In your 20s, bending down to tie your shoes or reaching back to grab your wallet feels effortless. As you age, your body’s soft tissues, especially the joints, become more rigid and can make daily tasks much more difficult.
Eventually, your joints can stiffen so much that basic movement, like walking, becomes uncomfortable or even painful, which can increase your risk of falling or developing arthritis.
“This often creates a vicious cycle where joint stiffness leads to sedentary behavior, which leads to weaker and stiffer joints,” said Brad Manor, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.
Recent studies have found a correlation between joint health and longevity, and that people with better lower limb mobility are less likely to suffer from falls in their older years.
A joint is any place in the body where two bones meet. Hinge joints, like the knee, bend and straighten. Ball-and-socket joints, like the shoulder, move in multiple ways and rotate. And each one has a specific range of motion that you want to maintain.
For example, your ankle should be mobile enough for you to raise the ball of your foot at least one inch off the ground while keeping your heel on the floor. Loss of ankle mobility makes basic movements like squatting and walking more difficult.