It’s time for spring cleaning, and perhaps you’ve noticed that carrying boxes and scrubbing the floors leaves you more fatigued and achy than you remember? Maybe you’ve simply decided that you want to start taking a more proactive approach to total wellness by working out. But where do you begin, and how do you make sure you’re following a plan that will help your entire musculoskeletal system instead of strain it?
Preparing for Gym Activity
The first step should certainly be consulting your care physician to make sure you are healthy enough to embark on a workout routine. This might involve checking your blood pressure and cardiac function, or perhaps some simple blood tests. Presuming you get a bill of clean health, the next step should be to do some research.
“What?” You may ask, “I can’t just sign up at a gym and start throwing weights around and playing on machines and get overnight results?” A good rule of thumb is to never increase any element of your physical activity by more than 10% per week. So you wouldn’t want to go from a sedentary desk job to trying to work out for multiple hours per day, or jump from lifting 5lbs to 40 in the space of a few days. Slow and steady increases improve bone density and muscle strength, leading to long-term, lasting improvements to your entire orthopedic system.
Set Up a Customized Workout Plan
If possible, it’s always recommended that you start with a trainer to help you set up a customized workout plan, but starter plans often have a few things in common:
- Remember to warm up and cool down before and after every workout.
- Focus on the whole body, rather than one body part per workout.
- Follow proper technique and form to prevent sports injury.
- Mix both weight bearing and cardio exercise.
- Listen to your body. Aches may be a reality at first, but actual pain is always a danger sign that you should see an orthopedic specialist.
Once you find your comfort zone in terms of how often to work out and what specific exercises you enjoy, you can begin to increase the frequency or duration and start to see real results in how you feel overall. If you have a question about orthopedic wellness workouts, contact us today.
Advanced Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Institute is a medical practice located in Freehold and Monroe, NJ, our medical professionals are experts in orthopedic surgery, joint replacement, sports medicine, integrative wellness, spine care, physical therapy, and more.
