How to Exercise without Damaging Your Joints and Other Body Parts
High impact exercises like running can jar your joints and over time may put you at risk for repetitive motion injuries.
You know that exercise is crucial to preventing obesity, heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis and other diseases. Plus it helps you feel and look your best.
Unfortunately, many forms of exercise can hurt your body!
Jogging, high impact aerobics, and even fun sports like basketball and tennis can jar your joints.
In fact, consistent high impact exercise over time may increase your risk for degenerative joint disease.
It’s also true that high impact exercise can put you at risk for other injuries like these:1
- Female incontinence
- Disk degeneration
- Frequent (yearly) minor injuries
- Repetitive motion injuries
- Strained blood vessels in your ankles and feet
But these risks are not a reason to avoid exercise! Most experts agree that movement is a must, so what are the alternatives?
Easy Exercise
There are definitely some forms of exercise that are easier on your body than others. Just think low impact!
Low impact exercises, that don’t involve jumping and landing on hard surfaces, are ideal for people of all ages and fitness levels. You get the benefits of exercise without the strain on your body. Not only can you exercise for longer periods of time each day, but also you have less risk for injuries that can keep you from exercising altogether.
Some common types of low impact exercises include:
- yoga
- Cycling
- Walking
- Hiking
- Aerobics (low impact)
- Dancing
- Swimming
- The Five Tibetan Rites
These are all wonderful ways to increase your heart rate, get your blood pumping to improve circulation, and cleanse toxins out of your system. The Five Tibetan Rites are excellent for balancing your chakras.
If you’re looking for a more intense workout on some days, just pick up your pace! For example: walk faster, dance wildly, find a more intense level of yoga. Increase the number of repetitions for reach of the Five Tibetan Rites. There’s no need to pound your joints just to get a good workout.
Rebounding: An Ideal “Easy” Exercise For Every Body!
Rebounding is a safe, fun, and portable low impact exercise. Take your mini trampoline wherever you go to enjoy the benefits of rebounding: increased circulation, detoxification and of course more cardiovascular endurance! Learn more about the our favorite Needak Rebounder now!
No matter what your fitness level, rebounding should be part of your routine. This amazing exercise works your entire body in a way that no other exercise can match! Every time you bounce up and down while rebounding, your body experiences increased gravitational forces that strengthen every cell.
Even better, anyone can start rebounding!
Whether you are a seasoned athlete or fighting an illness, you can rebound at your own pace in a way that challenges your body. Even people with cancer and chronic fatigue syndrome have used rebounding as part of their gentle healing routine.
For injury prevention, rebounders are the ideal non-impact aerobic workout. Your joints and disks are safe because there is no impact!
Here at Body Ecology, we recommend Softbounce Needak Rebounders. These high quality mini-trampolines help you enjoy the benefits of rebounding wherever you go. Made of durable materials, Needak rebounders come with an optional hand rail for those who want to lower their risk for injury.
Low Impact Exercise For High Impact Health
You don’t have to hurt your body to be healthy!
Low impact exercises can get your heart going without jarring your joints. From swimming to rebounding, cycling to yoga, there is a low impact exercise to fit your lifestyle and unique personal preference. Do the ones you love the most. Exercise should make you feel calm, centered and alive… but should also be fun!
The key is just to get started, no matter what, and now you can do it in a safer way.
Sources:
“Exercise In-Depth,” HowStuffWorks.com. http://health.howstuffworks.com/exercise-in-depth8.htm
“Exercise Effects on the Heart and Diabetes,” SLEH.com. http://www.sleh.com/sleh/Section004/index.cfm?pagename=ExerciseEffectsHeartDiabetes&PageMD=TEXAS%20HEART%20INSTITUTE