How Do Weight Training Exercises Help Joints?

Weight-training exercises that strengthen your muscles can help reduce stress on your joints, according to MayoClinic.com and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Regular weight-training can help prevent osteoporosis and arthritis. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, recommends that adults perform muscle-strengthening activities such as weight-training every week.

Strengthening Muscles

Weight-training exercises help to support your joints by building the muscles around them. Strong muscles provide crucial support for your joints during exercise and daily life. Weak muscles place joints under more stress during exercise, leading to injury or soreness. According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, "exercise helps keep the joints flexible...and the muscles around the joints strong."

Strengthening Bones

Just as weight-bearing exercise can help strengthen the bones in your legs and hips, upper-body weight-training exercises can help strengthen the bones in your arms, shoulders and upper spine. These exercises help promote strong bones and healthy cartilage, both of which support your joints. Regular weight training can help prevent osteoporosis by building and maintaining bone density, according to the National Osteoporosis Foundation.

Frequency

The National Osteoporosis Foundation and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that adults perform muscle-strengthening exercises such as lifting weights, on at least two days a week. Your weight-training exercises should target each major muscle group, including the upper, middle and lower back, the shoulders, upper arms, forearms and wrists, the chest, the abdominals, the hips, the thighs and the calves.

Sets

The National Osteoporosis Foundation recommends that you perform weight-training exercises in one or two sets of 8 to 10 repetitions each. If you cannot do 8 repetitions of an exercise, you may be attempting to lift too much weight. On the other hand, if you can easily perform more than 10 repetitions of an exercise at one time, you may not be lifting enough weight, says the National Osteoporosis Foundation.

Warning

If you are injured, frail or suffering from osteoporosis or arthritis, consult your doctor to determine what kind weight-lifting program you can safely begin. If you have arthritis, protect your joints by avoiding high-impact exercises such as running or competitive sports games.