Keeping healthy joints

[aZn Pugilist]

Hello, I was wondering the best way to maintain healthy joints in the shoulder and elbow? It would seem in boxing that those two joints will have wear and tear on them down the road. Thanks

[Scrap]

Stretch them and while Boxing Keep good Form, and dont push your Shots.

[jamiebhoy]

I always do some warm ups now then stretching, best not to stretch a cold muscle. As for actual boxing , wehn doing back work in particular as suggested try not to stretch your shots. Different when you are actually in a fight , you can't ask the other guy to step in a bit so your not snapping your shots!!

For shoulders I would always remember to work your smaller rotator cuff muscles.

[Chris Nagel]

Stretch them and while Boxing Keep good Form, and dont push your Shots.

That's good advice.

For the jab, try not too bring your elbow up too soon. Otherwise, this can put some wear and tear on your shoulders. Same with your right hand. Now things might go a little different during sparring, but during your training on the bags, and shadowboxing, try to keep excellent form up at all times.

By the way, don't try to tense your muscles in an attempt to put 'snap' into your jabs, the jab is the product of not being tense. You want your muscles to be loose when you throw the jab.

For your left hook, try to line your elbow up with your shoulders. If your elbow is too far back, the strain is going to be in your shoulders.

Jamie, that's a good idea about doing exercises for the rotators cuff muscles, most people don't consider it. I'd also recommend stretching those muscles as well. I think that Scrap has a video on it too.

As for your joints/tendons, supplementing Glucosamine isn't a bad idea either. MSM is good as well. I hear that some with joint pain take Chondroitin, and some sort of liniment such as Olibas oil.

[shafty85]

Thanks for the advice Chris.

I'm looking into taking glucosamine now, and have read up on the benefits and side effects, but what I cannot find an answer to is whether or not taking it will affect the rate at which my body produces it. What I'm concerned about is that if I take glucosamine, will my body produce less (and continue to produce less if I stop taking the supplement)? Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks.

[Chris Nagel]

When I was taking it before, I just followed the directed dose on the bottle (1500 mg). I never heard anything about the body producing less after supplementing it, and I doubt that it's a problem. A lot of athletes swear by the benefits of it, but I think if you're young, healthy, and train smart you probably don't need it. I still think it can help.