Recently I’ve had a couple of our adult students ask what I do to make sure my joints are able to continue to perform at a healthy level as I grow older. I’m proud I can still roll, break-fall, cartwheel, tornado kick and tsunami kick at my age, but knees are like gold past 60 and we have to treat them right, along with all the other joints. My hips are my biggest complainers these days.
Whether you believe in supplements or not, they have worked for me for the past 15 years, but you need to be cautious. Some companies produce trash, others make sincere efforts to produce what they say they do. Here are my supplements that I take for my overall health. Make sure your doctor monitors you with all of these supplements as you can over-do it. Don’t take something they don’t recommend. I am not telling anyone what to take, this is just me sharing, what I personally do. These are recommendations from my doctors FOR ME.
Omega 3 + CoQ10.
This one can be hard to find, Amazon doesn’t carry it anymore, but I trust Biote and so does my doctor. Helps with inflammation and joint pain, good for all over health. I take two every morning. You can find it here: https://biote.com/nutraceuticals/biote-omega-3
Magnesium (Glycinate).
This is the one. Taking it at night helps with sleep too. I take two every night. Check with your doctor on doses. Because we get magnesium from other sources, you can get too much. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0058HWV9S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Osteo Bi-Flex Triple Strength Glucosamine 1500 mg, MSM 1500 mg with Vitamin D3 1000 UI Tablets
One of our students recommended this. I’ve been taking it for about a year now and I’ve seen a little improvement in my joints, but because it also has Vitamin D3 and magnesium in it, you should be careful and check with your doctor. I take one in the morning. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004QSPBHO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Chromium (Picolinate) 500 mcg
No other supplement you take is really going to get to your cellular level if you don’t have adequate chromium levels, even for your regular meds. I take one per day in the morning. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0016QTL0M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Vitamin D3
D3 is often diminishing as we get older. This is one supplement I’ve been taking for decades, but my doctor watches my blood tests to make sure I’m not over doing it. I alternate taking two one morning and one the next. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0713RJDV5/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Braces – Knee, ankle, wrist, etc.
If you get injured, there is a chance you are going to pay some big money for a doctor to tell you to do R.I.C.E. which stands for Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation. I’m not discounting you need to see a doctor, if you really tore something, you need help. This is the compression part. You DO NOT want to wear one of these all the time. It decreases the amount of work the muscles around the joint must do, which is great if you are injured or doing anything risky and want the extra support, but it will weaken those tissues if worn all the time. Almost all our Black Belts wear something like this when we are doing some high performance moves to just be certain we don’t hurt the joint.
Proper Stretching
Stretching is more than just preparing the muscles. It increases blood flow and overall body health. I stretch for 45 minutes to an hour every morning. What we do in class is just to prepare for the workout, it isn’t a enough, do more. I will do a special class coming up on daily stretches and I’ll include some of the “chair yoga” stuff you may have seen on Instagram too.
