Knee Health When You Are A Fitness Freak

Knee injury features among the top reasons why professional athletes and dancers have ended their careers in their prime. You could end up with a bad knee few years down the line if you spend forty five minutes running on your treadmill as a part of your work out. When you are an active person, your tendency to weaken your knees increases dramatically, especially if you are exercising incorrectly. The thing about bad knees is that, its looked at in isolation which results in the problem, knee health depends on how strong your core, gluteus, hamstrings, and quads, that is the muscles in your stomach and lower back, buttocks, back of your legs and thighs.

Read below to find out how you can alleviate knee problems 

Strengthen your muscles

Muscles work in pairs so when one muscle contracts the other expands. For example: when you bend your legs, your hamstring (muscles in the back of your leg) contract and your quads (muscles in the front of your legs) relax. So, if one of your muscles in this group is weak, you are inviting trouble. When you only run on the treadmill or do only Zumba, you may hurt your knees if you overdo it and do not include other activities like weight bearing exercises. The treadmill in itself is not bad. It is great for running occassionally – like 3 days a week or so. Include the following workouts to your routine so that the muscles controlling your knee joint can be strengthened: squats which strengthen the quads, hamstring curls, calf raises on alternate days along with core workouts. These will effectively help to cut down the risks of knee problems.

In case you are new to working out, try going to a certified trainer in a good gym for a couple of months. It is an investment that will be worth every penny as a few bucks paid to them is better than few years of doctors bills which is bound to happen if you exercise incorrectly.

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Check your gait

Many times, our postures and the way we walk is part of the problem. If you are doing your exercises correctly and still have knee issues then you should consider going to a physical therapist or Orthopaedic. They will be able to check your gait imbalances, and any improper distribution of weight on knees as this can contribute significantly to joint problems.

Nutrition

Food is as important to overall fitness as proper exercise is. Ghee and good quality oils improve joint functioning. Getting adequate sun exposure and eating a varied diet will ensure your nutrition needs are taken care of when it comes to bones and joints. Try supplementing your diet with gelatin if possible as it helps improve joint health tremendously.

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Remember to get your rest days in between. Three to four work out days is good enough for the most of us but we tend to push our bodies too much and inevitably end up with a host of new problems. Focus on activities that ensure your muscles are always surprised like swimming on one day which is a great low impact cardio and an intense Zumba on the other. More than anything listen to your body and stop when it gets too much!

Disclaimer: This post was written by our guest contributor. The content herein is owned by the blogger. Gympik is not responsible for any kind of infringement caused.