Use it or lose it
In these challenging times of lockdown restrictions and with the dire impact Covid 19 has made on peoples’ lives, many of us have been forced to dramatically change our exercise and activity habits. Most of us will have reduced the amount we move and we need to start thinking about keeping or getting active in some way for our physical and mental health and also to reduce the risk of injury problems developing when restrictions ease.
Injury tends to happen due to change or challenge to our body that we are not used to coping with and it’s the same whether you are an elite athlete or a someone who just enjoys a walk a couple of times a week. The human body is an amazing structure and will adapt to the load we place on it. When we exercise we challenge the body to adapt to become more prepared for exercise… to get stronger, to be more flexible, for our cardiovascular fitness to improve. Unfortunately though it works the opposite way too, in that if we reduce the amount we do….. we lose strength, become less flexible and our fitness levels reduce, often without us realising it.
“if you don’t use it, you’re going to lose it”
This is where problems arise, when we try to return to the activity level we were performing before the lockdown, but now your body has de-trained and can’t cope with the load we place on it and we sustain an injury. It’s a common problem that happens when we decide we are going to get fit or active and start a new exercise programme, but do too much and push ourselves harder than our body is ready to tolerate and frustratingly ………we break.
So what should you do now at home to keep active and reduce the risk of injury when you can get back to normal?
Keep it simple…. but do something: There are a lot of free online options to follow that will get you active, or if you want a little more guidance and help to get sorted you could make a virtual (phone or video) appointment with us where we can listen to what your goals are, what you like doing and then provide you with a specific programme that meets your needs and current activity level.
Your programme might include:
Easy stretches.
Free online Yoga or Pilates classes.
Body weight strength and cardiovascular exercises / circuits.
Walking or jogging.
Advice on your diet.
Set realistic targets:
Try the 10% rule where each week you try to do 10% more than you did last week, so the change is gentle enough to allow your body to adapt for the next 10% progression.
If you try to do too much too soon then you won’t enjoy it and you will stop.
Better to start now, doing less …but doing something, than overdoing it and stopping….anything is better than nothing.
Set short and longer terms goals….a small change each week can change your life.
We at Return To Play Sports Medicine can help you get moving and put a realistic plan in place for the long term that you enjoy and get results from.
For further help, phone us on 028 686 41006 or email us at info@rtpsm.com