The New Year has begun!
Most of us have New Year’s resolutions that we’d like to kick off the year with. For many of us, that includes a new health and fitness regime. To avoid any setbacks to your health and fitness program, make sure that you are free from any pain or lingering injury. Don’t ignore any existing or mild injuries that you may be suffering from. They can disrupt your goals, creating unnecessary and frustrating obstacles. If you’re experiencing any existing pain or injuries, you can get them looked at by a healthcare professional.
What can our Physios help you with?
Physios can help you with any aches and pains that you may be suffering from. They can help develop a Physio led rehabilitation program that will help you to achieve your goals. Often a rehab or preventative program that runs parallel to your fitness regime can help you get back on track. Other times, your Physio can help you through giving you advice and adjustments to your program. Progressing them as you improve. Importantly, they can stop any current issues from becoming larger. These problems may interfere with your health and fitness goals.
We have some Physio tips below that will help you to kick start your fitness routine:
The Correct Technique and Posture
When exercising, use the correct techniques, keeping good posture and joint position at all times whilst exercising. Try and keep your posture in a neutral position with the normal curves in your spine. This helps to keep loads at a minimum.
Use Your Exercise Equipment Properly
If you’re not familiar with a piece of gym equipment or are new to a gym, get a fitness instructor to show you. Make sure you can use the equipment safely and properly. This will help avoid an injury from occurring and your fitness plans being interrupted. Your Physio may also be able to give you advice on how to adapt to that piece of equipment if you have an injury.
Develop Your Strength and Stamina
Avoid throwing your muscles into a new fitness routine when they may not be strong enough to cope with the level of strength. As it can cause them to fatigue quickly, creating a risk of injury. The key to avoiding this is to begin slowly, progressively escalating the repetitions and intensity as your muscles become stronger. You may also start with smaller ranges of movement and then increase as you feel comfortable.
Make Sure That You Stretch
Warm up and stretch before you begin exercising. This will allow you to have your full range of movement whilst exercising. When your movement is restricted, you can’t move your joints and muscles to their full potential. Hence, leading to injury and potential muscle imbalance.
Low Core Strength
Reduced core strength creates the risk of injury when we are lifting. As well as using our bodies to create force as we do in all forms of exercise. Having these muscles working is key to preventing injury in any exercise environment. Make sure you know how to switch these muscles on correctly and that you are able to keep them working whilst you exercise. A Physio can help you with this by using areal-timee ultrasound assessment to pinpoint these muscles that are switching on.
If you’re experiencing some aches and pains after the silly season, our Physios can help you with your fitness routine. Press this link to find a practice near you.