Taking your time pays off

You’ve heard it a thousand times. “It’s not a sprint. It’s a marathon.” While the popular phrase can apply to numerous scenarios, it especially makes sense for people who are starting out on a journey to better health.

A lot of people have a resolution of starting an exercise program to lose weight — especially in the beginning of the New Year, after holiday parties where they inevitably ate too much and were planted on the couch for far too long. Problem is while they have the best of intentions, they tend to go overboard — ending up with some kind of injury and stalling or ending their resolution. Here are a few tips to help prevent the injuries from derailing your efforts to get in shape.

1. Make a list. Before you start exercising, make of list of what you like about yourself so you can focus on the positive rather than just focus on what you want to change.
2. Track where you’re starting. Take a selfie and body measurements. Sometimes the scale doesn’t budge as you are gaining muscle and losing fat. A photo and stats of where you started can prove you are changing your body and keep you from getting frustrated.
3. Start small. If you have not exercised in a while, do not go all in. Start simple and work on form first. If you are not using proper form, exercising can increase the stress to the body, causing injury and stopping progress.
4. Go easy on yourself. If you enjoy exercise classes – go and enjoy yourself. However, do not get competitive and feel you have to keep up with the others in the class. You do not know where they are in their fitness journey and how long they have been doing the class. Compare yourself only to yourself. Work at your level.
5. Make one change at a time. Too many changes will overload your body and can end in injury. If you start out too strong, you may not be able to maintain the regimen and can easily slip back into old habits.
6. Overcome your fear of the gym. The gym can be intimidating, especially if you are overweight or inexperienced. Many people feel like they are getting stared at and judged. You may be surprised to hear this but everyone else is focusing on their own workout. They are not paying attention to others in the gym. If you’re feeling unsure, personal training is a great service to utilize. A trainer will teach you how to use the equipment; what exercise routine will be most effective for you; how much weight to use on the machines; and how to prevent injury.
7. Expect to have bumps in the road. With any journey you are going to make mistakes and stumble along the way. Life can get crazy and you’ll be temporarily derailed. The difference between failing on a diet or fitness routine and succeeding is that you pick yourself back up and keep going.
8. Reward yourself. Between week three and four of a new routine is the most common time when people quit their resolutions. Be ready for this and reward yourself so you will keep going.
9. It’s not just about a small waist. Exercise for health benefits that are not necessarily related to weight loss. Create a goal to feel better, more energized, happier, calmer, sleep better, have lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol levels and better control of your blood sugar if you are diabetic. There are lots of health-related reasons for working out besides weight loss.
10. Remember the rush. When you don’t feel like exercising, remind yourself of how good you will feel when you are done. If you associate being active with pleasure and how good you feel, you will be more likely to continue.
11. Find something you like to do. If you do not like it you will not stay with it. You should be able to find something you like. A personal trainer can also expose you to different types of exercises to keep you interested.
12. Make exercise a new habit for you. Once your mental game is on point and established, the physical aspect of following through with the exercise will be easier.
13. Like anything, you have to be doing it for yourself. If you miss an exercise session figure out how you are going to fit it in somewhere later in the day/week. Treat your fitness and health commitments like you would commitments to your job, family or friends. You would not let those important people in your life down so why do it to yourself?

If you do end up suffering from a strain or a pain that wasn’t there when you started, contact Franklin Rehabilitation for a free pain screening. We’ll get you back up and exercising in no time. (414) 425-9700 or [email protected].