The role of nutrition, resistance training, and movement in preventing orthopaedic disease and injury

By Richard Taylor
Personal Trainer, Tailored Training

E-mail: [email protected]

Our ‘bulletproof’, youthful and pain free movement is often taken for granted until it isn’t. Injury, pain and poor mobility can plague many, on a daily basis. Rather than waiting into forced reactivity, how can we be proactive, preventative and get ahead of the curve when it comes to our orthopaedic health?

I work predominantly with clients ranging from 40-60+ years of age, helping them improve their overall fitness, health and longevity through a bespoke roadmap combination of nutrition, training and additional movement - ‘The 3 Pillar System’ as we call it.

The ‘3 Pillars’ all have a significant, positive impact on our overall orthopaedic health and are all fantastic preventative measures to the onset of poor mobility and pain.

As we age, we tend to self-handicap:

• “I have poor mobility because I am getting older”
• “I have gained weight because my metabolism is slowing down”
• “My body aches because I am older”

The list goes on and we have heard it time and time again.

‘Use it or lose it’, is a common phrase I lean into. As we get older, we tend to move less, muscles become redundant as their requirement for activity fades and thus, our muscle mass decreases, bone density drops, our metabolism slows and our body will begin to creak and moan.

Let’s break down the three pillars of nutrition, training and additional movement, looking into how each one can prevent the decay of our orthopaedic health.

Pillar 1: Training

Resistance training is not just for the youngsters wanting to look good on their annual beach holiday. Resistance training arguably becomes even more important as we age. We want to preserve muscle mass and strength along with maintaining bone density. Resistance training does not need to be complex either and I would argue that simplicity wins, when in the gym.

Top tips for getting the most out of the gym:

1. Follow a structured programme

Often, I see many people heading into the gym and just doing what they feel like, or heading for the ‘available’ pieces of equipment meaning the potential progress from the gym is limited.

Following a programme removes the guesswork, reduces wasted time within a gym and promotes what we call ‘progressive overload' (gradually increasing the weight or repetitions week on week on your programmed exercises) which is vital for strength gain, muscle maintenance and muscle mass preservation / gain.

2. Increase ‘time under tension

Time under tension refers to how much time the working muscle is under tension within a repetition. The more tension we apply, the harder the muscle will work and thus stimulating a strength and lean mass improvement response given we then supply our bodies with the right nutrients to repair itself – more on this later.

You can easily increase your time under tension by simply slowing down the speed at which you perform a repetition within an exercise. This will increase the discomfort slightly, but that is what the gym is for.

If you can apply this inside of a structured programme you will be well on your way to improving lean mass and bone density into later life.

3. Time your rest periods

This sounds really simple, but it is often overlooked by many gym goers. Timing your rest time, (I like 1 minute to 1 minute 30 seconds between sets), will increase the stimulus of our session, meaning we put ourselves in a far greater position to enjoy potential progress from our gym work.

The higher the stimulus created in the gym, gives us greater potential progress in the form of overall strength, stability, lean mass and bone density.

Pillar 2: Nutrition

Our bones, muscles, and connective tissues are not static, they are living structures constantly breaking down and rebuilding. Without the right fuel, the rebuilding process is compromised.

If you put the work into your training as explained above, then make the most of it by refuelling adequately and appropriately. Treat your body like an Formula 1 car engine. You wouldn’t put standard pump petrol into an F1 car. You would use only premium quality racing fuel to get the most from the car, to improve longevity of the engine and for all of the parts to perform optimally. Our bodies are no different. Better quality fuel (whole food, nutrient dense) = better quality outputs (energy, strength, longevity etc.)

Here are some key notes when thinking of our orthopaedic health when it comes to nutrition.

• Protein is crucial for maintaining and repairing muscle tissue, especially as we age. Ensure your main meals have a good quality protein source included.
• Calcium and vitamin D are the backbone of bone health, reducing the risk of osteoporosis and fractures.
• Anti-inflammatory foods such as oily fish, nuts, seeds, and colourful vegetables help protect joints and connective tissues from chronic inflammation.

Eating well isn’t just about weight management – it’s about giving your body the raw materials it needs to move freely and stay strong.

Pillar 3: Additional movement

Walking, stretching, mobility drills, and simply staying active throughout the day often get overlooked, but they are critical for long-term orthopaedic health and weight management. Life as we know it is very sedentary as we usually sit all day, then relax in front of the television in the evening, meaning daily movement is often extremely low.

• Walking lubricates the joints, aids circulation, and helps with weight management.
• Regular movement prevents stiffness, improves flexibility, and maintains independence.
• Breaking up sedentary time with light activity is one of the simplest, yet most effective ways to protect your body from decline.

A really easy way to set yourself a daily walking target would be to find out your daily step average for the last six months (most smart phones and smart watches will display this data). Once you have that number add an additional 2,000 steps to this and set that as your new daily target. 2,000 steps would only take an additional 15 minutes or so of walking per day, so very manageable by most. Over time, you can scale this number and enjoy the benefits that it will bring.

Putting it all together

When nutrition, resistance training, and daily movement are practiced together, the results compound. Muscles stay strong, bones stay dense, joints stay lubricated, and energy levels remain high. The aches and pains often blamed on 'just getting older' are, in many cases, preventable or at least reducible.

The truth is, aging is inevitable – but suffering as a result of aging is not. By applying the '3 Pillar System', we can remain active, independent, and pain-free for far longer than many people realise.