TIPS TO RECOVER FROM A WORKOUT

Proper recovery following a workout is as essential as the workout itself. Whether you are beginning to work out for the first time or are altering your regimen, proper recovery is crucial to sustaining a long-term workout plan.

Why It's Important:

During exercise, the body undergoes a controlled amount of stress. Tissues in our bodies need this stress in order to improve their function and your performance. In fact, when you exercise, your muscles actually undergo “micro-trauma” due to the imposed demand of your activity. Recovery is your chance to build yourself back up stronger than before; it is the link between short-term, immediate benefit and long-term, lasting outcome.

The following tips can help you attain maximum benefit from your workout and reduce the risk of developing an injury.

Stretching

Stretching is an important part of recovery, but it rarely receives the time or attention it deserves. The purpose of stretching is to maintain the flexibility of tissues that are tight or stiff from an activity or prolonged position.

There are a variety of methods of stretching (using the hamstring muscle as an example):

• Static/Isolated Stretching: Static, or isolated stretching is holding a stretch position for a long period.  (Example: A static hamstring stretch would be when you sit on the ground with one leg pointing outward and you simply reach for your toes and hold for at least 30 seconds.)
• Dynamic stretching: Dynamic stretching is using movement to combine muscle groups. (Example: A dynamic stretch for the hamstring would be walking toe touches, as you bend down and grab your toe with every step for 2 to 3 seconds.)
• Foam Rolling: Foam rolling is a type of self-mobilization and massage. (Example: To foam-roll the hamstring muscle, you will simply put a foam roller under your legs and let your weight rest on top so the foam roller will push out any knots in your hamstring.)

A very general rule for stretching is dynamic stretching before exercise, static stretching after exercise, and foam rolling throughout. Utilizing various stretching strategies will allow you to maintain and improve your mobility.

Refueling (Hydration and Nutrition)

Proper fueling before exercise is important to optimize performance, but nutrition for recovery from exercise is often overlooked. Our bodies rely upon a well-balanced array of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals to aid in rebuilding the parts of our body that have been stressed during exercise. Refueling after a workout with a well-rounded set of carbohydrates, proteins, and healthy fats will help your body reap the most benefit from your hard effort

Water is also absolutely essential to overall health. In particular, following exercise, proper hydration is key to replace the fluids that you have lost during your activity. Water also helps regulate your temperature, maintain healthy joints, and eliminate wastes that build up in your system during activity. Pay special attention to your total water intake if you are exercising in extreme hot or cold climates or if you feel as though you may be getting sick. Make a habit of keeping a water bottle in your purse, gym bag, car, or workplace for easy, reliable access.

RICE

RICE stands for Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation. If you find yourself having pain or swelling following exercise, particularly in a joint like your knee, ankle, or shoulder, you may consider using this four-part strategy to decrease inflammation and pain. If you continue to have symptoms several days following a workout, it may be important to seek the advice of a healthcare provider to further examine your complaints..

(See "The Difference between Soreness & Pain During Exercise" for more detailed information.)

Listen to Your Body

The only person who knows how your body feels after a workout is you. Allow yourself to listen to your body, and appropriately. This includes recognizing the signs of fatigue, pain or soreness and increasing recovery time between exercise bouts. This may also mean pushing yourself to work harder when you feel well. Don’t succumb to peer pressure at the gym. Trust yourself and what your body is telling you. When you are starting a new exercise program, don’t be afraid to ask your physical therapist for helpful hints on how your body may give you feedback after exercise, and how you should respond to that information.

Cross Training

Even if you love to run, your body may not like you running seven days a week. No matter what your exercise of choice may be (walking, running, swimming, cycling, weightlifting, yoga, recreational sports, etc.), you may considercan benefit from finding another form of exercise.

Cross training doesn't require a special shoe. It’s simply about challenging your body with different tasks so that certain tissues are not over-stressed, which often leads to overuse injuries. For example, a swimmer will benefit from strength training in addition to the hours spent in the pool in order to build different muscle groups and allow momentary rest for those that are used repetitively in the pool. Remember to do the exercises your body needs, not just the exercises you want to do. A physical therapist can help you determine where you have deficiencies or might be at risk for overuse injuries based on your workout regimen.

