How to Exercise With Less Pain So You Can Reach Your New Years Goals
We love this time of year! It’s that time when everyone is feeling motivated to better themselves. They’re eating better, exercising more, and setting big goals that they want to achieve in the new decade. But what if you’re dealing with back, shoulder, knee pain or any other issue?
One of the main reasons people come to see us is because they are being forced to sit out their favorite exercise routine because of nagging aches and pains or worry that their pain will get worse. One of the worst things you can do is ignore any pain you may be experiencing. We’ve been doing this a long time and one thing we can assure you is that pain doesn’t go away on it’s own and often gets worse.
We don’t want to see this happen to you which is why we wanted to share some tips and tricks to be sure you can stay active and strong through the entire year!
1) Warm Up
This is something we see all the time when we’re exercising and are sometime guilty of it ourselves! We call it the ‘half-hearted’ warm up. A few toe touches. Thirty seconds of stretching. And then right into our activity. A good warm up with help mobilize your joints, engage and prepare muscles for some work, and get your heart rate elevated to get your blood moving. This will not only help with any stiffness that may limit the way you move, but decrease the stress that goes through your body that contributes to those nagging aches and pains. The following video is one of our favorite full body warm ups!
2) Pay Attention to Detail
If exercise is making your pain worse, it’s very possible that we’re moving inefficiently and putting more stress on our already achy joints. It’s important when we’re exercises to pay attention to the way we’re moving to be sure we’re using the right muscles and loading the right joints, especially if we’re adding any weights! Our bodies are meant to move a certain way and unfortunately hours spent sitting in front of a computer and long periods of inactivity can change the way we move, leading to more aches and pains.
We’re one of the few clinics in Portland who not only assess movement patterns, but put together programs that retrain those movement patterns so you won’t be stuck dealing with chronic aches and pains. I recommend seeing a movement expert, like those employed in our office, to make sure you’re ready and able to start on that new exercise program you’re so excited about!
3) Get Assessed By An Expert
Your first thought might be to go to your doctor when you start experiencing back, knee or shoulder pain. But most doctors aren’t trained in the specifics of back or knee pain.They will assess you to make sure there isn’t a major pathology or broken bone, but they won’t assess your movement. They often offer ‘quick fixes’ like pain pills or injections or just advise you to rest.
A specialty chiropractic and movement practice will be able to assess your movement in detail, through various movement tests, which will tell a much better story about how your pain may or may not impact the new exercise or program you’re about to start. Plus, we’ll be able to create customized programs specifically designed to make sure you can embark on your new goal while decreasing your risk of injury.
If getting in better shape is part of your new years goal but your worried about back or knee pain getting in the way, we have a workshop starting in February that will give you EVERYTHING you need to exercise without those chronic aches and pains! Click the link below to learn more
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