It’s the beginning of a new year and everyone has just enjoyed the Festive Season.
Whether that involved traveling, frantically preparing (and consuming) copious amounts of food and drink, or just laying back and letting go of all the craziness 2015 brought, the start of a new year usually brings with it thoughts of starting/resuming exercise.
After being on a break, it is important to ease your way back into activity. How quickly you resume pre Silly Season fitness depends on your fitness before the break and how long a break you took. If you were doing regular activity before, perhaps on the first session back, do 50-70% of what you were able to achieve prior to Christmas and build it up over then next 2-3 weeks. On the other hand if you were not exercising regularly before and you want to start up now, it is important to listen to your body when starting your new activity. For example if you want to commit to running and you are just starting out, try alternating between jogging and walking and then increase your jogging ratio as you increase your endurance. Increasing your exercise by small increments can help prevent you from injury.
Having the correct gear is also helpful for injury prevention. Take a look at your running shoes. Do they look like they are falling apart? Does the insole still offer you the support you may need? If it doesn’t, it may be a great time to update your footwear so your body has a good foundation to work off. If you are still unsure, book in for an appointment with us so we can help you work out what shoes would suit you better or if need be we can fit you with orthotics.
Other tips:
- Ensure you are well hydrated and fuelled for your activity
- A good warm up prior to activity helps you prepare your body for the upcoming tasks ahead. Remember static stretching prior to an activity is most likely not a safe way to warm up your body.
- Cooling down can be under-rated, but it is an important part of your workout. It helps you slow down your heart rate, flush out lactic acid build up and decreases delayed onset of muscle soreness so you are at less risk of feeling amazingly sore the next few days.
- Ensure your body is well conditioned to the task you want your body to achieve. If you are not conditioned, build up your strength and endurance slowly instead of pushing your body too far and hope that you will come out ok at the other end. If you are unsure on how to achieve this, book a session with us and we can help guide you.