When people experience joint pain, one of the first things they may think is “I need to rest my joint.”
Rest can sometimes be appropriate, particularly after an acute injury. But for many ongoing joint problems, avoiding movement and strength training altogether can contribute to reduced physical capacity.
Your joints don’t work in isolation. They are supported by muscles, tendons, ligaments and other tissues, while your nervous system coordinates how your body moves.
Building strength can therefore be an important part of helping your body support, move and load your joints more effectively.
This is one reason strength training is an important component of Biokinetics and exercise rehabilitation.
What Does Strength have to do with your Joints?
Think about your knee. Your knee doesn’t simply move on its own. The muscles around your hip, thigh and lower leg help control the movement and forces that occur when you:
- Walk
- Climb stairs
- Stand up
- Sit down
- Squat
- Run
- Jump
When these muscles are stronger and able to perform their job effectively, they can contribute to better control of movement.
This doesn’t mean that stronger muscles completely “protect” a joint from injury or pain. But improving strength can help improve physical capacity, movement control and the ability to tolerate everyday loads.
1. Stronger Muscles Help You Handle Everyday Loads
Your body experiences force every time you move. Walking, climbing stairs, carrying shopping and getting out of a chair all place demands on your musculoskeletal system.
Strength training gradually exposes your muscles and body to resistance. Over time, this can help you become better able to handle those demands.
For example, strengthening the muscles of your legs can make everyday activities such as standing from a chair, walking, climbing stairs, or getting in and out of a car feel more manageable.
2. Strong Muscles Support Better Movement
Strength isn’t only about how much weight you can lift. It also affects your ability to control movement. Your muscles help control the position and movement of your joints while you perform everyday activities.
For example, when walking downstairs, your leg muscles help control the movement of your knee and hip. When reaching overhead, your shoulder and upper-back muscles contribute to controlled shoulder movement.
A well-designed strength programme can therefore work on both strength and movement control.
3. Strength Training Can Help with Joint Stability
Some joints rely heavily on surrounding muscles for dynamic stability. The shoulder is a good example. The muscles around the shoulder help control the position of the joint while you reach, lift and rotate your arm.
Similarly, muscles around the knee, hip and ankle contribute to stability during standing and movement. Strength training can help improve the capacity of these muscles to perform their roles.
4. Strength Training Supports Healthy Ageing
Muscle strength becomes particularly important as we get older. Age-related reductions in muscle mass and strength can make everyday movements increasingly difficult.
Reduced strength can affect:
- Walking
- Balance
- Stair climbing
- Getting up from a chair
- Carrying objects
- Recovering from a loss of balance
Maintaining strength can therefore help support mobility and independence. For many older adults, strength training is simply about maintaining the ability to perform everyday activities.
5. Stronger Muscles Can Reduce the Demands of Everyday Activities
Imagine carrying a grocery bag that weighs 5 kg. If you’re strong enough to comfortably carry it, the task represents a relatively manageable challenge. If you’re significantly weaker, that same bag may require a much greater percentage of your available strength.
As your strength improves, everyday activities can represent a smaller relative challenge. This is one reason progressive strength training can help build physical capacity.
6. Strength Training Can Be Important for Arthritis
People with arthritis sometimes avoid strength training because they’re worried that exercise will damage their joints. However, appropriate exercise is commonly included as part of managing arthritis. Strength training can help improve the muscles surrounding affected joints and support overall physical function. For someone with knee osteoarthritis, for example, a programme may include exercises targeting:
- Quadriceps
- Hamstrings
- Gluteal muscles
- Calves
- Hip muscles
The exercises and intensity should be adapted to the individual’s symptoms and physical abilities.
7. Stronger Hips Can Support Knee Function
The hips and knees don’t operate independently. Your hip muscles contribute to controlling your leg during activities such as walking, stepping and squatting.
This is why rehabilitation for knee problems may include exercises that strengthen the hips as well as the knee. The aim is to improve the overall function of the lower limb rather than focusing on the painful joint alone.
