When your joints ache, everything in you says, “Stop. Rest. Protect yourself,” and it feels like the sensible thing to do. According to Deborah Atkinson, a strength and conditioning coach to women in midlife for four decades, it may be the worst thing you can do because lack of motion may be driving the problem.  Counter to expectation, it’s often lack of mobility in the joint above or below the “problem joint” that’s at play, she says. For example, lower back pain can be caused by a stiff upper back stealing rotation from the lower back, which it was never designed to provide.  The knee pain flaring on the stairs may trace back to a hip that stopped moving properly years ago. The slow shuffle your grandparents walked with may have started quietly at the ankle, long before anyone noticed. For women, the problem accelerates sharply from age 30 onward, as falling estrogen quietly dismantles collagen, inflames connective tissue, and begins shrinking the range of motion that most people assume is just an inevitable part of growing old. It isn’t, says Atkinson. Relief can come without medication or gym membership, through a simple 5-minute routine—if you know which three joints to target. Speaking with “Vital Signs” host Brendon Fallon, Atkinson names them—and shows exactly what to do. Up Next:  WATCH Carnivore Debate ⇒ Zero-carb diet to cut constipation, gout, kidney stones? | Anthony Chaffee MD —---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Find Deborah at “Flipping 50” on YouTube. Get notice of new⚜️Vital Signs videos: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seevitalsigns X: https://x.com/seevitalsigns Threads https://www.threads.com/@seevitalsigns ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Tune-in to these Top⚜️Vital Signs titles: Watch Coffee: Hurts or Heals? ⇒ Is coffee ultimately good for your health? What the evidence says. https://ept.ms/CoffeeHealsHurtsVS Watch Reverse Type 2 Diabetes? ⇒ curbing the silent diet factor driving diabetes | Jason Fung MD  =================================================================================== Vital Signs’ host, guests, and contributors offer general information health and wellness. This is not intended as diagnosis or medical advice. You should consult your medical doctor or holistic doctor before enacting any suggested strategies for health and wellness improvement, including those in relation to preventing or treating specific diseases featured on this program.  Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and guests, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.