In many cases, simply standing up more regularly throughout the day could help.
Professor Lee continued: “Your joints are biologically designed for gentle movement. Standing up regularly may help ‘feed’ the cartilage cells fresh nutrients and energy.”
The message around joint health has become too extreme and overly simplistic, he added. Many people assume they are either “healthy” because they exercise intensely a few times a week or “unhealthy” because they sit at a desk job.
But joint biology is often more subtle than that. Sitting at your desk all day is not necessarily damaging in itself and, in some cases, may even temporarily protect cartilage from excessive physical stress or impact.
The problem is prolonged stillness without enough low-level movement throughout the day. Professor Lee said people should stop thinking about exercise only in terms of gym sessions and instead focus more on how regularly they move.
He added: “The body responds very well to small, consistent movement. The issue is not whether somebody runs marathons. The issue is whether the joints are being stimulated often enough to maintain healthy biological function.”
