Room For Improvement: Maintaining and Expanding Mobility As We Age

Mitigate the effects of aging on your body by incorporating quality movement into your fitness diet

As we grow older, our bodies experience numerous changes that can limit our ability to move and participate in activities we once enjoyed. I’m currently 47 and will be 48 this year, and although some of my readers may be like, “that’s young”… being closer to 50 than I am to 30 was a real eye opener. I mean, what happened?

My body doesn’t feel the same.

My body doesn’t look the same.

I spend more time warming up than actually doing THE THING!

My body makes noises now and and my kids are like what does your body make those noises… lol

I can recall hearing late father’s sounds when I was younger. I can also hear my father and grandfather’s voice in every grunt and vocalization of discomfort.

I see my kids land awkwardly, and I’m certain I used to land on the floor like this without hurting myself. But if it were to happen today, I would likely tear numerous ligaments, tendons and muscles.

My ankle sounds like I crunched on bone gristle if I move it through the right motion. And one of my hips, despite being better than most of the people I work with and know in life, is funky… Yup, funky. I don’t know how else to describe it.

But that’s why you find me working on my Mobility more than anything else these days. The ability to move freely is our most valuable thing.

Think about this…

Everyone wants financial freedom. When they seek this financial freedom what are they really asking for? Upward Mobility… the ability to move about life however they want to. They wanna be like Mark Cuban with his fuck you money sitting on Shark Tank talking about “I’m out”.

One of the most important aspects of our overall mobility is joint space, which is the available room for movement within our joints.

Your Joint Space as a Room: An Analogy

I was helping out a father from my son’s school recently as he had complained to me about feeling stiff, having mobility issues and feeling like he can’t move in the ways he wants to.

To help him better understand the concept of joint space, I told him to imagine each joint in our body is a room. A room provides space for us to move around and perform various activities, just as joint space allows for movement within our joints. When we are young and active, our joint spaces are like spacious, well-organized rooms, providing us with ample space to move freely and comfortably. And we move around and explore all those spaces.

However, as we age and engage in less physical activity, we don’t move around the rooms as much and we no longer spend any time in the outer limits. Our joint spaces can become more restricted and often times its due to our own limits.

We just don’t go to that part of the room anymore. That room is now full of items we’ve hoarded over the years. Those items are the various little traumas we’ve collected over time.

Things start to build up those joints as our fluids no longer reach certain areas and the tissues associated are no longer able to be maintained. The spaces become gunky, cluttered, cramped rooms. The once spacious and open area becomes crowded with debris, making it difficult to move around and navigate the space. In the context of our joints, our connective tissues are those walls and those walls closing in begin to constrain us.

A feedback loop begins where lack of movement and physical activity leads to a decrease in joint space, which in turn results in limited mobility, increased perceived stiffness, and a higher risk of injuries and joint-related issues. Just as we need to clear the clutter and maintain the space in a room to use it effectively, we must also ensure that our joint spaces remain open and functional as we age.

So what do we do about it?

Creating Space: Strategies for Preserving Joint Health and Mobility

Now that we understand the importance of joint space in maintaining healthy movement as we grow older, how can we ensure that our joints remain functional and mobile throughout our lives?

1. Explore the Entire Space

Just as we need to declutter and rearrange a room to maximize its available space, we also need to prioritize stretching and flexibility, along with specific strength inputs to "declutter" our joints. Incorporating a regular stretching to move into full available ranges of motion and incorporating a strength routine that includes those ranges, can help.

2. Use the Rooms

Engage in regular physical activity to keep your joints mobile and healthy. Aim for a mix of aerobic exercises, such as walking, swimming, or cycling, and strength training to maintain joint stability and support. Additionally, you could also include activities that promote balance and flexibility, such as yoga or tai chi, to address all aspects of joint health.

3. Let in Fresh Air and Light

Allowing fresh air and natural light into a room can improve its atmosphere and make it more enjoyable to spend time in. Similarly, focusing on proper nutrition and hydration can help improve joint health by providing the necessary nutrients and hydration for optimal joint function. Consuming a balanced diet rich in fruits, vegetables, lean protein, and healthy fats, along with staying adequately hydrated, can contribute to better joint health as we age.

5. Make Modifications

Sometimes, a room might require modifications or adaptations to better suit our needs as we age. Similarly, our joints may need modifications to accommodate age-related changes. For example, we may lose some ability to move through our fundamental movements of Rotation. We must constantly work to remodel our capsular tissues which provide us rotational space. Consulting with a fitness professional or physical therapist that specializes in mobility training can provide you with guidance on making these adjustments safely and effectively.

Joint space is crucial for maintaining mobility and independence as we age.

I hope using this room analogy helps you better understand the importance of preserving joint space and implementing strategies to ensure our joints remain healthy and functional throughout our lives.

By decluttering and rearranging our joint spaces, keeping them clean through, Daily CARs, regular physical activity, letting in fresh air and light with proper nutrition and hydration, addressing wear and tear, and making necessary modifications, we can create an environment that fosters healthy joint function and enables us to age well.

By adopting some of these simple strategies, we not only improve our joint health but also enhance our overall quality of life. As we continue to age, it is crucial to prioritize joint health and mobility to maintain our independence and enjoy the activities that bring us joy. So, let's clear declutter, create space for movement, and age gracefully with healthy joints