When we think of health, it’s often a response to or the prevention of an illness or condition. However, in broad terms and as stated by the World Health Organization (WHO), our health is best defined as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”
Residents of Shrewsbury, Wall Township, and Toms River, New Jersey, seeking ways to improve musculoskeletal health can receive assistance from Dr. David Dickerson and the dedicated team at Performance Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine.
Our expertise helps you manage musculoskeletal health, caring for bones, muscles, joints, and related areas, and many of the things we do also benefit other vital body systems, including your cardiovascular system. Let’s explore the keys to proper joint and cardiovascular health and learn how things like exercise can do a great deal to improve both.
Joint health encompasses a wide range of musculoskeletal health concerns, including the bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, and other tissues surrounding your joints.
You have three main types of joints (synovial, fibrous, and cartilaginous), and problems like arthritis, sprains, strains, tendonitis, bursitis, fractures, and injuries often affect how well they move.
This covers the health of your heart and the arteries, veins, blood vessels, and capillaries that are connected to it in your cardiovascular system. The heart is the powerhouse center of it all, pumping 2,000 gallons of blood and beating 100,000 times a day, and it has its own electrical system.
Without it, we couldn’t survive, but with oxygen, it can continue to pump outside the body. So keeping the heart healthy is essential to overall health.
Physical activity plays a vital role in keeping both systems functioning properly, as movement helps preserve joint stability and range of motion, and regular exercise and other forms of activity lower the risk of cardiovascular disease. To keep both systems healthy, here are some exercises you can do on a routine basis:
This can be done before intense physical activity and helps keep muscles and joints limber and the blood pumping.
Increase muscle strength, improve joint stability, and enhance circulation.
A range of actions on a regular basis, like walking, running, swimming, and cycling, don’t tax your body too much at once, but yield high benefits for joint and heart health.
This is great for joint and cardio health and includes many of the low-impact activities already mentioned, but it can also be done with climbing stairs, cross-country skiing, and rowing.
Both systems are important for overall health and long life, and staying active makes keeping them in good shape much easier. For more ways to maintain great overall health, call 732-691-4898 to schedule an appointment at Performance Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine today.
