Staying Active: Workout Tips

Hello, everyone! This is Dr. Bob Salamon with Lowcountry Chiropractic. As always, I hope you’re doing well and staying healthy! Welcome back to my blog, where I discuss anything and everything related to chiropractic care and healthy living! I aim to provide you with the information you need to make informed decisions about your health. In my last post, we discussed how to take care of your spine. Today, we’ll be talking about the importance of staying active and I’ll be sharing some workout tips. As you probably know, staying active is good for your overall health. In fact, staying active can help improve brain health, manage weight, reduce the risk of disease, strengthen bones and muscles, lower your blood pressure, and much more. When you are receiving routine chiropractic care, it is important to keep your body in the best shape possible to achieve optimal results. Oftentimes, chiropractic care works best when used in conjunction with other healthy habits and lifestyle changes. Staying active is one of the best ways to keep your body in good shape! If you are interested in learning more about the importance of staying active, as well as some workout tips, you’re in the right place! Let’s get started.

As we age, it becomes even more important to protect our bones, joints, and muscles. Keeping our bones, joints, and muscles in good shape ensures that we are able to perform our daily activities and remain physically active. Additionally, back pain is a common problem in our world– Up to 23% of adults suffer from chronic low back pain. Staying active has been proven to prevent or reduce back pain. This is partly because aerobic exercises increase the blood flow to the soft tissues in the back, reducing stiffness that can cause back pain and improving the healing process. 

How much should I exercise every day?

The amount of exercise one needs can vary from person to person. However, a general rule of thumb is to aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise per day. The Department of Health and Human Services recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity per week. Aerobics refers to cardiovascular exercise, commonly known as cardio. This includes running or jogging, biking, walking, swimming, hiking, and more. If you cannot meet the daily recommended goal, remember that small amounts of exercise can still be beneficial. 

Workout Tips

Let’s face it– Working out isn’t always as easy as it may seem. However, there are simple things that you can do to make your workouts easier and more beneficial! Let’s take a look.

1. Warm up properly

Before you begin exercising, it is important that you warm up properly. A warm up is essentially “waking up” your body before a workout. Just as the name suggests, a warm up literally raises your temperature slightly in order to make your muscles, tendons, and joints more flexible to improve your performance and prevent injury. Warming up also increases blood flow, which helps facilitate the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to your working muscles. Although it may be tempting to skip a warm up, doing so can put more strain on your muscles and can lead to injury. So, it’s important to get your muscles ready for exercise mode. Here are some easy warm ups:

• Squats
  
• Pushups
  
• Jumping jacks
  
• Jogging/marching in place
  
• Lunges
  

You should spend at least 5 to 10 minutes warming up. If your workout is going to be more intense, your warm up should last longer. 

2. Stay hydrated

We’ve all heard about the importance of staying hydrated, but do you know the reasoning behind it? Drinking enough water daily helps your body regulate temperature, lubricate joints, keep organs functioning properly, and more. Additionally, when you are exercising, your body will begin sweating in order to return to its optimal temperature. When sweat evaporates from the skin, heat is removed from the body– But this also removes body fluid. Therefore, it is important to drink plenty of water to replace that fluid lost through sweating. Adequate hydration prevents your body from overheating and can also help keep your muscles loose to prevent injury. A general rule of thumb is to drink 7 to 10 oz of water for every 10 to 20 minutes of exercise. 

3. Invest in a good pair of shoes

I mentioned the importance of a good, sturdy and comfortable pair of shoes in my last blog. The shoes that you wear play an important role in supporting your lower back. Choosing the right shoe with adequate support can help keep your spine aligned properly, therefore preventing injury. Whether you are walking, running, or performing exercises with gym equipment, having a proper pair of shoes is a must. Good shoes lessen the impact of your step and cushion your foot from heavy landings. There are a variety of shoes to choose from, such as running shoes, lightweight walking shoes, aerobic shoes, and more. You should choose a type of shoe that best corresponds with the type of exercise you perform most often. 

4. Set goals

When you are just getting started exercising, it may feel difficult to find motivation. That’s where goal-setting comes in. Setting fitness goals helps hold yourself accountable and give yourself incentive to keep going. In order for these goals to work as well as they possibly can, they must be well-structured. This can refer to SMART goals– Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound goals. Following this criteria will help make your goals more reachable. You must clearly define your goal. Rather than saying that your goal is to be healthier, think about what “healthy” means to you. Do you want to lose weight? Do you want to minimize back pain? Think about what you are trying to accomplish, and why. You should also specify a number within your goal, whether it is a number of repetitions, or a length of time you want to spend exercising, etc. This will allow you to slowly work towards that number each time you work out. 

5. Listen to music

For some people, the key to a successful workout is good music! Studies have shown that listening to music during a workout, especially motivational or energizing music, helps people push through fatigue and perform better. Music has also been proven to elevate mood, so you may feel more motivated or excited to workout. Try creating a playlist of upbeat songs to listen to while you work out. Keep in mind that everyone is different, however– Some people prefer to exercise in silence. Do whatever makes you feel comfortable!

6. Cool down

Just as warming up is important, it is just as important to cool down after a workout. This allows for the gradual recovery of your pre-exercise heart rate and blood pressure. When exercise comes to a sudden stop, it can cause side effects such as lightheadedness. Cooling down properly helps prevent this. At the end of your workout, continue what you were doing but at a much slower pace and reduce the intensity. For example, if you went for a brisk walk, continue walking slowly for 5 to 10 minutes. 

As you can see, these are just a few ways that you can stay active and make the most out of your workout! If you have any further questions or concerns, I encourage you to reach out to us. As a chiropractor, I can also provide you with nutritional advice and other recommendations for lifestyle changes that can help you keep your spine functioning at its best. I hope you found this article informative. If you have any concerns about your bone health, consider reaching out to Lowcountry Chiropractic! We specialize in different chiropractic techniques, as well as both therapeutic and Swedish massage. Send us an email or give us a call and we’ll assess the situation and develop a treatment plan to address your needs. We want to help you live a healthy and pain-free life– it’s what you deserve. As always, this is Dr. Bob and I have your back covered!