Exercise

When I tell patients that they need to stretch their muscles and joints to stay healthy as well as to recover from injury rarely do they understand what I mean.  Sometimes they respond, “Oh exercise.”  And I then ask them, “What do you mean when you say exercise?”  They then tell me that they walk, or they go to the gym and use a treadmill or bicycle or weights, or they play golf.  But then I explain to them that that may be good, but I’m specifically talking about muscle and joint motion through a full range of motion.

When we walk or jog we are doing something good for our heart, lungs, and blood vessels, but we are not specifically addressing motion of our neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, fingers, or low back to any significant degree.  And the hips, knees, ankles, and toes are moving but in order to preserve these parts the amount of motion and the amount of stress being generated needs to be evaluated to be sure the activity is being done in a healthy manner appropriate for you, the person doing the activity, with your own age and specific body makeup and condition, all of which are unique to you and demand a unique program personalized for you.

Weightlifting is useful for building stronger muscle, ligaments, and bones and can also be useful for aerobic exercise.  However, full range of motion of muscles and joints may be overlooked and many people abuse their muscles and joints with weightlifting to achieve a certain superficial appearance.  With aging into the forties, fifties, and beyond, this can result in unnecessary joint wear and tear and excessive muscle and ligament stiffness with associated pain, loss of motion, and functional limitation.

And golf which so many elderly people enjoy is thought of as good exercise.  Certainly the more walking one does while playing golf, the better the aerobic component of the sport.  However, the golf swing is a very asymmetrical activity on two counts.  First, the swing is always performed with the body oriented in one direction with asymmetrical use of body parts.  Second, the muscles and joints which are used for the golf swing are moved through a very limited asymmetrical range of their full potential  range of motion.  As a result, back pain, shoulder pain, knee pain, elbow pain, and wrist pain are not uncommon complaints among golfers.

So, many people may be doing some form of exercise but often they are unaware of the specific benefits of their chosen activity, the dangers of that activity, and the considerations for doing the activity in a healthy way.  It is extremely important to know the activity that your body, including your muscles and joints, requires for good health, and for prevention of unnecessary pain, stiffness, and loss of function but which are not provided by your choice of exercise.

Years ago as part of my evaluation of patients among so much information that I would gather from patients was whether they exercised and what activities they participated in.  I would always make recommendations for patients to participate in regular healthy exercise.  However, over time I’ve come to see that the word “exercise” means very different things for different people.  Just because someone says they exercise, you don’t then necessarily have any idea of what they are really doing or not doing.  Now when I see patients I need to know what their 24 hour day looks like in terms of activity – home, work, life, sports, play, driving, recreation activities or lack of activity – and what muscle and joint motion is occurring and how much.  Is there underuse, or overuse, or moderate healthy use of the various muscles and joints of the body?

Healthy exercise programs appropriate for each individual can be created.  However, many people are afraid because they don’t know what to do, they are afraid to join gyms, or programs, they are afraid of the atmosphere, they are afraid of their lack of knowledge in this area, they are afraid of needing to make a time commitment which they assume would be an hour or so whereas they don’t find enough time to do everything they need to do as it is already, they are afraid of the dollar cost, and they just don’t know where to begin.  For the boomers – those people in their forties and above – should they seek out an exercise program, very often the instructor is someone much younger who has not had the life experience yet to know personally of the muscle and joint pains that begin to creep upon us with age.  Regardless of the instructor’s expertise or their own physique or physical abilities, they may not have the ability to provide the best health options and guidance for you.

Your complete healthy physical exercise program will have a component for heart, lungs, and blood vessel health and this component is often called cardiovascular, cardiopulmonaryvascular, or aerobic exercise.

And then there is exercise for the musculoskeletal system – the bones, muscles, and joints.  The most basic component of this part of your exercise program is motion through a full range of motion for the muscles and joints.  This motion which is so necessary to the vitality of your muscles and joints is usually relegated to a category of exercise called stretching.  But stretching has many different connotations.  Many people think of stretching as a warmup or cooldown before or after certain other exercise or sports activities, but without a dedicated focus on overall muscle and joint health.  For other people stretching means a lengthy program of stretches, or yoga, or pilates, or tai chi which can mean hour long sessions, equipment, instructors, facilities, travel time, and dollars.

With any of these programs, which all have great merit, there is still the basic necessity of understanding and practicing full mobilization of all the muscles and joints.  This is readily accomplished with the STRETCHING FOR PAIN RELIEF program.  A more extensive stretching program can then be developed, and this program can then also incorporate the second component of a muscle and joint exercise program which is strengthening.

When a patient sees me about local muscle and joint pain, among other things that I discuss with them and recommend, motion of the involved muscles and joints with the goal of maintaining or regaining full range of motion is always crucial.  When I would then instruct them in motion exercise of the involved muscles and joints, whether it would be neck, shoulder, low back, knee, etc. they wouldn’t really comprehend what I was showing them or how to do it for themselves.  No one had ever taken the time to explain this to them before.  And even occasionally if a patient had previously been through physical therapy for an injured or painful muscle or joint, they may have learned full motion stretching for that one muscle or joint, but never have I met a patient who had any notion that all the muscles and joints need regular full range of motion.  I’ve spoken with patients who participate in yoga and pilates, and even they were not aware of the need for full range of motion of the muscles and joints.

So I found myself telling patients that they could put their major muscles and joints from head to toe through a full range of motion in less than one minute.  Since I am also a boomer and have nearly daily muscle and joint pains, despite my healthy nutrition and my participation in tennis, jogging, swimming, roller blading, ice skating, and weightlifting, I actually developed STRETCHING FOR PAIN RELIEF during a combination of educating and demonstrating to patients and also using the program myself for self-preservation.  During my course of medical practice I would never look to recommend or do something to a patient if it was not truly what I would have wanted done for myself or my loved ones if we were in the same situation as the patient.  I found STRETCHING FOR PAIN RELIEF to be a wonderful tool for myself and really for everyone for muscle and joint health.

An excellent place to do the STRETCHING FOR PAIN RELIEF stretching program is in the warm shower in the morning to help loosen up, especially after the muscles and ligaments have shortened and stiffened through the night with lack of motion.  It is an opportunity for the soul to invigorate the body and express physically the joy of freedom experienced with moving all the muscles and joints through a full range of motion, symbolic of the freedom of the soul to utilize the body and all its component parts to break through the restraining barriers of the day.  I suggest you use it as part of a “start the day right”program to stimulate deep rejuvenation and growth for your day.

Since falling is a major source of orthopedic injury and broken bones, if you decide to do the STRETCHING FOR PAIN RELIEF stretching routine in the shower, you must use a no slip bath mat and have the ability to hold on to the shower wall or a shower grasping bar for safety.

The STRETCHING FOR PAIN RELIEF whole routine can also be done as a whole or in part through the day while sitting at a desk or computer, while driving, while standing at a copying machine or at a checkout counter, while lying in bed, or anytime you like.  Enjoy.