Time and time again, we hear it in the gym, from relatives, people on the street even. It’s the groans that come with getting out of bed in the morning, it’s the creaks and cracks that come with getting off the floor after playing with your kids, it’s the grunt after getting off the couch from binging Netflix’s latest hit.
That achey, tight, sore, out of nowhere pain you feel? Those ladies and gentlemen, are your aging joints.
I have heard so many people come into the gym and complain about hitting 30 and suddenly having this newfound pain. I used to dismiss it to be honest, until I did my research and discovered that after the age of 30, our joints do start to ache naturally, and it can happen as suddenly as not being there one day and being there the next.
You see, our bodies are composed mostly of water. Starting as a baby, we are literally 80% water. Which is why you see babies bending and squatting in a way us adults can’t even fathom. Now, as we age, that water content decreases drastically. And around the age of 30 we start to see the most significant decline and continuous drop off. This is the reason for that pain, our joints are like sponges, so when the water content in those sponges start to drop, they become stiffer, and eventually more brittle and harder to move.
So I hope that validates the pain you have, if you do feel this way. It is totally something you will and should feel, as aging is a privilege. Even if you are perfectly healthy, you will likely experience this at least to some extent.
Now let’s shed some light on the situation. There is hope! Ideally, if you have been strength training before the age of 30, we can continue to combat this sensation by keeping our muscles, bones and joints healthy with a consistent strength training program.
If you don’t have that foundation, it’s NOT too late to start! By improving muscle mass and mobility, we can minimize those aches and pains that come with aging. Resistance training is proven to do so and that regimen can be started at ANY time to see improvements. Even as little as 2x 30 minutes per week can make a difference, which is why this method is so approachable and critical.
There are other things within our control as well. If you wake up with achy joint pain at the very least the best thing you can do is MOVE. “Motion is lotion” is totally the case here. Getting up and going for a walk if we have it in our hips and knees, stretching the upper body if we have it in the shoulders and neck, a self manual massage or massage gun, the best thing you can do is just move your body, get the blood flowing to these areas and do so consistently.
As I said, to age is a privilege! We just have to figure out how to take care of our aging bodies so we can continue to do the things we love with the people we love for a long time to come.
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