Planning Ahead

When life is busy, it’s hard to schedule enough time in your day to workout at all, let alone take care of yourself afterward. Try to plan your day or week so you have adequate time following each workout to implement the strategies above. This way you won't feel as rushed and cut out important recovery activities.

Sleeping

Often taken for granted, sleep is your body’s prime opportunity to recover.

When the body is at rest, the repair of our muscular, cardiovascular, skeletal, and immune systems can go to work. The CDC recommends that, in general, teens have 9-10 hours and adults 7-8 hours of sleep each day. These guidelines are especially important if you are demanding more of your body through regular exercise or stressful daily activities.

To get the most out of your shut-eye, strive for consistent bedtimes, avoid stimulating activities in bed (like TV and electronic devices), and a comfortable environment. You may find that you sleep better on days that you exercise, and will definitely notice a more effective, pleasant exercise experience if you are giving your body the rest it needs and deserves.

Fortunately, not only is your physical therapist trained to design an individualized exercise program for you, but she will also provide guidelines and strategies to ensure that you recover in the most effective way.

TIPS TO RECOVER FROM A WORKOUT

Proper recovery following a workout is as essential as the workout itself. Whether you are beginning to work out for the first time or are altering your regimen, proper recovery is crucial to sustaining a long-term workout plan.

Why It's Important:

During exercise, the body undergoes a controlled amount of stress. Tissues in our bodies need this stress in order to improve their function and your performance. In fact, when you exercise, your muscles actually undergo “micro-trauma” due to the imposed demand of your activity. Recovery is your chance to build yourself back up stronger than before; it is the link between short-term, immediate benefit and long-term, lasting outcome.

The following tips can help you attain maximum benefit from your workout and reduce the risk of developing an injury.

Stretching

Stretching is an important part of recovery, but it rarely receives the time or attention it deserves. The purpose of stretching is to maintain the flexibility of tissues that are tight or stiff from an activity or prolonged position.

There are a variety of methods of stretching (using the hamstring muscle as an example):

• Static/Isolated Stretching: Static, or isolated stretching is holding a stretch position for a long period.  (Example: A static hamstring stretch would be when you sit on the ground with one leg pointing outward and you simply reach for your toes and hold for at least 30 seconds.)
• Dynamic stretching: Dynamic stretching is using movement to combine muscle groups. (Example: A dynamic stretch for the hamstring would be walking toe touches, as you bend down and grab your toe with every step for 2 to 3 seconds.)
• Foam Rolling: Foam rolling is a type of self-mobilization and massage. (Example: To foam-roll the hamstring muscle, you will simply put a foam roller under your legs and let your weight rest on top so the foam roller will push out any knots in your hamstring.)

A very general rule for stretching is dynamic stretching before exercise, static stretching after exercise, and foam rolling throughout. Utilizing various stretching strategies will allow you to maintain and improve your mobility.

Refueling (Hydration and Nutrition)

Proper fueling before exercise is important to optimize performance, but nutrition for recovery from exercise is often overlooked. Our bodies rely upon a well-balanced array of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals to aid in rebuilding the parts of our body that have been stressed during exercise. Refueling after a workout with a well-rounded set of carbohydrates, proteins, and healthy fats will help your body reap the most benefit from your hard effort

Water is also absolutely essential to overall health. In particular, following exercise, proper hydration is key to replace the fluids that you have lost during your activity. Water also helps regulate your temperature, maintain healthy joints, and eliminate wastes that build up in your system during activity. Pay special attention to your total water intake if you are exercising in extreme hot or cold climates or if you feel as though you may be getting sick. Make a habit of keeping a water bottle in your purse, gym bag, car, or workplace for easy, reliable access.

RICE

RICE stands for Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation. If you find yourself having pain or swelling following exercise, particularly in a joint like your knee, ankle, or shoulder, you may consider using this four-part strategy to decrease inflammation and pain. If you continue to have symptoms several days following a workout, it may be important to seek the advice of a healthcare provider to further examine your complaints..

(See "The Difference between Soreness & Pain During Exercise" for more detailed information.)

Listen to Your Body

The only person who knows how your body feels after a workout is you. Allow yourself to listen to your body, and appropriately. This includes recognizing the signs of fatigue, pain or soreness and increasing recovery time between exercise bouts. This may also mean pushing yourself to work harder when you feel well. Don’t succumb to peer pressure at the gym. Trust yourself and what your body is telling you. When you are starting a new exercise program, don’t be afraid to ask your physical therapist for helpful hints on how your body may give you feedback after exercise, and how you should respond to that information.

