Why Fall is the Best Time to Build Strength and Protect Your Joints

Do your knees start aching right before the weather changes? You’re not imagining things—your joints can act like a barometer, especially in the shift from summer to fall. More than 92 million adults have arthritis, which often acts like a personal barometer in your joints. And that number doesn’t even cover the people who struggle with some other kind of joint pain or injury. There actually is a connection between joint pain and seasonal changes, particularly the barometric pressure and humidity changes associated with autumn. What makes autumn’s increase in stiff knees, creaky shoulders, and other sore joints even more aggravating is that fall and winter are some of the busiest times of the year, and you’ve got to keep moving!

Whether you’re into winter sports like skiing and snowshoeing, or you feel a twinge of dread every time you need to shovel the walkway, it’s important to make autumn a time to prepare and bolster your joints for the busy, cold days ahead. The A Life in Balance Team can help with the advanced physical therapy Flemington NJ neighbors have come to trust for healthier, more comfortable joint function. And if you live in Manchester, VT, and are searching for this kind of “physical therapy near me” so you can get ready for your favorite winter sports, you’re in luck because we're there to help once a week too.

Fall is the Ideal Season for Strength and Joint Resilience

We don’t need to tell you that fall is a transition season. Sending the kids back to school here in Flemington, starting a new exercise program, getting back into trail running, preparing for cross-country skiing in Manchester, gearing up for the holiday rush, and just all the other things that come with hectic fall schedules—it’s a lot. And once winter arrives, the busyness only amplifies. All this activity can be hard with joint pain, which is why it’s absolutely critical to use this transition time to catch and remedy any physical imbalances that cause joint pain before winter makes them worse. Scheduling advanced physical therapy now can help you get through the season with less pain, better balance, and more flexibility. 

The Science Behind Strength and Joint Protection

These fascinating statistics illustrate why working on physical therapy to protect and bolster your joints is so important:

1. We lose muscle as we age.

There’s even a term for it: sarcopenia. Strong muscles surrounding the joints protect those joints, but as sarcopenia kicks in (which can start as early as age 35), those muscles do less protecting as they shrink. We typically lose 1–2% of muscle mass per year until around age 60, when that number can jump to 3% annually. In the clinic, we see how this loss translates to weaker support around the joints—making hips, knees, and shoulders more vulnerable. PT-guided strength training slows that decline. Depending on your health, injuries, genetics, etc., that muscle loss percentage can go even higher. Regular physical therapy and activity can counteract this muscle loss, slowing it down significantly.

2. Fall risks rise with age and icy conditions.

Icy conditions that come along with fall and winter here in Flemington and up in Manchester lead to more slips and falls among all age groups. However, age also correlates with a greater fall risk: one in four folks over age 64 falls annually, and 3.5 million end up in the hospital because of those falls. Physical therapy can help prevent injuries like these by bolstering balance and flexibility, improving core strength, and enhancing body awareness.

3. Joint pain is extremely common and can throw off your balance. 

Joint pain is a vicious cycle. Let’s just talk about knee pain, although this applies to other types of joint pain too: Your knee joint starts to hurt, so you overcompensate and get off balance. That off-balance movement causes pain somewhere else or makes you more likely to trip and fall and get injured. Knee pain affects mobility in about 25% of adults. Fortunately, studies show that strengthening quads, glutes, and the core through physical therapy clinically improves knee pain relief.

In our clinic, we see these numbers play out in real patients every week. As our patients come in with imbalances and pain, we work with them on regaining their balance through customized, one-on-one physical therapy plans to improve their strength and range of motion. This helps protect and relieve their joints, empowering them to move better, hurt less, and stay active longer. 

How PT Builds Strength the Smart Way

No cookie-cutter workouts here. Our PT team evaluates how you move—your gait, balance, posture, and strength—before tailoring a plan to your specific joints and goals. There’s so much more to it! When you first come to ALIB, whether in Flemington or Manchester, you get a full movement evaluation before anything else happens. We evaluate your movements, your gait and balance, posture, strength, and how it all works together—or doesn’t. This method of “blueprinting” your body shows us where your imbalances are, and where you may be under- or over-compensating. At this point, we create a customized advanced physical therapy plan for you personally that addresses your specific needs. Your plan may include some of these specific target areas:

Legs & Hips

They carry you everywhere. Your hip and knee joints depend on core and muscle strength to cushion them, so we work on bolstering these muscles to reduce pain and strain on the knees and hips. 

Core and Pelvic Floor

Core and pelvic floor muscles are crucial to movement up and down the spine and all the way down to your feet. They stabilize the spine and improve posture, coordination, balance, and movement. Having a strong core and pelvic floor can help relieve pain and prevent it in the future.

Shoulders and Back

The shoulders and back bear your burdens all day long, moving, twisting, lifting, shoveling snow, and more. Working on posture, strength, balance, and flexibility in these areas can help you prevent pain and injury as well.

At ALIB, we work with each individual patient on layering their strength training exercises progressively so that one exercise builds gently upon the others without overloading the joints.

Everyday Wins Beyond the Clinic: Advanced Physical Therapy in Action

As you work on your custom advanced physical therapy plan, you’ll notice more stability and less pain in your joints generally, and that you’re regaining healthy posture and balance. Active daily movements will be more comfortable. You’ll notice that lifting groceries, raking leaves, shoveling snow, skiing, trail running, and just getting through the day won’t flare up your knees, hips, or back pain. You’ll be steadier on your feet and enjoy more optimal movement patterns, which can prevent injuries during everyday activities and optimize athletic performance if winter sports are your jam. Now, Dr. Paula is bringing this same approach that our Flemington, NJ patients enjoy to our new physical therapy Manchester VT patients once a week, too. 

Stop Joint Pain this Fall with Physical Therapy Flemington NJ and Physical Therapy Manchester VT

Now that the leaves are turning, make sure to carve out time for yourself to get stronger and more injury-resistant by protecting and strengthening your joints through the advanced physical therapy techniques at A Life in Balance. If you’re searching for “physical therapy near me” here in Flemington, make sure to schedule an appointment to strengthen your joints now. We even have virtual PT sessions available if you’re out of town or your schedule is overwhelming. And we also welcome our friends looking for PT in Manchester, VT to book an appointment too!