If you’ve been living with weak joints, joint pain, or even experiencing full or partial dislocations, these 11 rules to successfully strengthen weak joints and eliminate joint pain are for you! This includes if you’re coming back from a joint injury or if you’re trying to correct a muscle imbalance.
What are Weak Joints and Joint Pain?
Joint pain can be caused by A LOT of different things. For today, we’re talking about joint pain that comes from weakness in the muscles surrounding the joints.
Joints are simply the places where two or more bones meet. They allow you to move. Can you imagine trying to walk if you didn’t have knees?
While joints enable you to move, they are not meant to bear the full load of your weight. That’s what the muscles around your joints are for! But when those muscles are weak or imbalanced the forces they are meant to absorb and transfer get pushed onto your joints. And you’ve guessed it – that’s when injuries happen!
Obviously, I don’t know about your specific situation, so use these guidelines with your own common sense and when in doubt ALWAYS seek out the help from a professional who is familiar with your situation! Check out my full disclaimer here.
Stretching vs. Strengthening Weak Joints
You’ve probably already noticed this from the title, but we’re talking about strengthening your weak joints – NOT stretching to reduce joint pain. Stretching has its place. But since we’re talking about joint pain resulting from weak or imbalanced joints, strengthening is going to be the absolute BEST thing you can do for yourself.
Why?
Reason #1:
Weak muscles need to be strengthened. Stretching simply can’t fix weakness.
Reason #2:
Muscles work best when they are at their optimal length. Meaning they aren’t too long or too short. Stretching is great for muscles that are too short. But if you’re stretching a muscle that’s already too long, you’re probably making things worse.
Now, it is possible for a muscle to be too short (or too tight) AND too weak. And this is usually the case when you’re dealing with weak, unstable joints.
If this is you, I know you’re feeling really tight in some places and all you want to do is stretch! I’ve been there. I’ve lived for over 30 years with joint and muscle pain. So hear me out. The third point here is absolutely critical for you.
Reason #3:
When your muscles are weak or imbalanced and you’re loading excess forces onto your joints, your brain reacts to try to protect your joints. Your body is SO incredibly SMART. Your brain knows where the weakness is so it TELLS the muscles around that joint to tighten up to better support the joint. That’s why you feel tight and like you need to stretch. But while that stretching might help ease the discomfort temporarily, you’re still not fixing the problem: your muscles are weak!
Does this mean you need to start hitting the weights bootcamp style? ABSOLUTELY NOT! Please, for the love of all that’s good DON’T DO THAT!
But you do need to start some strength training to strengthen those weak joints!
I can hear you now – maybe you’ve tried strength training, you’ve tried physical therapy, you’ve tried EVERYTHING it seems. But you either feel like it’s WAY too easy or you hurt so bad you swear you’ll never try that again. I know. I’ve been there too. Trying to strengthen weak joints and muscles that are both tight and weak is a seriously tricky situation.
That’s why I’ve written these rules for you. Because a year ago, I thought I’d tried everything. I even went so far as to get my Masters’ Degree in Exercise Science and Corrective Exercise! But it wasn’t until I found an AMAZING Physical Therapy team (yes, I have a team of PTs that help me!) that I realized I still wasn’t doing this whole exercise thing quite right for my body’s needs.
When I got a few more sets of eyes on me and had other professionals to bounce ideas around with, I realized I was breaking MOST of the rules I’m about to give you. I bet it’s a similar story for you.
Take a minute to absorb that. Yes, you need strength training. But now you’re going to have all the rules you didn’t have before that will make your experience SO much more POSITIVE! Ready to dive in and start your journey to stronger muscles and joints and eliminate your joint pain?
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11 Rules to Successfully Strengthen Weak Joints
1. Forget the supposed to’s
You are not SUPPOSED to feel sore to have had a “good” workout. You are not SUPPOSED to be lifting as much weight as that other person at the gym. You are not SUPPOSED to push yourself to your limit or any other thing you think you’re supposed to do to strengthen your weak joints. Always check your assumptions and avoid comparing yourself to anyone else. This leads us to number 2.
2. Learn how to listen to your body
This will take some time and probably some trial and error. But just be conscious of how your body is feeling, how it is reacting, and be open to learning what it is trying to tell you.
Try to remember that the discomfort, pain, and other sensations are your body trying to communicate with you. Your body is not trying to frustrate you! Understand that while your body can’t use words to tell you what’s going on or what it needs, your body is still INCREDIBLY smart.
When you can learn to listen to it and build a trusting, positive relationship with it, you’ll feel a LOT better. This will also help you learn to know how much exercise is right for you!
3. Start by doing just a few exercises several times a day
If you’re caught in thinking you’re SUPPOSED to hit the gym for an hour a day and then feel sore and miserable after, this rule is for you! Feeling sore and miserable is your body’s way of telling you that you tried to do too much too fast. Strengthen your weak joints by just doing one or a few exercises (I’m talking 5-15 minutes at a time max) once a day, building up to several times a day.
This gives your body plenty of time to adjust to the exercises, and you get the added healing benefits from moving throughout the day. Plus, extremely weak joints and muscles actually benefit from the gentle strength “reminder” of how to hold your joints together.
4. Only do 1 set the first time you do a new exercise
If you have a tendency to overdo it, especially when you’re still learning to listen to your body, it’s a good idea to stick with only doing one set of an exercise to see how your body will respond. If that first set felt too easy, you can use Rule 3 and try another set again later that day. See how you feel after a few sets spaced throughout the day, then you can try doing two sets in one workout session. Just remember to rest for at least 2 minutes in between those sets!
