VAHL CHIROPRACTIC WELLNESS CENTER
Dr. Richard J. Vahl, MSc, DC, Ph.D., and James B. Vahl, BSc, DC, ACSM, ACE, NASM
Fitness exercisers, weightlifters, athletes, and those seeking to lose weight all have one thing in common – the desire to get results fast. Working out regularly is a key element of a serious workout program.
However, if your muscles haven’t fully recovered between work-out sessions, you may not be able to put in the grueling work-out you planned. You also increase your odds of sustaining an injury or making an injury even much worse that could derail your efforts.
Many people start their workout program with the intensity of a professional athlete. They think if 3 sets of 10 are good, 10 sets of 10 MUST be better!” Only to wake up one to three or four days later, certain they have barely survived a traumatic injury to them during the night.
There is an invisible line between good-for-you and way too much overload. If it hurts, STOP. If you are feeling fatigued, rest. Feeling tired and fatigued are a couple of the first clues you are not giving your body the time it needs to recover.
Tired over-worked muscles are susceptible muscles. Susceptibility to injury; injuries can and will sideline your efforts, putting you back on the couch quicker than a kid racing for the cookie jar.
With a little common sense, some good guidance along with some important understanding, you can avoid training injuries. Here are a few tips to keep you on the road to success and freedom of injury.
Start with small reasonable steps. Whether weight lifting, running or a step aerobics class, start at a point where it feels easy. This is a good motivator for your mind “I CAN do this!” That approach is a great motivator to continue! So, eases your body into increased activity and exercise.
Always remember to include time off between activity days, to allow for adequate recovery and repair of your muscles. When muscle tissue is working strenuously, tiny microscopic tears occur. You want this to happen but it needs to happen gradually, not all at once. Muscle cells strengthen and respond by healing the tears and becoming thicker and stronger, to handle the newly increased activity demands. Therefore, muscles come back healthier, stronger, more capable of meeting the demands you’re putting on them.
A great training tip is to take an ice bath after your workout session and especially if you think you may have pushed the envelope too far. Ten short, but cold, minutes helps reduce the inflammation and increase the healing process along with cooling hard worked muscles off. It also helps in flushing the lactic acid out of muscle tissues, and reducing pain, swelling, and stiffness.
Ice bathes or cold baths also shorten the amount of days needed for muscles to recover, by speeding up the natural healing process. It helps muscles to recover in less time, which increases the amount of time you can workout and reduces your odds of sustaining an injury while getting better results.
Always remember, that sensible training and using thoughtful recovery practices, creates a happier, healthier and more active trainee and you are just around the corner for getting the results you are working toward. Along with sensible training and thoughtful recovery practices, you will not only see, but feel how well your efforts pay off.
We at the VAHL CHIROPRACTIC WELLNESS CENTER offer help and guidance to our patients and clients in designing a scientifically based exercise program or weight loss program whether it’s needed for weight loss, fitness, rehabilitation, post rehabilitation or athletic training. We also offer a highly qualified professional service for treating exercising, sports, athletic, recreational and personal injuries. We offer a combination of the best traditional methods combined with the latest scientifically researched, state-of-the-art and tested methods in both the prevention and treatment of muscle-skeletal and neuromuscle-skeletal injuries. Just CALL (760)-479-0146 for a FREE consultation to find out if you are a candidate for any of our professional treatment protocol and to answer any questions about your condition or treatment…..
In HEALTH and WELLNESS
Dr’s. Vahl
