Start The New Year Injury Free

4 December 2016  |  By Mel Foley

We are all starting to feel that familiar end of the year panic!

Running from one social engagement to the next.

Organising Christmas day proceedings and getting ready to go away on holidays.It all gets a bit hectic.

The first thing to go is time to exercise. In the back of our minds we accept that we will get back to it once we have made it through Christmas.For the most part this is true.

Some years though, the ‘me time’ drops off a little bit before December; in fact sometimes it never really got going after the Christmas before!!

Time goes by so quickly that it seems only yesterday that you did that last 10km run, so when it comes to the post Christmas break a 10 km run along the beach doesn’t seem to be too unrealistic…or is it?

The truth is that getting back into exercise is always better than not. It just may be wise to take some care around the volume, frequency, and intensity, especially if you have been out of the game for a while.

General tips for starting again in 2017

Exercise often

It is best to do achievable sessions of exercise, at least 3 or more times a week, at a low volume to allow your body to slowly adapt to the activity again.

This provides opportunity for the bones, muscles, tendons and ligaments to adjust to load and movement again without spraining or straining.

Remember …there may still be a strong feeling of muscle soreness the first 2 days after the introduction of any exercise you have not done for a while.

This is normal! It is not normal if it lasts more than 2 days. This may indicate you are over doing it and potentially creating an injury.

Slowly increase intensity OR volume one at a time

It is best to allow your body a good week to 10 days to continue at a given volume (time exercising) or intensity (how hard/heavy/fast you are working) and then only increase one of those variables and no more than 10% per week. This allows time for the body to adapt to training and prevent overloading muscles or tendons. 

Address niggles early

Niggles happen when we overload the body with more activity than it has been used to, so when you resume exercise or indeed start for the first time, there is a chance that the body may get overloaded.

It could be that you have been a big exerciser and you jump back into previous levels of training too quickly. It also happens if you are quite fit with one activity but then start a new type. For example the swimmer that decides to start training for triathlons, introducing running and cycling to the mix.

This can produce an overload if the intensity of training is too high.

You might also be starting exercise for the very first time and despite good intentions your body feels sore every time you work out.

By seeking professional advice from a Physiotherapist about these ‘niggles’, you will have a better understanding of what may be ‘going wrong’ and how to make things ‘go right’ to keep you on track.

Additionally, have you ever met anyone who hurt their shoulder playing Wi tennis on Christmas Day? We have. Or what about someone who has torn their hamstring falling off their son’s skateboard? Yep, we’ve met him too.

 

The team at Spring Physio Gym want to wish everyone the best for a safe and injury free Christmas and New Year and look forward to seeing you all out enjoying an active summer and 2017.