Wonky Joints
No, not to smoke. What were you thinking ?
As a 58 year old, I have experienced my share of joint issues. Mostly low grade
chronic pain or sensitivity.
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or physiotherapist - this is not medical advice.
I'm afraid the medical system has been mostly useless for this kind of issues.
Or at least I haven't found a decent physio. If they don't do a proper assessment
to identify root causes, save your time and money.
Cause and effect, chain of events, all the chaos makes perfect sense
Third Rock from the Sun by Joe Diffie (Youtube)
Some possible reasons for joint issues:
- Force misalignment
- Overload
- Trauma
- Compensation for issues with other joints
- Repeated stress
- Muscular imbalances
- Nutritional issues
- Autoimmune issues
Force misalignment
Most joints work like hinges. They can handle significant force in their preferred
movement direction, but don't like to be subjected to misaligned force or torsion.
This can be caused by poor body positioning on free weight exercises, or machines
that force your body into a movement path that doesn't fit your body. A bar or
barbell can also constrain movement.
Resistance bands give your body the freedom to move along its preferred path.
Bands will not resist torsion, so your hands can rotate freely if holding bands
directly or through separate handles.
Overload
Obviously there is only so much force that a joint can handle. This could happen
for high impact loading (running, jumping, hitting), and to some extent for maximal
strength sports like olympic lifting or powerlifting. Bodybuilding style training
with its lower loads / higher repetitions counts is less likely to cause problems.
Trauma
This is where the medical system will help you.
Compensation for issues with other joints
It is said that knee issues are often caused by poor mobility or position of the
ankles or hips.
Repeated Stress
The surface of joints is supposed to be smooth and slippery to minimize friction.
Your body has a limited capacity to regenerate these surfaces. Once they wear away,
you can get arthritic degradation.
Doing the exact same movement over and over is more likely to cause wear. I recommend
having a larger variety of exercises in your training rotation.
Muscular imbalances
Strong quadriceps combined with weak hamstrings, calves and tibialis muscles are a
recipe for knee pain.
Nutritional issues
Beef collagen is an affordable way to get the building blocks for joint maintenance.
I take it in water with a little bit of juice.
My doc told me at the tender age of 55 that my knees have Osgood-Schlatter.
This usually develops during the rapid growth phase of puberty. Chances are good
that I was vitamin D deficient at the time - computer geeks don't spend all that
much time in the sun. Possible link:
Pathophysiology of Osgood-Schlatter Disease: Does Vitamin D have a Role?.
There is shockingly little research on this topic. As kids spend most of their days
stuck in mass hypnosis facilities schools, I think it is a reasonable
precaution to systematically supplement vitamin D3 + K2 (take with fat, e.g. a glass
of whole milk).
Accumulation of oxalate crystals could also cause joint issues. Read
Toxic Superfoods by Sally K. Norton or her
web page for an introduction to this topic.
Autoimmune issues
If you are unlucky, your body can attack and damage your joint surfaces.
Ankles
Poor ankle mobility can be a cause for knee pain. Some things that you can do:
- Strengthen your feet by going barefoot or in minimalist shoes with a wide toe box,
no drop, no foot spring, and probably no arch support. Expect your feet to grow a
little. I had to throw out quite a few shoes that simply will not fit any more.
- Do calf exercises with a good range of motion, for example standing on a step.
- Look up "knee over toes" for more exercises.
Knees
My main trouble spot. Things that I do:
- For most leg exercises, the floor will keep your feet locked in place, so you
have to find the right foot spacing and rotation for your body to avoid
problems. The ideal squat stance is very individual due to different
proportions of your body and the structure of your hip (deep vs. shallow hip sockets).
One size does not fit all.
- I have a variation of exercises in my training rotation.
- I avoid exercises that constrain my movement path, e.g. leg extension, Smith
machine, V squat (reverse orientation is fine) etc.
- I train not just the quadriceps, but also the hamstrings and calves.
- I keep loads moderate, e.g. my barbell back squat is about body weight.
- Going down stairs, I let my calves take the impact.
- Proper hydration is important for running or hiking.
- Rucking up a hill is OK for my knees, but going down can be hard on them.
I dump the load at the top, e.g. by draining a water canister.
Hips
Never much of an issue for me.
Wrists
My wrists are somewhat inflexible from a lifetime of keyboard use. Things that I do:
- Acceptance - I accept to live with this limited range of motion, and avoid
push-ups with a flat palm, or the front rack position of front squats.
- Avoid lateral loading and shear stress. When doing dumbbell presses, I hold
the dumbbells asymmetrically (thumb near the inside of the plates) so the center
of gravity of the dumbbells is stacked right above the wrist and elbow joints.
- Some cable attachments are just asking for trouble, for example the inverted V bar
often used for triceps pushdowns. My wrists hurt just looking at it.
- For the barbell bench press, consider a
Bulldog Grip.
- Do biceps curls with a curved EZ curl bar, not a straight barbell.
- I haven't tried this yet, but rice bucket training could be good not just for
grip strength, but also for wrist health.
- I don't use wrist wraps, but they can certainly be an option.
Elbows
I have had episodes of golfer's elbow (especially when I was climbing), and
sometimes get pain in my right elbow.
Shoulders
Our shoulders can move in many directions, which enables us to throw rocks or spears
at our prey animals, but can be troublesome in sedentary modern life.
- Balanced muscle development is important. Front delts are usually well developed
from pressing movements, side and rear delts tend to be weak.
- Band pull-aparts help develop your front delts.
- Pull-over movements can be good, both with a dumbbell and
as an isometric pull-over.
- The ab wheel is a fun way to load the shoulder in extension.
- For rowing exercises, let your shoulder extend forward.
- Chest cross-overs with a 32" band help stretch your chest muscles in the starting
position.
- Be cautious with dips.
- Avoid a constant shoulders forward posture (e.g. when typing).
- Keep a good balance of pushing (chest) and pulling (back) exercises.
- Sleep posture could help. When I lie down to sleep, I start with a pull-over
position (reach back to the bed frame like for the isometric pull-over), then
make myself "wide" by spreading out my shoulder blades. Caution: Start with shorter
durations first, as the constant stretch can cause pain in your back ribs.
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