5 Tips to Exercising without Injury

The following is a press release from the Injury & Recovery Center in . 

You told yourself this year would be different. When the weather improves your walking shoes will make a dramatic reappearance and you will begin to get active again. Millions of people are just like you at this time of the year. Everyone has great intentions, but many fall short of their goals due to the aches and pains that develop when they start their walking or running exercise program. 

Here are 5 tips to help you achieve your goals and avoid an injury along the way: 

1) Make sure you have good shock absorption in your shoes: 

It’s so important that your shoes have good cushioning for shock absorption. The cushions in your shoes wear out over time, which allows your muscles and joints to become more prone to wear and tear. This extra stress placed on your joints and muscles can lead to pain. Avid runners track how many miles they put in their shoes and many of them will buy new shoes when they put about 500 miles on them. Your shoes may look new, but they may be worn out.

2) Look for abnormal wear patterns on your shoes: 

With every step you take, you should land in a balanced position on your heel. Sometimes your gait pattern can be altered when the heel of your shoe becomes worn out and angled. If this happens, every step you take creates unwanted stress on your legs which, over time can create an injury.

3) Gradually build up your time and distance: 

This is easier said than done because everyone wants to get out and enjoy the warmer weather. It’s important to slowly and systematically progress with your exercise routine. This means that you can’t just go out and walk for 30 minutes or 2 miles your first time out. For instance, start by walking 10 minutes or a ¼ of a mile at a slow pace and see how you feel the next day. If you don’t have any soreness, the next step would be to increase your time to 15 minutes or a ½ mile. See how you feel the next day and if you are still feeling well, walk the same time or distance, but this time you may want to just increase your pace. Map out how you would like to progress so you can see achieve your goals. If you notice you begin to develop some soreness at a certain distance or time, adjust your time or distance for a week and then slowly build it back up again. 

4) Stretch before, during, and after your exercise routine: 

Take 5 or 10 minutes to get your heart rate up before you begin your walk or run. Make sure to stretch all your leg muscles. If you feel a little tightness during your walk or run, there’s nothing wrong with stopping for a few minutes to stretch, this is actually one of the best times to stretch. Stretching after your run or walk is also very important. Take a good 10 minutes to slowly stretch all muscle groups, even your upper body. If you don’t know which stretches to perform, do a search on the internet and you can easily build your stretching program from that. 

5) Listen to what your body is telling you: 

Some days your body will tell you not to exercise, listen to it. It’s not worth pushing yourself for one day to sacrifice the next three days.

Dr. Mark Koldenhoven is the owner and director of the Injury & Recovery Center located in Woodridge.

You can contact him at www.injuryandrecovery.com or 630.910.1002