Cross Training

Even if you love to run, your body may not like you running seven days a week. No matter what your exercise of choice may be (walking, running, swimming, cycling, weightlifting, yoga, recreational sports, etc.), you may considercan benefit from finding another form of exercise.

Cross training doesn't require a special shoe. It’s simply about challenging your body with different tasks so that certain tissues are not over-stressed, which often leads to overuse injuries. For example, a swimmer will benefit from strength training in addition to the hours spent in the pool in order to build different muscle groups and allow momentary rest for those that are used repetitively in the pool. Remember to do the exercises your body needs, not just the exercises you want to do. A physical therapist can help you determine where you have deficiencies or might be at risk for overuse injuries based on your workout regimen.

Planning Ahead

When life is busy, it’s hard to schedule enough time in your day to workout at all, let alone take care of yourself afterward. Try to plan your day or week so you have adequate time following each workout to implement the strategies above. This way you won't feel as rushed and cut out important recovery activities.

Sleeping

Often taken for granted, sleep is your body’s prime opportunity to recover.

When the body is at rest, the repair of our muscular, cardiovascular, skeletal, and immune systems can go to work. The CDC recommends that, in general, teens have 9-10 hours and adults 7-8 hours of sleep each day. These guidelines are especially important if you are demanding more of your body through regular exercise or stressful daily activities.

To get the most out of your shut-eye, strive for consistent bedtimes, avoid stimulating activities in bed (like TV and electronic devices), and a comfortable environment. You may find that you sleep better on days that you exercise, and will definitely notice a more effective, pleasant exercise experience if you are giving your body the rest it needs and deserves.

Fortunately, not only is your physical therapist trained to design an individualized exercise program for you, but she will also provide guidelines and strategies to ensure that you recover in the most effective way.

DON'T'S OF THE GYM

A TWO-PART BLOG POST

Coming from a person with a medically trained eye who has tried their fair share of workouts, ranging from kickboxing to rehabilitation-based resistance training to cross fit and everything in between, it can be very frustrating seeing people in all fitness settings doing the wrong things for their bodies.  It takes every ounce of my self control to walk away, because when you're at the gym, you're not a physical therapist anymore. 

From personal experience, work schedules in this area of the medical field can make it difficult to be able to attend scheduled fitness classes on a regular basis, so I use equipment at a fitness center to create my own workouts.  It's here that I've recognized with just a few simple facts, a lot of people could make their workout routines much safer and more effective for their bodies. Today we will focus on:

The "Don't's"

1. Weighted Machines

Let's first address the larger picture: many of the weighted machines are likely not going to be as good for your body as using free weights or body weight. These machines isolate singular muscles or muscle groups, and while that can be effective for muscle groups that are slightly weaker due to an injury, it is more likely that strengthening individual muscle groups at a time will  increase your chances of your musculature being off-balance. 

The musculature of the body, in peak form, has balanced counterparts; muscle length and tightness is similar, and both concentric and eccentric strength is similar. 

Concentric Strength: Force exerted by the muscle while the muscle length is shortening/decreasing
Example: Flexing your arms in a Hercules pose is concentric strength of the biceps. 

Eccentric Strength: Force exerted by the muscle while the muscle length is lengthening/increasing
Example: Slowly lowering yourself to sit in a chair is eccentric strength of the hamstrings and glutes. When eccentric strength is weak, a person may not be able to control the movement the entire way, and will end up just dropping to the seat of the chair. 

Counterparts of musculature include biceps and triceps, or quads to hamstrings. 

Certain isolating weight machines also put a very large force upon the muscle group, as the machine is designed to affect one muscle group only. Many daily activities will never require movements that isolate a single muscle group - so therefore, these machines are not only functionally less effective, but can even be harmful. 

EXAMPLES:

Knee Extension Machine (Quads)

This machine is particularly dangerous, as it is extremely easy to put so much strain on the muscle group that it causes damage. It has been proven that the increase of force and tension on the patellar tendon is so much so that if someone puts too much weight on for the tendonous insertions to handle, they are at an increased risk for quadriceps tendon tears, contusions, patellar mis-tracking, hip flexor tightness, and even ACL tears and tibial tuberosity fractures. 

