“New year, new me”! The start of the year is always an optimistic one. We set goals for the year and hopefully follow thru, but we all know that life gets in the way and we can forget about them pretty quickly. Let ‘s talk about what you can do to give yourself the best chance at sticking to your fitness and health goals in 2023.
Most people have resolutions revolving around exercise and weight loss. These are great ideas, and necessary for living well and living long. The biggest factors that can hinder people from sticking with these goals is back pain. Fortunately, there are some measures you can take to prevent that, and give yourself the best chance to stick to your resolutions and achieve them this year!
Ease In To Activity
Everyone knows that “poor form” during exercise can lead to aches, pains, and injuries, but a similar factor that gets overlooked is that doing too much activity too fast or too long before our bodies are ready can also lead to trouble. This is actually the concept behind “workload management” that you hear thrown around professional sports recently. Most fans think it just means their favorite players need days off because they’re soft, but it’s actually a tracked stat of how hard an athlete has been playing and training in the short and long term.
Even though we aren’t professional athletes, the same concepts apply. Don’t jump into activity too fast to the point where you are done going to the gym by week 2! That doesn’t mean you should under-train either, but listen to your body and slowly bump your time and intensity up.
Remember Mobility Exercises
The average gym goer has the same routine – they hop on the bike or elliptical, use the machines, or lift weights. It is important to also add mobility exercises in, especially if you are older or if you have gone a long period of time without much activity. We generally want our joints to be able to move through their full ranges before we load them and strengthen them.
Check On Problems Areas ASAP
The benefits of most exercises strongly outweigh any of the negatives. One of those negatives can be pain, soreness, and discomfort. However, it is important to know what is causing pain when you do experience it in exercise. You may need to know if that aching back is a disc issue that flared up while squatting, or if it’s stiff because it’s compensating for muscle weakness.
When you’ve got back pain (or any pain for that matter) that isn’t going away, it’s your body ringing the alarm to tell you something is wrong. Don’t ignore it. Don’t let it get worse and affect more than just your New Year’s goals.
If you want to stop ignoring your back pain and get for some help – contact us today! We can let you know if we can help and if you’re a good fit for what we do. CLICK HERE to schedule a Free Discovery Visit or give the office a call at 847 796 0224.