5. Do less than you think you can
Your muscles need to work to strengthen your weak joints, but you definitely should not take your muscles to complete failure. When you’re just starting out, you really shouldn’t push past when you start feeling a slight warming or very light burning sensation in the working muscles. Those muscles still need enough strength and energy to support your joints for the rest of the day after you’re done with your workout!
6. Stop while you feel good
This is similar to doing less than you think you can but it reminds you of how you should feel when you finish a workout. You should NOT feel completely exhausted, or nauseous, or awful in any way. Instead, when you finish your workout you should always feel like you could do a few more reps, or another set fairly easily AND with good form. See Rule 7 for more on form!
7. Form matters!
This rule matters for literally every single person, no matter their physical capabilities. But when you’re tryin to strengthen weak joints, it is SUPER IMPORTANT that you’re doing the exercises with the best form you possibly can. This helps you learn where your body is in space, how to control your body, and prevent injuries.
Because often, when joints are weak or imbalanced, they also have poor proprioception – meaning you don’t have the best awareness of where your body is in space. If you’re chronically rolling your ankles, bumping into walls, or generally clumsy, this rule is for you!
As you start strengthening your joints and muscles, seek out videos that talk you through how to safely perform the exercise (check out my Exercise Library!), work with a therapist or trainer who knows how to coach form, and use a mirror or record yourself performing the exercises to get the feedback you need.
You will need to perform each rep slowly and with good control. This might mean you need to decrease the weight, sets, or reps and that’s ok! Form matters more than how much weight you lift or how many reps you can do!
8. Make sure you can breathe while doing your exercises
Breathing plays a huge role in supporting your health and fitness. It will help you perform the exercises more safely. Your blood pressure will be more stable since you aren’t holding your breath. Many of the muscles you use for breathing are also core muscles that support your spine!
When you’re living with chronic pain and/or weak, tight joints and muscles, it’s really common for your breathing and core muscles to also be chronically tight. It’s your body’s way of guarding your spine and trying to keep your critical organs safe.
But not only does that tightness create chronic discomfort, it can negatively affect your mental and physical health since breathing is directly linked to your ability to relax, rest, and heal. And if you have a history of chronic pain, breathing is a great first step to managing and decreasing that pain! Plus you need plenty of oxygen to heal. So take slow, deep breaths while you do your exercises.
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9. SLOWLY work up to at least 10-12 reps (15-20 if you are very hypermobile or prone to dislocations)
Remember Rule 1? Forget the supposed to’s first – there is no magic number of reps. Stick with Rules 4, 5 and 6 to see how many reps feel right for you when you’re first starting out. But as you get stronger, work up to 10-20 reps BEFORE you try adding on more weight or more sets. The reason being that all the research suggests that these rep ranges tend to be best for building strength, endurance, and improving muscle tone which are what you need to strengthen those weak joints!
10. If it hurts – stop.
Pain is your body’s way of telling you something is wrong. It could be you’re risking an injury. Maybe your form isn’t as good as it should be. There are a lot of possibilities. But if something hurts that MUST be your cue to stop and figure out what the problem is. NEVER push through pain, especially when you’re still learning to listen to your body!
11. Be patient and consistent
When you stick with an exercise program that is designed for you, you WILL see results. But if you are very weak and haven’t learned to listen to your body yet, it can take some time. Stick with it and you WILL get results.
My neck was so weak that I could only do 3 reps of a single strength exercise at a time. It took two days for my neck to recover from that exertion. When I first started, I would have sworn I would never make any progress. But now, 9 months later, I can do 3 sets of 10 reps multiple times a day with NO discomfort!
So listen to your body, be patient, and stick with it! And don’t be afraid of talking with a knowledgeable coach or trainer for some encouragement! Even as a person who has had extensive training in corrective exercise, it wasn’t until I enlisted the help of other professionals that I really starting improving. You really do need another set of eyes to find what’s best for you.
Just avoid the trainers who want to push you harder. Your body needs for YOU to learn to listen to it – you don’t need someone else telling you how hard you should push.
Bonus tip for women:
Your menstrual cycles affect your joints and your pain! It is very common for women to notice an increase in their pain the week before and during their periods (the luteal and menstrual phases). If you are prone to full or partial dislocations, your risk will increase during those phases as well. The luteal and menstrual phases are NOT the time to do intense workouts or to increase the difficulty of your current workout. Your time will be better spent doing gentle workouts that your body is already familiar with.
And don’t be afraid to scale back the workout to just one set or decrease the number of reps. Making progress with your health & fitness is never linear – it’s actually important to scale back to give your body time to recover sometimes. Then, when you increase difficulty, your body often responds better and you get faster results!
I personally don’t recommend taking these weeks off entirely because the exercise can actually DRAMATICALLY improve any menstrual symptoms you have – especially if you’re doing workouts that your body already knows, and you’re following these rules!
Which of these rules have you been breaking? Are you ready to apply these rules to your strength training?
If you want to get started but aren’t sure where to start, send me a message! I’d love to help you! I offer Movement Assessments, Customized Training Plans, and 1 on 1 Coaching! If you already have a plan but want some coaching help, I offer Coaching Consultation Calls.
I spent far too long living with chronic pain and weak joints and muscles. It’s miserable and frustrating. If you’re living with these same issues, believe that it is possible to live a healthy, happy, active life. No one should have to live in pain, believing that this is the crummy quality of life they have to settle with. I’m here to help you create the life you want!