Knee Flexion Machine (Hamstring Curl)

This machine is more ineffective than dangerous because it is truly not a movement we do in our daily lives, but there is a recorded increase risk in hamstring tightness, which can lead to pelvic rotation, hip pain, and back pain, and even a higher risk of PCL tears and hamstring tendon tears.

Adductor/Abductor Machine

I cannot express how many people I see doing these machines at the gym.  I'll start by saying that neither of these machines are particularly bad for your body. Hip abduction strength is crucial to a healthy hip and gait pattern, and even in a rehabilitation setting, we do seated hip abduction - but it is only helpful for so long. The body, in general, reacts quickly to strengthening in muscle groups that are not reached on a daily basis by someone who leads a more sedentary lifestyle, whether it be due to injury or just habit. This is the reason we start someone out with seated hip abduction - but after about a week, being seated is no longer beneficial since the muscles have adjusted.  Since everyone doing these machines at the gym are likely going to the gym too often to be considered sedentary individuals, and therefore seated hip abduction is not really beneficial or functional for their body.  

Now seated hip adduction is another story.  Like me before I started working in this field, I thought the seated hip adduction machine would make my inner thighs slimmer, and more toned. I, like so many others, was searching for a "thigh gap".  The truth is - it doesn't do any of that.  Like doing abs, this machine won't magically remove the stored fat from your inner thighs, just like doing abs won't give you a six-pack. 

2. MINIMAL OR EXCESSIVE MOMENTUM

This is most evident when watching someone do bicep curls. Someone who starts with their elbows in 90 degrees flexion and just pulls weight up to their shoulders is likely not going to get the results they're looking for unless they're maxing out on weight and doing minimal reps every time. This is minimal momentum.  Someone who is lifting using the full 180 degrees provided by the elbow joint, so the weight starts closer to the thighs, but who uses their entire body weight to  throw the weight up is using excessive momentum. This will also not likely lead to the results they're looking for, as they're recruiting so many other muscle groups that it no longer is primarily a biceps exercise. Not only is this ineffective, but can also put straight on the back if the core is not tight. The correct way to perform a bicep curl involves using almost the entirety of the elbow joint range of motion at a predetermined speed.  Faster contraction (pulling the weight up toward the shoulders and bending the elbow) is good for explosiveness, and increasing muscle mass, but it is equally as important that the bicep eccentric strength is improved by lowering the weight slowly to its return position. The arm should never be fully relaxed - therefore the weight should never return all the way to the thighs - just slightly above to keep some contraction in the arms. 

This is also very evident watching "Lat Pull-downs" as many people will use their entire body to pull the weight down, as opposed to just their arms and back. There shouldn't be any "rocking" as the weight lowers - the body should be almost entirely still.  This is true regardless of whether the lift is being performed standing or seated. 

3.  NOT STACKING YOUR JOINTS

More often than not, many individuals coming in for physical therapy who live active lifestyles are only injured because they need to make a few slight adjustments to their lifting and performing technique. Lifting doesn't necessarily mean lifting heavy weights, it can be as simple as picking a pencil up off of the floor, or putting a jug of milk in the refrigerator. 

SQUATS 

To activate as many muscle groups as possible while protecting the joints in the lower extremity, the joints need to be "stacked" so that a load is never more overbearing on one joint compared to another. The most common is probably the knees driving too far forward. When the knees drive further over the toes, the pressure on the anterior aspect of the knee joint is astronomical. Especially in this flexed and loaded position, the ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) is at it's longest and carrying the majority of the load. 

PUSH-UPS

More often than not, if you ask someone to do a push-up, it'll look like this: elbows out away from the body as if to be in a "T" position.  This position rotates the scapulae, or shoulder blades, out in a winging formation. While the body descends lower toward the ground, the shoulder joint is shifted forward and upward, into what is called external rotation. With the scapulae winging and the shoulders in external rotation, this is the position also known to cause impingement. Impingement syndrome is the result of slight damage to a rotator cuff tendon.  The damage causes swelling, which in turn, leads to blocked blood supply and pinched nerves because the tendons are so intricately weaved throughout bones in the shoulder joint.