Health & nutrition insights.

From novice to experienced fitness enthusiast, here are 5 tips to keep you healthy while exercising! Taking a holistic approach that involves gentle movement, nutrition, sleep, and making adjustments as needed are key to successfully meeting your goals and keeping you injury free.

Of course anyone engaging in physical activity in ANY environment is susceptible to injury. However, there are various factors that make a person more vulnerable to injury.

This includes, but is not limited to:

• Age
• Sex
• Exercise History
• Life Style
• Medical Conditions

Here are five common exercise habits that may lead to injury.

Not Warming Up

Even 5-10 minutes of light movement prior to exercise can significantly reduce your risk of injury. Don’t skimp on the warm-up! The warm-up prepares your muscles, joints, lungs, heart, and body temperature for intense activities which helps keep you injury free.

Examples include:

• Stationary bike
• Brisk walking
• Dynamic stretching
• Moving your arms and legs (squats, jumping jacks, arm circles, pogo jumps, etc)

Starting Full throttle

It is important to know your limitations. If you are just returning to exercise after a period of not training, or are new to exercise it is crucial to ease yourself into a consistent routine. Placing increased physical stress on the body can lead to breakdown and injury as the body is not prepared for this new stress. Especially, if recovery is not emphasized.

Over-training (Training too frequently or too long)

Even experienced exercisers can get injured. We often think that “more is better!” This is not always the case. Chronic over-trainers experience burnout, emotional stress (poor self-worth as they think they are not doing enough), and injury. Listening to your body or having a personal coach can help.

 

Poor Workout or Lifting Techniques

Once you are in the thick of your workout – as you get tired – maintaining proper form is key! Why? As the body fatigues, form gets sloppy. This can lead to poor mechanics which may cause you to become injured, especially if heavy weights are involved. Many injuries are caused from overuse or repetitive movements, and a trainer or coach can help keep your form in check.

Remember these helpful hints when working out in the gym:

• Switch it up between right/left or different parts of the body
• Ask for help if something is too heavy or you need a spotter
• Slow down and think about mechanics with jumping/landing

Not Cooling Down

Take a few moments after working out to stretch. Static stretching is appropriate to do after exercising. This allows your heart rate and breathing to return to normal, signalling your body that it is time to focus on recovery.

Examples of active recovery include:

• Light stretching
• Short/easy walks
• Gentle yoga

Let’s also remember that nutrition, hydration, sleep, and stress management have an affect on recovery!

Despite our best efforts, we sometimes still get injured. Post-injury recovery or rehabilitation will look different for everyone. It’s best to consult with a doctor to help determine severity of your injury and come up with a game plan. This may include a referral to physical therapy, chiropractic care, medications, or some sort of brace or medical device.

If you need help, we can provide expert advice on how to weave these injury-prevention and recovery strategies into your workouts, ensure proper form in the gym, make personalized fitness plan, and much more! If you struggle with chronic injuries or other conditions, connecting with a physical therapist or chiropractor may help!