Friday, November 12, 2021
by Liz Bonis, WKRC
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CINCINNATI (WKRC) – Health care providers say
people who started a workout routine during the past pandemic year should keep
it up.
New long-term research shows not only is it
beneficial to your overall health, it also doesn’t damage your knees. Whether
people started regular runs inside on the treadmill or stepped outside of their
comfort zone, researchers published in the medical journal Arthritis and
Rheumatology that they have discovered keeping up the COVID-19 fitness
routine isn’t hard on a person’s joints.
An international team of fitness researchers
reviewed six global community-based studies. After examining more than 5,065
participants with knee osteoarthritis, they tracked those individuals' symptoms
for five to 12 years.
While many people may think of extreme running as
something that might lead to weaker joints, this study found that wasn’t
necessarily the case. When it came to long-term recreational exercise,
researchers found no connection between recreational activity and
osteoarthritis in the knees.
Dr. Trevor
Stefanski of OrthoCincy specializes in complex knee surgeries.
He said he’s not surprised that when researchers looked at exercises such as
running, cycling, and swimming, they had little or no impact on the knees.
“Osteoarthritis is a degenerative disease that can
affect shoulders, knees, hips, or any other joints. It’s where the cartilage
wears down," he said. "It wears away and exposes the painful bone
underneath, and it can be severely debilitating. Keeping your muscles toned and
properly strengthened can provide good support for your joints and help to
minimize unnecessary stress going through."
However, researchers found that there is
still a risk to those who have very physically-demanding jobs, do a lot of
kneeling, or have whole-body repetitive movements and whole-body vibration.
Those people were found to have a higher risk of injury, which can lead to
arthritis.
But experts say regular recreational exercise not
only does not have an adverse affect on the knees, it can even be beneficial by
helping you lose weight. The less weight your knees have to support, the better.
“Every pound you carry above the waist, on your
body, or on your arms lifting at the gym can actually translate to four pounds
that the knee sees," said Dr. Stefanski."
So, a few pounds is always
beneficial, and a four-to-one return on your investment there."
Learn more about Dr. Stefanski and all the
OrthoCincy doctors.