People can have bodies as big as rocks. Muscles as strong as steel and as big as a balloon. This is possible because muscles can be built up in a targeted way. Through weight training and the intake of protein, anyone can increase muscle mass. But all athletes have one thing in common: ligaments, bones and joints are the same. They are not easily trained and can be increased or strengthened at will. For this reason, it is common for strength athletes, martial arts fighters, weightlifters, bodybuilders, cyclists and many others to have problems with certain parts of the body. Why? Because high stresses often occur there, depending on the type of sport. How can you protect yourself from this?
Why do athletes have problems with joints?
Joints, tendons, cartilage and ligaments are designed in the body to be stretchable and flexible. They allow us to make flexible movements. They were designed by nature so that their size does not increase with use. That would break us. This is because these ligaments are often in places where space is limited. If they were to get thicker through training, they would have no more room. They would press on the bones and cause insane pain. Muscles, on the other hand, are completely free in most places. They can be built up through training and the intake of protein. With each increase in size, the mass of the body increases.
Now, for joints, it doesn’t matter whether we are overweight or have a high muscle mass. When we jump or run, sometimes all our weight presses down on them. But not only that. Due to the acceleration, a force acts that is even much greater than the pure weight force. These body parts have to withstand and compensate for all this. That is why it is important to stretch them and supply them with all the necessary minerals. Otherwise they could eventually give out and tear. When that happens, they are serious injuries that are difficult to recover from.
Why do knee sleeves help to protect the joints?
One of the most stressed parts of the body is the knee. That’s why knee sleeves are a good solution for almost all sports. The knees are because they are subjected to the greatest stress in almost every sport. They are bent, twisted and then stretched again. When jumping, the entire body weight is shifted onto them.
Knee supports help to reduce such stresses. You have to think of it like a kind of neck brace in a car accident. When we have a car accident, a great force is exerted on the neck that holds our head. This force acts at a single point, namely the spine. Due to the high load, victims of accidents very often injure themselves at this point. A neck brace, however, distributes the force. It ensures that not only the cervical spine is pressed, but the pressure is redirected to the bones around it and distributed evenly. These in turn have no problem absorbing the pressure. This means that the body is much more likely to remain unharmed.
Bandages have exactly the same effect on the joints. They distribute the load from a single, small point to the bones and muscles around it. In this way, athletes can protect their health in the long term.