Healthy Movement For Joints And Muscles

Muscular activity regulates much of the flow of fluids and nutrients throughout your body. But when overused or underused, a muscle can become dehydrated and dried out like beef jerky, and that not only hurts, it's bad for your internal health. Also, injured muscles often grab nearby tissue for some temporary additional strength, which causes adhesions that later constrict movement.

Without fresh fluid from regular use, a muscle can become stagnant. A brace-like structure may develop when the connective tissue lays down extra fibers to support the immobility, for example sitting over a keyboard for hours. Asking a muscle to contract with all that extra fortification is like asking a piece of plywood to bend. A “tight” muscle may actually need to be shortened instead of stretched like you may think. For example, in the habitual rolled-forward posture the upper back, neck, and shoulders are elongated, but stretching these tissues actually creates more stiffness, not less. Contracting the shoulders to the back works better.

Obviously, movement is vital to keeping your whole body healthy, but it has to be the right type of movement to avoid injury. I divide injuries into two categories: 1) overstretch and 2) overuse.

Overstretch Injuries
If you stretch too far, you can actually create tears within muscle and connective tissue. These tiny tears get repaired with scar tissue, which is inflexible and stiff. A stretch that burns is counterproductive.

Stretching is most effective done only to the point of first sensation, which requires an awareness of subtle changes.

Overuse Injuries
Unless you were a prodigy, you probably didn’t learn math all at once. But for some reason, we all want our bodies to do the physical equivalent of calculus right out of the starting gate. It just isn’t possible. And when we push ourselves, an injury to the joints is highly probable, creating greater risk for arthritis. A much more effective long-term strategy is to build up strength gradually and let muscles rest after intense activity.

Another common cause of injury is using one part of the body more than it is designed for, such as bending at one vertebra, rather than spreading the movement over several, or over-rotating the neck, because the torso does not. The tissues around these overworked areas soon become worn out and exhausted. This is another risk factor for arthritis. By learning to use your whole body, these types of injuries are preventable.

In summary, we need to move, but it can’t be too much or too little. That’s why I’m a big believe
in undulation. It encourages activity with the focus on paying attention to your body’s messages and getting more movement from still places so all your joints and muscles get what they need.