With the warmer weather comes inspiration to get out of the house to get fit and healthy. You want to get fit (but yesterday…right?) and sometimes you forget to listen to your body.
The weather is warming up, the birds are tweeting, and you’re feeling a burst of new energy that has been lacking through winter.
This is excellent, and we encourage this whole-heartedly. Movement is freedom! However, this is also the time of year when we see the most injuries. People who’ve gone too hard too early or returned to sports and aren’t conditioned to the repetitive movements.
Rome wasn’t built in a day people! If you have been a couch potato this winter (no judgement, I hear ya!), now is not the time to spontaneously run 20km. Start off slow. A good way to get the body moving is with a low impact exercise. A moderately paced walk is a good place to begin. Or if the pool is more your style, swimming is an excellent no gravity workout. The minimal impact on the joints with these sorts of exercises reduces your risk of injury. Some people think that walking or swimming isn’t good enough. Your body will still benefit from low impact exercise, increasing your cardio fitness, while getting the entire body moving! Your body will thank you and when you are confident you can step it up to something more challenging.
A crucial step so many people ignore. Please don’t. Lots of injuries occur in the first few seconds of a sporting match, many from just running out to the pitch or court. Why? Because they didn’t warm up! Warms ups can be a 5 to 10-minute walk, and a few stretches to prime the body. A warm up means you get more blood flowing to your muscles. The body is being signaled that you are moving more, so it is preparing itself to reduce the risk of injury. Spending that 5-10 minutes warming up could mean that you see the whole season through!
A cool down can mimic your warm up. Reducing your pace and exertion gives the body a chance to settle down without stopping suddenly. Take the time to get your breath back and lower your heart rate with a light walk and some targeted stretches.