The same can be done for the feet, wrist, shoulder, or core.
8. Strength Training Can Support Recovery After Injury
After an injury, people often reduce their activity. This can be necessary during the early stages of certain injuries.
However, prolonged inactivity can result in:
Less activity → reduced strength → reduced physical capacity → everyday activities become harder.
Once appropriate, progressive exercise can help rebuild strength and function. A Biokineticist can help determine how to gradually increase exercise demands based on the individual’s condition and stage of rehabilitation.
Does Strength Training Wear Out Your Joints?
This is a common concern. Appropriately prescribed strength training should not wear your joints out significantly. But general “wear and tear” is common in everyday life. Strength training protects the joints so that as wear and tear happens, the joints are well supported.
The body adapts to the physical demands placed on it. The important factors include:
- Appropriate exercise selection
- Appropriate resistance
- Good technique
- Suitable training volume
- Gradual progression
- Adequate recovery
- Your individual health and injury history
Strength training should be tailored to the person performing it.
What If You Already Have Joint Pain?
Having joint pain doesn’t automatically mean that you should avoid exercise. Instead, the type and amount of exercise may need to be modified.
A programme might begin with:
- Lower resistance
- Fewer repetitions
- Supported exercises
- Smaller ranges of movement
- Longer rest periods
As your strength and tolerance improve, the exercises can gradually progress. The goal is to find a level of exercise that provides an appropriate challenge without unnecessarily aggravating your symptoms.
Strength Training Isn’t Just About Lifting Heavy Weights
You don’t need a gym full of equipment to begin developing strength. Depending on your abilities, strength exercises can include:
- Sit-to-stand exercises
- Step-ups
- Resistance bands
- Bodyweight exercises
- Light dumbbells
- Functional exercises
The right exercise depends on your body, your goals and your starting point.
Strength Training and Joint Replacements
Strength training can also form part of rehabilitation before and after joint replacement surgery.
Before surgery, prehabilitation can help improve physical capacity before an operation where appropriate.
After surgery once cleared for exercise, progressive rehabilitation can help rebuild strength, mobility and functional capacity.
The exact programme will depend on the type of surgery, stage of recovery and recommendations from your healthcare team.
Strength Training and Chronic Pain
Chronic pain can sometimes lead people to avoid movement because they’re afraid that activity will make their symptoms worse. Unfortunately, prolonged inactivity can contribute to deconditioning and reduced strength.
A gradual, individualised exercise programme can help people rebuild confidence and physical capacity. This doesn’t mean exercising through severe pain. It means finding an appropriate starting point and progressing gradually.
How Does a Biokineticist Prescribe Strength Training?
A Biokineticist forms a personalised programme for you based on:
- Your medical history
- Your current strength
- Your mobility
- Your pain
- Your balance
- Your fitness
- Your exercise experience
- Your goals
- Your functional limitations
Your programme can then be progressed as your body adapts. For someone with arthritis, the programme may look very different from that of someone recovering from a joint replacement or managing a neurological condition.
Strength Training in Fourways
If you’re searching for a Biokineticist in Fourways, strength training can be an important part of an individualised Biokinetics programme.
At Reignite Health, Bokamoso Mthimkulu Biokineticist works with clients to improve strength, mobility, physical function and independence.
Whether you’re dealing with joint pain, arthritis, recovering from surgery, managing a chronic condition or simply wanting to maintain your physical strength, your programme can be adapted to your individual needs.
Final Thoughts
Your joints don’t work alone. The muscles surrounding your joints help you move, stabilise your body and handle the physical demands of everyday life.
Strength training can therefore be an important part of maintaining joint function, mobility and physical independence.
You don’t need to lift extremely heavy weights. You don’t need to be an athlete. And you don’t need to wait until your joints become painful before you start building strength.
The goal is to gradually develop a body that is strong enough to handle the demands you place on it. Strong muscles support strong movement.
Wishing you a lovely week ahead. Chat soon.
Bokz the Bio
Everybody has the ability to take control of their own health
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Email: bmbio@reignitehealth.co.za