enjoy dancing or sports or just generally being able to move around without pain, it can be really difficult to accept that your knees don’t give you the same support like they used to.
You might start attending physio rehab in order to strengthen the muscles in a safe environment so that you could continue to enjoy the sports that you enjoy, but even when you do go to a physio rehab you still have to figure out how to protect your knees the best you can. With this in mind, we’ve put together a list of ways that you can protect your knees and keep moving the way you like to move so that you can enjoy your body in the way that it moves for a little bit longer. Let’s take a look.
- Make sure you are wearing good shoes. Half the battle with your knees is being able to support your feet and the way that your legs move. You might choose to wear shoes most of the time, but sneakers that have been fitted to your feet and that support your legs and your weight are a good investment. If you ensure that you are wearing the right shoes that you can easily turn and pivot in that fit your feet, you’re going to lessen the impact on your knees and therefore lessen the pain you’re feeling.
- Move carefully. A good way to support your knees is to ensure that you are moving carefully when you do move. For example, sudden twists and turns can really put some pressure on your knees that you don’t need. When you move for sports or for dancing, you often twist and turn but when you are allowing your knees to heal you need to give those twists a bit of a break. So, ensure that you are moving the right way and support your knees when you do move.
- Stretch. Every morning and every evening stretch your body properly. Contrary to your own thinking, you are not invincible and therefore you need to ensure that you are moving your body in a way that protects it and that means making sure that you warm up your muscles with stretches. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy; You just need to ensure that you are moving the muscles to keep them warm before you start exercising and putting more pressure on them. It does take some time for stretching to really kick in, but practice is what makes perfect and consistency is key.
- Watch your diet. Ensuring you are minimizing inflammatory foods is really going to help you to protect your knees. You want to minimize and replace the food that can create inflammation . It doesn’t mean you can’t have your favorite foods or drinks again, but if you are looking to strengthen your knees then you need to give your body a little bit of a break from the processed foods and start thinking about Whole Foods that make you feel good and that nourish your muscles and your bones. We are looking for support here, and that means ensuring that you are on top of it.
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