Joints are points in your body that allow you to move. Your body has many joints, including the shoulders , elbows, wrists , hips , knees, and ankles . A joint that is healthy can move in all directions very easily.


Joints in the body
Image (modified) : Laboratoires Servier, CC BY-SA 3.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

Why is this important? Your muscles and ligaments are important for joint health. Stretching activities are important to keep joints healthy. Flexibility slowly decreases when people get older. By doing regular stretching activities, you can help keep the full range of motion at each joint .

If you watch athletes warm up, you will see that they all do stretching activities before  a competition . Stretching helps athletes avoid injuries because it moves blood to the muscles and prepares them for difficult activities. Stretching after exercise moves blood through the whole body, and you don’t feel so much pain in your muscles the next day.

Stretching can also help you feel relaxed . If you are tired or worried , try doing flexibility activities and deep breathing together. You may feel better and will keep your joints healthy at the same time.



Stretching exercise before a football game
Image: Football.ua, CC BY-SA 3.0 GFDL,
via Wikimedia Commons


Flexibility Exercises

Flexibility exercises should be done with slow, controlled movements . You should move slowly until the muscle being stretched starts to hurt a little. Hold this position for 10 to 20 seconds and then relax.



Words

  • allow = let
  • ankle = the joint between your foot and leg
  • athlete = person who does sports in a competition
  • avoid = to stop something from happening
  • competition = a race or an event in which people or teams run or play against each other
  • controlled movements = to move in a way that you are always in command of what you are doing
  • decrease = go down, become worse
  • deep breathing = to take in as much air as you can through your lungs
  • direction = ways
  • flexibility = when you can bend the parts of your body easily
  • full range = here: in all directions
  • hip = one of the two parts on each side of the body between the top of your leg and the waist
  • including = among them are ...
  • injury = getting hurt
  • joint = a part of your body that can bend because two bones meet there
  • ligament = a band of strong material that holds bones together
  • motion = movement
  • muscle = one of the parts in your body that you use so that you can move; it also holds your bones together
  • pain = the feeling that you have when something hurts
  • regular = at the same time every day, week etc..
  • relax = rest
  • relaxed = calm and not worried
  • shoulder = part of your body that connects your neck to your arm
  • stretch = to straighten your arms, legs, and body after an exercise
  • wrist = part of your body where a hand comes together with an arm