physical exercise

Train smarter

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Train smart

Train Smarter Not Harder!

The gyms are open!

Whether you are starting exercise as part of a New Year’s resolution, looking to shed some COVID kilos or preparing for the sporting season ahead, there are a few things to think about before getting back into training.

Change in health status?

If you have developed pain or have had a change in your health status since you were last in the gym, then it’s important to be assessed by a physiotherapist before commencing training. Understanding the source of your pain or impact of a health condition is necessary to minimise risk of further injury or illness.

If you are feeling well and ready to return, then here are a few things you should keep in mind to keep you injury free and on track with your goals.

Do not resume training at your previous loads!

We can all be eager to get straight back into training at the same weight or intensity as before the break, however jumping back in where you left off can be risky and is a common cause of injury. A good rule of thumb is to reduce your weights by 50% on your return to the gym or begin with body weight exercise before slowly adding weight.

The slower the climb, the higher the peak!

Stay on track to achieve your long-term goal by avoiding injury. Too often do people go too heavy too quickly, resulting in time spent missing training. Try to keep weight increases to no more than 10% per week. These incremental increases give your body time to adapt to the changing load.

Rest is Important!

Our bodies need rest and recovery time in between training loads to get stronger and minimise injury. It is important to program rest or active recovery days where your heart rate does not exceed 140 bpm.

Consider training every second day or complete a gentle walk, swim, or bike session on the off days if you are looking to stay active. If you need some advice to assist with getting back into the gym or run into problems on your return, the team at NU Moves Physio would be happy to give you a hand.

Common training mistakes – how to avoid injury

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running and physiotherapy

Exercise and sports related injuries are common. Some sports such as rugby come with higher risks and frequency of injury. General exercise often has low risk of injury but that depends on how hard we push ourselves and the type of exercise we do. It doesn’t matter whether it is a team sport, an exercise class, a personal training session or an individual session, an injury will limit your participation for a period of time.

One common source of injury is ‘training error’. This is usually doing too much, too soon but can also be related to technique (e.g. squat, running) or equipment. Technique is the way you move relative to the load or complexity of the movement.

There is a fine balance between being challenged sufficiently to enjoy exercise and avoiding ‘training error’. A simple message is the more you know your body at each stage of life the less likely injury will occur. This means train at a level of load suited to your body; gradually increase the level of exercise over several weeks; listen and adjust to pain especially if it is in a joint or the spine; and use mirrors to watch how you perform a gym exercise to ensure the technique is correct. It’s simple advice but it works if you want to reduce the chance of injury.

Finding Balance in your Life

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balanceAs physiotherapists and exercise physiologists, we help people address the neuro-musculoskeletal system (nerves, muscles, bones and joints) of the body with physical exercise strategies. This is reliant on a person getting involved with our recommended strategies and advice. The biggest barrier to not getting involved is time available and prioritising. Even when it actually makes us feel better to go for a walk or do a stretch, the time available often gets in the road.

Physical balance is similar to nutrition advice. We know a balanced diet will make you feel better – so will finding a balance in exercise and movement. This balance changes throughout each week, month and year of our life but keeping a routine amount of the right type of activity for you will increase your feeling of well-being and reduce the risk of many health conditions such as diabetes and heart disease.

Most commonly it is too much sitting and not enough out of the chair activity that creates problems. Other times it is too much running and not enough recovery.

The message we commonly convey to our clients is:

Why do you exercise, why don’t you exercise, how much activity do you do, how does the activity levels weigh up against the amount you sit? The body will respond to the loads you put on it; similarly it will respond to what you eat and how much stress you are under.

Find the balance:

Consider what activity makes you feel good and write down a plan to achieve it. There is no better time to do it than today! Remember, it’s not always about doing more – some of you will be overdoing exercise for your own reasons – in this case finding the balance might be going for a swim or a walk instead of a run.