The Responsible Guide To Getting Fit
Where to Look Before You Jump
Armed with a New Year’s resolution and with the summer sun fast approaching, many take to fitness programs around this time of year as they attempt to achieve their personal goals. Whether it’s an upcoming beach vacation, your best friend’s wedding, training for a marathon, or simply the desire to benefit from leading a healthier lifestyle, odds are you have a good reason to start getting in shape. Whatever your personal reason may be, what’s important is that you have one. Good for you!
There is no denying that there are numerous benefits to regular exercise; the evidence is irrefutable. That said, can exercise actually be bad for you as well? Perhaps surprisingly, the answer is “yes.” While it’s hard to argue with the cardiovascular benefits of regular exercise, it’s important to consider the effects of improper exercise on the joints, spinal discs, muscles and ligaments of the body. In these terms, many are today facing what I would call a serious pandemic problem!
Exercise becomes destructive rather than constructive when you jump into a fitness program that’s too intense for your body to handle. Ultimately exercising incorrectly can be no more effective than not exercising at all. If this describes your current exercise habits, don’t be fooled into thinking that you’re actually doing yourself some good.
Improper exercise will overload muscles, tendons and ligaments that if weak or inhibited, will place abnormal stress on your joints and over time, result in significant pain and debilitating conditions like arthritis, repetitive strains and disc bulges to name a few. Injuries typically arise when individuals set unrealistic goals, work out with little or no individualized instruction, or enroll in high-intensity classes even though their bodies are not ready for it. Many will encounter a great offer on such a class and make the mistake of feeling that they can’t pass it up. To put it simply, working out non- stop in a group class to the beat of some high-tempo club mix is probably not the best environment in which to start learning proper technique.
When people feel pain, they may initially turn to remedies like Advil or other prescription medicines. While this sort of therapy might seem to help at first glance, will it fix the underlying damage acquired over time through improper exercise?
While modern medicine continues to advance, this doesn’t mean that any pharmaceutical company has developed a “magic” cure-all pill. If you paint over a rust spot on your car, it doesn’t go away just because you can’t see it anymore.
The safest way to minimize risk and maximize the benefits of exercise is to first find a qualified therapist who is trained in performing a “functional evaluation” of the body. After all, you can’t tell how a body moves or responds to increased stress when it is laying motionless on a table.
“Improper exercise will overload muscles, tendons and ligaments that if weak or inhibited, will place abnormal stress on your joints and over time, result in significant pain and debilitating conditions like arthritis, repetitive strains and disc bulges to name a few.”
Having worked with high-level athletes, I know personally that no problem is ever as simple as one leg being shorter than the other or one muscle being tighter than the next. Conditions like these are merely symptoms of a greater dysfunction. A qualified functional therapist is capable of discovering these root issues and addressing them before designing an exercise program that suits your current level of fitness. Preventive medicine, rather than reactive medicine, is easily today’s leading health trend.
The modern-day chiropractor, contrary to what many believe, goes beyond the spinal adjustment. The therapist of today is responsible for treating sport injuries, motor vehicle accidents, work injuries, and other conditions. To do this work effectively, he or she should at least possess a solid understanding of biomechanics, strength training, soft tissue injuries, and neuro-muscular conditioning, thereby providing a more functional, active approach to rehab and prevention.
Even though alleviating pain is most patients’ primary concern, treating pain and correcting dysfunction are two different concepts in healthcare. Therapy should involve one-on-one care with your doctor, a functional diagnosis that addresses biomechanics and an integrated therapy program to address all the factors that contribute to your primary and secondary problems. Just having T.E.N.S., a heat pack and non-specific generic exercises is not a suitable course of care for getting back into a healthy lifestyle.
As healthcare professionals, we should challenge ourselves to do more for our patients. As patients, you should challenge yourselves to do more for your own health. Remember, hindsight is always 20/20, and staying healthy is a team approach!
This issue’s quick tips:
Before embarking on your fitness goals, you should always have a functional evaluation by a qualified health professional knowledgeable in the evaluation and treatment of sport injuries.
Plan realistic goals, achieve them, and then set new realistic goals.
Pick a program that is appropriate for your current level of fitness.
Learn technique first. If a class involves a lot of squatting or lunges, for example, you should learn the correct mechanics prior to class participation.
If you are experiencing some tightness, discomfort, or on-and-off pain, please do not ignore these early warning signs. It is typically easier to address a problem earlier rather than later – when things will have gotten worse.
Remember: the absence of pain is never a good indicator of your current level of health and fitness.
Even if you would consider yourself fit or naturally athletic, you
are not immune to the effects of repetitive strain. Even professional athletes seek out routine care, preventive or otherwise, in order to keep performing at a high level.