The unofficial start of summer has come and gone as the Memorial Day weekend is in the rearview mirror, and that means we are in full swing of the outdoor season. Spring cleaning and all the summer chores also have come. It is now the time to become a weekend warrior, and using a bit of wisdom is necessary to prevent injuries. None of us are immune to injury, but using some common sense may go a long way to prevent injury.
One way to prevent injuries during the summer is to stay fit. Fitness involves two aspects – cardiovascular aerobic strength and muscle power strength. Both parts of conditioning are equally important, but many people want to do just one of the two. Without both aspects, injury is more likely.
Aerobic and Muscle Training
Aerobic conditioning is exercise that stresses the endurance strength of the body. It allows us to continue activities for a prolonged time. The classic aerobic exercise is running. It increases the heart rate and promotes the efficient use of energy. Any activity that increases the heart rate qualifies for aerobic conditioning. This can be fast walking, swimming, bicycling, tennis, or any sport that requires continuous movement. The goal is for most people is at least 30 minutes of day, and this should be outside of “work” so that the brain gets the benefit of relaxation. To further promote this, obtain a fitness tracker, such as a Fitbit and log 10,000 steps a day. Hitting an aerobic goal of 30 minutes of exercise and 10,000 steps will help maintain overall fitness and help with other things such as weight control.
As a pain specialist, strength conditioning has two parts. The first is overall muscle strength throughout the body. The second part is core strength, the muscles that stabilize the spine. Working out at a gym or lifting weights generally works on the large muscles in the body, the arms and legs. Good general strength allows us to do many activities and not hurt later. Core strength is much harder and targets more specific muscles. To strengthen these muscles, one needs to concentrate on working these specific muscles with very targeted exercises. The workout for the core does not require much equipment, often just gravity and body positioning is sufficient to work these muscles. Good resources for core strengthening are available on the web, use the Google search term, “lumbar core strengthening”. A good starter site is available via Princeton. Additionally, many smartphones have good apps for general muscle strengthening exercises.
A good exercise program will help prevent injury. It will give a person more ability to do the jobs around the house and not be to sore afterward. It is okay to be sore for a day or two, but if one is sore longer than that, then one is likely doing too much repetitive work on a single occasion. It is time to become more active, work on both strength and endurance, and spend some time having fun.