Now that we are into 2013, many of us will have resolved on the turn of the New Year to get fitter, tone up, lose some weight, stop smoking, eat a more healthy diet, reduce or quit alcohol intake, or other self-improvement based resolution. Gyms and slimming clubs will see their membership intakes increase and fitness videos will be making the most of the TV advertising slots.
New Year’s resolutions are great, but most do not make it to February before they hit the dust. All those good intentions can hit a wall when we have a slight blip. Overdoing it at the gym when we are not as fit as we would like to be can be the nail in the coffin for many; sore aching muscles preventing or putting us off the next workout can be the start of an ever diminishing attendance at the gym. A day of binging on all those forbidden foods or a night out where one drink turns into several can cause many to give up before they have really started!
The key is to take it slow and ease into the new fitness and/or diet regime. Make sure that you increase your exercise levels slowly and if possible, take advantage of having a session with the gym’s personal trainer so that you have SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, timetabled) goals to work towards. This will help you to attain a better cardiovascular fitness and tone up at a rate that your body can manage and adjust to whilst avoiding overdoing it and ending up feeling sore and achey. If you have a blip whilst on your new healthy-eating diet, don’t beat yourself up about it, just put it to the back of your mind and start again the next day. Remember, your body didn’t get to where it is now after just a few days of low/no exercise and the wrong diet; and it’s not going to become the super fit super healthy body in just a few days either!
If you do end up overdoing it at the gym, here is some general guidance on the appropriate use of hot and cold therapies in the treatment of pain/ache:
Acute stages of pain, i.e. first 24-48 hours after injury – apply cold therapy (aka cryotherapy) to the affected area. Ice packs, ice massage, cold gels should be applied. If using a bag of peas out of the freezer, make sure that you wrap the bag of peas in a towel and apply to the area for no more than 10 minutes at a time and no more than one session of 10 minutes in an hour. Research has shown that the application of cold reduces inflammation by causing blood to disperse away from the affected area; however, after more than 10 minutes of cold application, the body becomes concerned and starts to increase the flow of blood back to the affected area, causing an increase in inflammation, so 10 minutes is the optimal time for cold therapy application. Rest the area and if appropriate, compress and elevate the affected part (not always that easy or appropriate).
Chronic pain conditions respond better to the application of heat, chronic usually means that the condition has been an issue for longer than 6 weeks. Hot baths, hot water bottles, heat packs, all can be soothing for chronic injuries. Heat encourages blood to flow to the affected area causing relief and providing a soothing feeling to the muscles.
Whether an acute injury or a chronic pain condition, often chiropractic treatment can help to resolve the issue. By realigning the body’s musculoskeletal structure, chiropractic enables the body to concentrate on healing itself, using its own innate ability to repair. Nerves are able to function correctly and send the correct signals to encourage repair, in turn allowing the associated muscles to sit correctly and in balance with each other on the skeletal structure; this decrease in hypertonicity will result in a reduction of inflammation and pain.
Waterside Chiropractic offers the McTimoney Chiropractic technique which will gently help to realign the whole body. The whole body is treated and not just the area of pain or discomfort as this ensures that areas that have compensated for the injury are also addressed. If you suffer an injury at the gym or through sporting activity, come and see how Waterside Chiropractic can help you get back on track with your New Year’s resolutions and make broken resolutions a thing of the past!