Pool Mobilize and Stretch features 20 minutes of gentle movement that lubricates all the joints and stretches all the muscles. Keeping your joints supple and your muscles flexible will help you move better, feel better and live better. Stay tuned! An in-home version of this video will post next week.
Cardio and muscle conditioning are what everyone thinks of when they think of exercise. However, optimal physical fitness and wellness require a spectrum of exercise activities. Poolfit subscribers love the high intensity water workouts. But without joint mobility and muscular flexibility, our body becomes more prone to stiffness, pain and ultimately injury. Without mobility and flexibility, our bodies begin to endure an endless cycle of injuries, recovery and even surgeries.
What happens to joint mobility and muscular flexibility as we age?
Regardless of whether you are sedentary or physically active, joint health issues can affect everyone. Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis and a joint issue that affects both active and inactive people. The lack of movement in a sedentary lifestyle leads to cartilage dehydration, causing joints to lose their elasticity and range of motion (ROM). As a joint stiffens, pain and injury occur when trying to move beyond the joint’s diminished ROM. For active individuals, a lifetime dedicated to sports and physical activity leads to its own set of joint health issues related to wear and tear. Active people tend to suffer more musculoskeletal injuries, which makes them more prone to arthritis. Similar to a lack of joint mobility, muscles become stiff and prone to injury, when they become inflexible due to a lack of movement and stretching.
What can you do to keep muscles and joints healthy?
Move! Movement truly is medicine. Movement keeps joints hydrated and muscles pliable. Regardless of age, make joint ROM exercises and stretching a part of your regular exercise routine. Stay safe and avoid injury. Skip risky fitness activities and opt instead for low impact exercise. Allow yourself to intuitively add extra stretching and joint mobility on days when it feels like your body needs it. Participate in strength training as strong muscles help maintain bone density. Lastly, maintain a healthy weight and diet.
Below, I talk more about the importance of movement medicine in terms of mobilizing joints and stretching muscles. Then read on for a short summary of the video.
VIDEO SUMMARY
Pool Mobilize and Stretch does not include a warm-up or cool down because it is gentle mobility and stretching movement that can be used on its own or combined with another pool workout using the Poolfit App playlist feature. There are 10 sequences of movement that combine mobility and stretching for all the joints and all the major muscle groups. The mobility movements were taken from AEA’s Arthritis Foundation Aquatic Program (AFAP) and are specifically designed to move your joints through their full range of motion, including cervical spine, shoulders, elbows, wrists, fingers, lumbar spine, hips, knees and ankles. Including these exercises in your fitness routine provides a total body tune-up for your joints, keeping them lubricated and functioning with a full ROM.
Be good to your body. You are going to need it for a long time. Treat yourself to 20 minutes of movement medicine and enjoy feeling as though every part of your body has been limbered and revitalized. Stay tuned! Sometimes you can’t get in the pool and so we are posting a 20-minute in-home version of Mobilize & Stretch. If you know someone who could benefit from either the land or water version, please share this with them. Another way you can share is by by leaving a review in the App Store or Play Store.
