Contributed by: Healthians Team
Introduction
From maintaining heart health to boosting brain power and enhancing immunity to regulating metabolism, regular exercises can help you stay healthy throughout your life.
The intensity of exercise depends on several factors – such as age, overall health, and workout history.
Bones are healthy and strong when you are young. But as you age, issues such as stiffer and less flexible joint movements can cause significant hindrances in your lifestyle.
According to research, these issues occur because the fluid inside joints (synovial fluid) decreases as you get older, making the cartilage thinner and causing joint discomfort.
Studies suggest that one of the best ways to keep joints healthy is exercising regularly.
So whether your joints are causing discomfort or not, you must exercise regularly. This article will help you learn about the five best joint-friendly & low-impact exercises essential for maintaining joint health.
Yoga
Doing yoga is one of the best physical activities recommended for minimizing the risk of various illnesses.
A few yoga poses that can keep joints healthy and improve overall well-being include:
- Virabhadrasana (Warrior pose) – This asana can strengthen your knees and also help with frozen shoulders
- Dhanuarasana (Bow pose) – The bow pose can help with shoulder aches and make the back flexible
- Setu Bandhasana (Bridge pose) – An effective yoga asana that can help provide strength and flexibility in the knee joints. It can also aid in minimizing the symptoms of osteoporosis
- Trikonasana (Triangle pose) – This pose can help increase the strength of legs, knees, and bones. It can also help in stretching the hamstring and hip muscles
Some other benefits of doing yoga include:
- Eases arthritis symptoms
- Improves cardiovascular health
- Relieves stress & anxiety
- Helps sleep better
- Improves mood & energy levels
Walking
Walking can help improve overall blood circulation. Experts say that walking is one of the most effective low impact exercises beneficial for joints.
Here are a few benefits of walking regularly:
- Exerts less impact on joints
- Strengthens muscles
- Improves joint flexibility
- Minimizes the risk of osteoporosis
- Helps joint fluid circulation
- Improves posture
Swimming
Swimming is also a low-impact physical activity that can help kick start the day. If you don’t know how to swim, you can hold the side of the pool and scissor-kick your legs in the water.
Swimming is a low-impact exercise and is a crucial exercise for joints. Here are some other benefits of swimming:
- Builds endurance
- Controls body weight
- Enhances muscle strength
- Boosts cardiovascular health
- Swimming is good for asthma
Cycling
When talking about low impact exercises, how can we not include cycling? Cycling is a good physical activity for older adults because it can help increase mobility by putting minimum or no strain on their legs.
Regular cycling can provide a range of benefits such as:
- Improving cardiovascular health
- Minimizing stress levels
- Strengthening bones
- Controlling anxiety & depression
- Maintaining healthy body weight
Rowing machine
A rowing machine helps perform a low-density workout to improve overall health while exerting little to no pressure on the ankles, knees, hips, elbows, and shoulder joints.
It is a full-body workout, and you can find this equipment in the nearest gym or even install it at home.
The following are some other benefits of using a rowing machine:
- Good for heart & lungs health
- Help increase endurance & muscle strength
- Alternative to a treadmill
- Aids in weight loss
Final thoughts
As you get older, joint discomfort can become common, and one of the best ways to reduce the risk is by exercising regularly.
The above-mentioned are five low-impact exercises that can help keep your joints healthy by reducing the risk of stiffness and restricted movements.
Moreover, you should also frequently opt for health screening. It provides you with vital insights into your health, allowing you to take necessary measures to improve it.
