I joined because while searching for a joints article to show my brother, I came across this site. I have to warn you, I often don't hang around sites too long. I can post as many as 1000 posts over a month long span, but for one reason or another tend to lose focus on the site sooner or later. Mostly it's just out of running out of new things to say I think. I can only go so long before saying everything I want to.

Anyway, I was interested in the site because I've long held interest in joints and stretching/manipulating them and muscles/tendons to achieve greater athletic results. I posted one reply and predictably have been drawn into posting more and more.

I think you've got something. I'm doublejointed all over my body. I think having that joint flexibility makes you more flexible but also injuryprone, meaning an increased ability to crack joints, and a reason to do so, as to avoid injury and manipulate joints to keep them in line.

I read an article for Yahoo from somewhere else, they'd gotten it from some health site, about how a new survey says people who crack their knuckles are actually LESS likely to get arthritis. I actually found this site while trying to re-find that article for someone. Unfortunately with Yahoo, they delete their articles regularly, so I have to try to find the source article.

So far, I've only been able to find these:

http://www.panix.com/~iayork/knuckles.html
http://www.orthop.washington.edu/uw/arthritis/tabID__3376/ItemID__179/PageID__335/Articles/Default.aspx
http://www.headache.net/webcast_transcript.asp?b=healthology&f=bodyaches&c=bodyaches_arthemail&spg=FLI

Also, as far as losing grip strength… I read that suggested too, but find it very hard to believe. I'm just 5'8", 160 lbs on a good day... but I have as much grip strength as about anyone I've ever met. I've frequently out-armwrestled people with a good foot and as much as 100+ lbs on me who were in main sports before (baseball, basketball, football). I have a nasty grip/handshake that's like a vice, and I've been cracking all joints in my body about as long as I can remember. Of course I also accompany my joint cracking with finger loosening/flexing/stretching exercises where the fingers get stretched back to loosen the tendons... but I certainly have a VERY hard time believing knuckle cracking hurts your grip inherently.

Wow. For the first time I seem unique here I pop out my shoulder at will, just by rotating it any number of different ways. I can just lift it to the side and then pull it towards the front of me, even while sitting down, and hear it pop. I can have it bent and just rotate it in front of me. I can even just rotate it around without seemingly moving anything else and make it pop/crack. Shoulders are definitely the most awesome joints

I find the easiest way is to just sit down, lock the ankles one behind the other, and straighten out the knees. Then flex the legs up as hard as possible, potentially popping hips, knees, and… shins?

I crack pretty much everything too. If your knuckles are hurting, you could try these exercises:

1. With your right hand, hold all 4 fingers in the left hand with it, and "mush" them together, possibly producing a crack or snap. Switch hands and do the same with the other hand. This straightens out those finger tendons.
2. Lock the hands in a prayer like motion with all fingers "overlapping" and the thumbs connecting while pointing towards your face. Then lock all the knuckles simultaneously as you bring the palms together and the thums naturally point straight up. This loosens the knuckles in both hands without putting significant stress on them or tightening tendons.
3. Right after doing this put both hands straight together, in another prayer like hand stance so each finger is straight up against the one for the other hand, including the thumbs. Then push the palms away so the fingers are still next to each other but the thumbs separate. This way the finger joints are effectively bent backwards, so that the whole tendons in both hands are loosened up. This may well not produce any pops or cracks, but isn't meant to. It's meant to bend those fingers back so they loosen up and the tendons are flexed/stretched/limbered.

It sounds like mine's about the same. Try lying down a couch on your side, facing towards the couch back. Then put the left hand on the small of the back pushing the midsection in firmly. You can also move the left leg back behind you, straightening it, so it further moves the spine. It can be done the other way too, just move so facing the other way, use the right hand to push on the back, and if using a leg, use the right one.

You can also stand with feet spread 2 feet apart or so, lift both elbows up slightly away in preparation, with 3 second delay or so to ready your body, then swivel the arms robot like around the side of the body that needs cracking.

I crack my ankles probably once every 1-2 days. I usually have shoes on when I do it. I can just be sitting down and then if the ankles are feeling stiff or too loose (probably because they're sprained or just "went out") I just point the feet so only the toes are touching the ground and push up with the heels. This pushes the ankles "up" and away from the body as the weight is solely on the toe tips. The ankles then pop. I can also do this when standing up, just by putting one leg's toe tip on the ground and doing the same thing, so the ankle pushes away. I find this helps if I hurt my ankles running in the outfield. It's like it puts pressure on the ankle and tightens up the joint, so injuries don't come from a loosened doublejointed ankle that's loosening up almost to the point of injury.

I'd probably have to go with shoulders too, but the lower back and elbows would be up there as well. Shoulders "pop" pretty easy and it never seems like you can "mis-pop" them, popping/cracking always adds to flexibility and limber-ness. Maybe it's because I like baseball pitching so much though…

Interesting. I'm neither, I voted Peroutka :lol: I lean right on moral issues, left on economic. I couldn't vote for Kerry because of abortion, couldn't vote for Bush because of the Iraq war and his economic big-business supporting policies. I wish Republicans could manage the "moral" aspect of government as far as abortion/stem cell etc. stuff and Democrats could manage the economic aspect with wars and business. :lol: