25/06/2026
Do parkrun
“Impact sports such as running often get a bit of a bad name, with the assumption that they are damaging,” says Hart. “In fact, your skeletal muscles and tendons need impact to keep them healthy. If you go into space as an astronaut, you come back wobbling all over the place, because muscles can’t work: you’ve got osteoporosis just from being in space for a month.”
Hart describes running 5k as a “Goldilocks dose”, meaning not too much or too little. You can even take part by walking, says McNally. A healthy living regime, she says, “has to be a habit; it has to be something people just do, otherwise people don’t do it.
That’s why parkrun works.”
Life is much easier if you look after your hips, knees, elbows and shoulders – especially as you get older. Rheumatologists and orthopaedic surgeons explain how to work out, what to eat and how to talk to your doctor