Following an incorrect exercise technique could actually hurt your joints and muscles rather than strengthen them. While exercise does help to stimulate healthy functions required to maintain joint health, exercise performed the wrong way could do more harm than good, experts say. How can you protect your joints while exercising? Let’s take a look:

• As any doctor will tell you. Before beginning your exercise routine, it is important to warm up your muscles. Warming up helps promote healthy circulation and can provide muscle and joint relief. Muscles become less rigid and cooperate more smoothly with exercise movements. Doctors advise exercisers warm up to protect joints and muscles against injury during exercise. You could begin with 3 to 5 minutes of light jogging in place, or you could warm up with a hot bath just before your exercise regimen. To promote muscle and joint relief, a good 10 minutes of warm-up time is recommended.
• If your body is not used to exercise, begin with slow movements. Don’t �force� a muscle or push too hard. All your movements should be comfortable, albeit you may experience slight pain as you use muscles that have not been used before. Maintain a comfortable balance.
• Don’t exercise the same joints or follow a routine exercise pattern. Exercising the same joint repeatedly may lead to injury of joint. For instance, if you play tennis as a hobby and as a form of exercise, your elbow, knees and shoulder may suffer injury due to repeated use.
• Combine a variety of exercises for optimal joint support. This helps to ensure that you are exercising all your muscles, and not just a few. You may want to delegate a day for each exercise routine. Say you do aerobics one day in a week, swimming the next day, yoga on another day, strength training or Pilates on other days. All your exercise should be low-impact or no-impact to protect your joints from overuse stress and the likelihood of injury.
• Bending forward slowly helps to loosen the lumbar. It stimulates lubrication in the spinal cord. You should bend slowly and only as much as your body allows you to bend without feeling any discomfort. You should be able to experience immediate muscle and joint relief. The more you practice this, the more your back will loosen up and less likely to give you backache.
• After you complete your exercise regimen, remember to cool off your joints and muscles. After working hard, they need a little pampering. It’s a good idea to stretch your muscles and joints to release any built-up tension. Stretch each joint as much as you can, slowly and hold the stretch for 10 to 30 seconds. Don’t bounce during a stretch. Bouncing can lead to injury. Stretching helps promote joint support stimulating lubrication and building up flexibility. It helps promote muscle and joint relief. Many experts recommend that you stretch your joints to the maximum range of motion at least twice or even thrice a day.
• If you suffer from joint pain, you should cool off joints by applying ice packs to joints that are prone to swell or pain. The cold pack will arrest any inflammation and provide muscle and joint relief.
• A good posture is important not only during the day but also as you exercise. Many don’t realize the importance of a good posture and how it plays a vital role in joint support and maintenance. If you sit for long hours at a computer, make sure you have good back support and your elbows are resting comfortably in proper alignment to the table. Standing for long hours, in a slouched position, can injure the shoulder joints and neck. Conversely, a good posture will help to promote muscle and joint relief.
• If you have injured a joint or a muscle, give it some time to heal before exercising it again. It’s important to allow an injured joint to rest. Putting pressure on it and undue stress is likely to intensify the injury. Some people take a painkiller for muscle and joint relief and carry on exercising which is not advisable at all.
• Don’t overdo any exercise regimen. In an attempt to build more muscle, more quickly, some people overdo their exercise and this could have harmful consequences on muscles and joints.
• You should also consider nutritional supplementation to help your body support healthy joints. Joints need nutrients like glucosamine sulfate, hyal joint, Interhealth collagen type II. These nutrients are naturally found in joints and help maintain healthy joint functions. Introducing them into your diet in the form of joint supplements can help to nourish joints. Targeted joint nutrition assists the body’s natural ability to repair joints and maintain joint flexibility and mobility. Herbs like boswellin and white willow bark help to provide muscle and joint relief.

The next time you exercise, remember to provide joint support through nutritional supplementation and through a daily low-impact exercise program, done the right way!