Athletic activity can have both positive and negative effects on joint health. 

Past Competitive Athletes

Weekend Warriors

What You Must Do

If You've Had Joint Injuries

If you have sustained joint injuries at some point in your past or current athletic life, you might be at particular risk for developing arthritis. This is especially true of injuries to the knees, ankles, hips, and spine.  Joints that have undergone surgery may be at special risk.  If you have a history of joint injury, your best opportunity to keep your joints healthy is to follow a plan that will address two things:

1) Reduce the many factors that aggravate joint inflammation and damage

2) Adopt the lifestyle strategies that foster joint repair

Losing Weight

Athletes with joint injuries or joint pain have to maintain ideal body weight as one of the most important measures to preserve joint health.  Keeping belly fat (and the inflammatory soup that goes with it) levels reduced will also lower the biochemical stressors on joints.

Nutritional Support

The importance of nutrients in preserving joint health cannot be underestimated.  Among these is an array of sulfur nutrients, which are central to connective tissue maintenance and repair. See The Importance of Sulfur