Ofcourse they can! But do you know what causes arthritis?

A tissue called the cartilage is present in all your joints. This tissue is a pretty tough one as it acts as a shock absorber and protects your joints by reducing friction in the movement. When this cartilage gets damaged, arthritis occurs. The damage can be due to wear and tear, injury or autoimmune conditions.

Whatever the reason is for the cause of arthritis, the symptoms are similar i.e., pain and swelling in joints which affects daily movement and quality of life. Arthritis is a progressive disease and we often do not realize the onset of the same because it usually starts with just a dull ache in your joints. You apply pain balms and carry on with your life and before you know it, your cartilage is damaged and movement is compromised.

To delay progression of this condition, it becomes essential to retain movement in your joints by doing slow mobility exercises everyday which is carefully curated by a fitness professional. These exercises will fully depend on the extent of damage to the joints and hence will vary from person to person. There are a few guidelines to be followed to ensure what you do does not aggravate your condition.

• Follow an exercise routine curated by a fitness professional/physiotherapist which focuses on joint mobility
• Avoid jerky movements like running, jumping, climbing stairs, etc.
• A 5-10 minute warm-up and a 5-10 minute cooldown is of utmost importance to warm up your joints before a workout and relax your joints after a workout
• Apply heat pack to the joints before exercise in addition to a warmup and an ice pack after exercise in addition to a cooldown
• Do not exercise during phases of acute pain
• Instead of doing an elaborate exercise routine in one go, split your exercises into 2-3 parts and do it for a few minutes through the day. (a 30 minute exercise routine can be split into 3 10-min exercise routines and done at different times of day)
• It is preferable to do exercises later in the day rather than first thing in the morning as your joints are more rigid during early mornings
• Include strength training with low-moderate weights twice a week to strengthen muscle as strong muscles can reduce the load on your joints (to be done under professional guidance)
• If you feel pain in any joints even 2 hours after your exercise, you will need to regress the movement
• Lastly, low intensity movements like walking, cycling, swimming, yoga are recommended

That said, if you do not have symptoms of arthritis yet, then work towards preventing it!