Fitness Tip - Injury Treatment

A few tips back we talked about types of injuries, ways to strengthen weak areas, and how we work around them. What about actually dealing with the injury itself? Let’s just be clear that we are talking acute injuries or injuries that happen suddenly from activity. Chronic injuries need more intense treatment.

I’m sure everyone is familiar with the acronym R.I.C.E. This stands for Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. It is the common and recognized standard practice for recovering from acute training/sport injuries. Let’s look at each component.

REST – This is hard for some people and too easy for others. For someone who is trying to improve their fitness, coming to a complete stop for a week or two may not be a good idea. There are plenty of ways to work around the injury by focusing on other movements. Key point: Rest the injured area but stay moderately active. Also, really make a point of getting enough sleep. Sleep is where the body repairs itself and grows stronger.

ICE – Icing the injury keeps the inflammation and swelling down. This helps draw blood away from the area and improves healing time. This is necessary when the injury first occurs. There are several ways to ice. Using an ice pack, frozen popcorn or peas (Duncan’s favorite), or a total ice bath for the brave souls. Try not to ice for more than 15-20 minutes at time without a 10 minute break. After the swelling is down, then you can apply heat to the area. Moist heat brings blood to the area which brings healing nutrients to the injury.

COMPRESSION- Compression to the injured area slows speeds healing by reducing the inflammation. Compression decreases pain of the injury. The best way to compress an area is to wrap it with sports tape or and ace bandage. Throbbing may signify that the bandage is too tight, so loosen it just enough so it is firm, yet not constricting.

ELEVATION- This also keeps swelling to a minimum. It is most effective to elevate an injured area above the heart. If you have a sprained ankle, while laying down, propping your foot up with a couple of pillows will work.

Once the swelling is down and the injury has had a chance to heal, your trainer can begin to slowly work in exercises, stretching positions to strengthen and retain the effected area.

There is one more grain of rice that we should mention.

Anti-inflammatories - Acetaminophen, Naproxen, and Ibuprofen are all common anti-inflammatory medications. These medications, if used wisely, for a short period of time will really help put the fire out, and reduce the pain so you can stay active. What’s the best? Usually the one that you can take without upsetting your stomach or affecting you adversely in some way. It takes time for the medication to build in your system, so make sure you stick to the dosage schedule even though you might be feeling better.

Fitness Tip - Active Lifestyle

Tis’ the season for gardening, long walks with the dog, and spring cleaning. How do these activities fit in with my exercise program? Does walking the dog count as my cardio workout? How about cleaning out the garage? Pulling those weeds out of the yard is definitely a workout!

The good news is these are considered to be daily activities and adds significantly to an active lifestyle. The bad news is, they are NOT considered to be strength training or cardio workouts. The main reason is in the intensity and duration of each activity.

Although walking along the beach burns calories, generally speaking for most people, the heart rate does not get high enough or last long enough to increase your cardiovascular endurance. If you are looking for significant changes in your fitness level and body composition, the intensity needs to be increased and your heart rate must be maintained at a higher level for at least 20 minutes or more.

The other aspect is your body adapts to everything you do. It will get used to doing the same loop around the park, which may have been challenging at first, but a month later your body adapts and starts to burn less and less calories. For increasing your fitness level and weight loss, that is a killer.

What people notice when they start a weight training program or increase the intensity of their cardio workout, is that they can do their daily activities with greater ease. Chasing the kids around is a little less exhausting, lower backs don’t ache after gardening, and walking the dog turns into a run in the park.

Don’t get me wrong, an active lifestyle is the way to go! Taking the stairs and parking at the far end of a parking lot keeps you moving and living. But don’t confuse these activities with the work it takes during a real workout that can lead to big changes in your strength, endurance, and body composition.

Remember to make YOU a priority in 2009!

Fitness Tip - Top 10 Nutrition Tips

The down and dirty Top 10 Tips of Good Nutrition!

1. Eat breakfast.

2. Drink water. Lots of it.

3. Eat a serving of lean protein (chicken, turkey, fish, lean beef/pork/buffalo) at every meal.

4. Try to get most of your carbohydrate from fresh vegetables and fruit.

5. Healthy fats (nuts, avocado, olive oil) are good for you

6. Eat protein and carbohydrate together. Always together.

7. Read nutrition labels.

8. AVOID SUGAR! Especially anything with High Fructose Corn Syrup. Again read nutrition labels.

9. Eat something every 3 hours.

10. Plan your meals.

Remember to make YOU a priority in 2009!

Client Achievements - Vacation

Remember our Client of the Month for February - Heidi. Well, she achieved her goal of getting fit in time for her vacation. Through changes in her diet and making exercise a part of her lifestyle, she made the changes she set for herself. She sent photos from her vacation to Hawaii to not only rub it in that she was out in the sunshine, but to show her accomplishments. Keep up the great work Heidi!

April Client of the Month - Kathy Herigstad

Kathy was named Client of the Month for all her hard work and dedication both here and outside of the studio. Not only does she work hard during her session, but also she inspires other clients while doing her cardio work. She even braved the snow to post a new personal best at the St. Patrick's Day Dash Race. Keep up the hard work and good luck as we head towards the Seattle Rock-n-Roll 1/2 Marathon in June.

Here is what Kathy has to say about her experience at Fitness Together. "The trainers at FT are great to work with. The benefits of working with a trainer one-on-one have brought my overall fitness to a higher level. The last 8 months working at FT have helped me to remain motivated to expand my workouts in and out of the gym.

FT has more than met my expectations for helping me to build overall strength and muscles, which help me in ALL my sport activities and life. Each day I workout, I know my trainer is ready to raise the bar with new workout challenges to help me achieve my goals, while keeping me smiling during those booty kicking workouts! I see this as an investment in myself and a commitment to my overall health. I'm glad I have a team on my side like FT."

March Client Competition Winners - Bike Time Trial

March's contest was designed to see how quickly you could complete 1 mile on the recumbent bike. The goal was to complete it under 3 minutes. With a herculian effort, Jay rode to victory as our March winner. His quads were searing and his lungs were gasping for air, but he completed the 1 mile in a whopping 2 minutes at the highest resistance setting - Level 17.

Our second prize for this month goes to Bette for being Most Improved on the Bike. She started out at Level 7 and finished out at Level 15. After each jump in resistance, her times improved, showing that with persistence, anything is possible. Congratulations to both winners this month. Next up - core work!