There are many reasons for you to walk as a form of exercise. You can enhance your balance and heart health and burn calories. In addition, the bones and muscles become stronger. Research also shows that as little as a 15-minute stroll can assist in curbing a sweet tooth.
If you have arthritis, there are other benefits of incorporating walking into your day-to-day routine, as highlighted in The Comfort Zone program. Studies have shown aerobic exercises found in Feel Good Knees can also help with easing stiffness and pain from arthritis. Taking a walk can also help reduce the risk of disability, as per the American Journal of Preventative Medicine study.
How Will Walking Help My Knees?
The Feel Good Knees, a 5-minute ritual, highlights how simple walks can have various advantages for arthritic joints, most of which help curb your pain. In addition, being on the move every day can fight your joint soreness and stiffness linked to inactivity. Below, we will discuss the advantages of going on walks and how they help arthritis knees.
Healthy Cartilage
Among the trademark triggers of arthritis is thinning or wearing down the cartilage. The cartilage is a tissue that ‘cushions’ your joints and assists with absorbing impact on the knees. With the tissue wearing away, ordinary activities such as stair climbing, standing, and squatting can become torture.
Luckily, walking helps combat such symptoms and constructively influences the cartilage. For example, studies show that people who take walks as a form of exercise have enhanced levels of the interleukin (IL)-10 substance – a protective chemical for the cartilage tissue.
The studies also show that individuals with arthritis and who walk regularly have reduced cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) levels. This protein is present in the blood and is taken as a cartilage breakdown marker.
Additionally, most knee cartilages are avascular, implying they do not receive any blood flow. Instead, the tissue receives its nutrition from joint fluid, a substance that exits and enters your knee as you move. Walking helps boost the oxygen and nutrients in your knees by compressing or ‘squishing’ your cartilage and introducing fresh joint fluid to the region.
Weight Control
Another great advantage of the regular feel-good knees walking program is its effect on body weight. Taking a half an hour walk at fast speeds can shed up to 200 calories. The caloric expenditure and the proper diet can lead to significant weight loss with time.
Though maintaining hearty body weight is an excellent idea for everyone, it is particularly essential for individuals with osteoarthritis. The reason for this is each additional pound of weight implies an extra amount of stress on the knees during daily engagements.
Additionally, excessive fat stores could also cause the secretion of a chemical that causes inflammation throughout your body. Through weight reduction, you can avoid excessive inflammation and decrease the probability of arthritis flare-ups.
Strong Muscles
Though walking on its own does not increase leg muscle mass, combining aerobic workouts with strength training programs like The Comfort Zone program can positively affect arthritis symptoms. Reviews have shown that people suffering from osteoarthritis and performing constant strength training and cardio exercises have better pain levels and enhanced daily functioning than inactive people.
You get to realize such benefits since stronger muscles can support the arthritic joints better and reduce the stress on the region. To correctly tackle the arthritis symptoms using strength training, focus on exercises targeting the hamstring muscles and quadriceps behind and in front of your knee joint.
Before Starting
Before you begin the Feel Good Knees walking program, it is essential to consult a healthcare provider about the exercise regimen and symptoms you experience. Ensure your healthcare practitioner is well-informed to avoid engaging in the wrong exercise for your situation.
It is crucial to start the walking program when the symptoms are considered mild. For example, an osteoarthritis patient is typically stiffest during the morning hours but feels better after moving around and warming up the joints. It is advisable to wait until later hours of the day when joints feel less achy and looser.
Pre-walk Preparation
Before beginning your walk, wear loose-fitting and comfortable clothes that encourage free movement. Ensure you wear comfortable shoes designed to offer you support as you exercise. It would be best to have a water bottle while walking to stay hydrated.
To correctly prepare the knees for movement, apply heat to the arthritic joints for about 20 minutes before the walk. The heat brings blood flow to the region and thus helps to loosen the stiffness you might be experiencing. This works for individuals with RA and osteoarthritis, but you should be keen during RA flare-ups since the heat might worsen the joint inflammation.
The warming up before walks technique can also boost blood flow to your knees, loosening up pre-walk joint stiffness.
Walking Tips
- Try walking at least five times every week.
- Begin with low-intensity walks. Then, as you grow accustomed, you can increase the speed to get an increased heart rate but comfortable enough to hold a conversation.
- Walk to your limit at first, but gradually strive to exercise for half an hour.
- Start with a walking course that is flat and relatively straight. You can later advance and vary the route to incorporate curves and hills.
- Soft surfaces like running tracks are much better than concrete. However, knee pain the next day is a sign that you should adjust the exercise you engage in by probably shortening its duration.
Conclusion
Exercising through walking is an excellent medicine for people suffering from osteoarthritis. It combats fatigue, reduces joint pain, and gives you a better general feel. Desire an easy means of getting moving? Walking is the answer.
You can walk anywhere, and not much is required to start. You might be concerned that walking adds extra pressure to the joints making your pain worse. However, you will realize it has a positive effect as it sends more nutrients and blood to the knee joints, keeping them healthy and nourished.
If you’ve been looking for a way to relieve chronic knee pain, The Comfort Zone program offers training that can help alleviate your pain and discomfort. This program, coupled with the Feel Good Knees exercises, offers natural ways to provide rapid relief from knee pain and strengthen your joints.