Vim & Vigor - Summer 2013 - University of Virginia - (Page 14)

JOIN THE W BY ALLISON THOMAS 14 SU M M E R 2 013 ILLUSTRATIONS BY ARTHUR MOUNT Exercises that strengthen joints, ﬁght pain and prevent injury hen a part of your body hurts, your ﬁrst instinct is to baby the affected area. But when it comes to joint pain, that kind of thinking is so ﬁve years ago. In fact, the key to easing joint pain is movement and exercise. “It’s counterintuitive to some people, but exercise is actually a good pain reliever,” says Patience White, MD, vice president of public health at the Arthritis Foundation. Beyond staying in motion through everyday activities and exercise such as walking, to keep your joints in shape (and pain-free), White recommends a two-pronged approach that includes range-of-motion (stretching and ﬂexibility) exercises and strength training to fortify the muscles that surround and protect your joints. A great way to achieve both is by performing exercises that prepare your joints for the work they need to do in daily life—like the wax-on, wax-off moves you rocked yesterday. “When you do exercises, you want to do functional motions that simulate or re-create these activities so your joints can deal with these day-today stresses,” says Taizoon Baxamusa, MD, a spokesman for the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Not sure where to start? We’ll show you a few helpful maintenance techniques to stretch and strengthen the parts of your body that joint pain most likely will affect.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Vim & Vigor - Summer 2013 - University of Virginia

Vim & Vigor - Summer 2013 - University of Virginia
Contents
Life in Balance
Are Hot Flashes Disrupting Your Life?
Put to the Test
The Ultimate Back-to-School Checklist
Join the Movement
Stroke Stories
5 Steps to Better Bone Health
Gut Instinct
Morgan Freeman
Prostate Playbook
The Main Ingredient
Looking Ahead
Virtual Health
Mind Shift
Inspired Running
Defy Your Age

Vim & Vigor - Summer 2013 - University of Virginia