Entries Tagged 'gym' ↓
June 26th, 2008 — exercise, gym, injury, wellness
Our elbows go through hell on a regular basis, and we may not even realize how much stress we put on this poor joint every day. Whether you are playing tennis, basketball, baseball, golf or pretty much any sport that requires arm movements, you are running the risk of injuring that elbow. Let’s look at a few ways that you can keep your elbows happy and tickle your funny bone instead of breaking it.
1. Wear a proper brace.
If you are playing tennis or if you have a history of tennis elbow, you’ll need to get outfitted with a brace. Once you’ve strained this joint, it’s pretty likely that it’s going to happen again. A brace can greatly reduce the odds of re-injury and it will generally just feel better. You’ll be able to do more if you aren’t hampered by a sore elbow.
2. Warm up properly.
Brace or no brace, you’ve got to get stretching before you do anything. Your elbows are subjected to a lot of daily abuse and daily stretching can be very helpful for those that suffer from chronic elbow pain. Make sure that you never skimp on your warm up, you will regret it later.
3. Know your body.
Let’s say you’re playing baseball and you’re really giving it all you have. After a few throws, you might start to feel a dull ache in your elbow. As you keep throwing, it only gets worse. If you try to push past that pain and keep going, chances are pretty high you’re going to sprain or strain it. You need to know how to listen to your body and pay attention to these warning signs. You can look at this way, you can try to struggle through 15 more minutes of throwing, and risk not being able to exercise for six weeks, or you can quit after you feel that first ache and avoid injury.
4. Change up your routine.
Elbows are at such a high risk for injury because this joint is used so frequently and often in a repetitive fashion. Going back to our baseball analogy, if you keep throwing the same pitch for several minutes straight, your elbow is going to protest. Try changing up your routine so that you’re not using that elbow in the same way every time. Taking short breaks will help you exercise longer.
5. Wrap it up.
If you don’t have a brace, but you know you’re going to be using your elbow a lot, wrapping can be very beneficial. However, wrapping only works if it is done properly. Otherwise, you may actually increase your risks for spraining it. Ask your personal trainer or even a physical therapist to show you how to wrap your elbow. You may need someone else there to do it properly until you get the hang of doing it one handed on your own.
Even though our elbows are prone to injury, you can greatly reduce the risk by following the points above and knowing when to say when.
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June 24th, 2008 — activities, exercise, gym, injury, wellness
Our ankles are actually pretty fragile little joints and you may not realize just how fragile until you sprain one. Nobody likes walking around on crutches, but there are a few ways that you can make sure that your ankles stay strong and that you avoid this common injury. Let’s get started!
1. Always stretch first.
We can’t say it enough, even though you have heard it all before. If you don’t want to injure your ankles, you’re going to have to stretch before you exercise. Even a few minutes will get you limbered up and will reduce your risks for spraining that joint. Take the time before every workout to adequately stretch out every part of your body, including your ankles. They will definitely thank you for it.
2. Wear the right kind of shoes.
Not many of us run on a treadmill in stilettos, but with some of today’s workout shoes, you might as well. It is vital to have proper footwear that offers support. Make sure that you are purchasing the right kind of shoe to help increase your chances of avoiding a sprain. For example, a true tennis shoe is made for playing tennis - not basketball. It will not have the kind of support you need for jumping and running around like that.
If you don’t want to have a whole closet full of shoes, try to find a really good pair of cross trainers that will allow you a wide variety of exercises. By getting the right kind of shoe, you’ll be able to exercise longer and you won’t be in pain. All of your joints will thank you for that.
There is one more thing to consider about shoes before we move to the next point. While it may not be the case 100% of the time, you do normally get what you pay for. A pair of cheap athletic shoes will not provide you with the same support as a more expensive shoe. There’s a reason these shoes are so expensive. They are designed to help you perform better and reduce the risk of injury. You can look at this way, you can spend a few more dollars now on better shoes, or you can spend a lot more getting your ankle fixed after you sprain it.
3. Strengthen your ankles.
A lot of us have weak ankles, but there are some exercises that you can do to strengthen up those ankles and reduce your risks of injuries. Some of the best include resistance band flexes with your feet as well as the old tried and true heel raise. Keep at it until your ankles feel as strong as the rest of you.
4. Tape it.
If all else fails and you have very weak ankles, taping can be the answer. Never attempt to tape your own ankles if you don’t know what you’re doing. Have a sport’s therapist train you on the right way to wrap, or you could make a sprain worse if you do get injured. The problems with taping ankles are that it is time consuming, incurrs on going costs for tape, you have to shave your ankles to do it right, and do even get me started on removing the tape.
An alternative in the same vein is to wear a high quality lace up ankle guard. This was a highly recommended suggestion on my college basketball team and something I had been doing since early high school. An example of such a high quality brace is McDavid Ankle X Ankle Brace.
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June 11th, 2008 — alternative ideas, exercise, goals, gym
Let’s face it, when it comes to starting an exercise plan, few of us actually enjoy it. Who wants to get all tired and sweaty when it’s so much easier to sit on the couch and languish? This causes most of us to make excuses and find ways to keep busy so that we have a reason to avoid exercising. However, there are ways that you can get past this stage and make that effort towards getting healthier. And you know what? Once you start exercising regularly you’ll most likely find that you feel better when you’re done. That’s right, eventually you will like exercising.
So, let’s start off at ground zero. You need to exercise, but you don’t want to. First, make a list of all the reasons that you need to start exercising. Now, next to this column, make a list of the reasons that you don’t want to exercise. Let’s take a look at that second column and start blowing these excuses away.
Biggest excuse - you don’t have enough time.
Well, there are several ways to look at this. Most of us need to exercise at least thirty minutes a day. While it’s better to get it done all at once, there’s no rule that says you have to do thirty minutes in one sitting. Can you find three 10 minute blocks in your day where you usually do nothing? Turn that time into exercise time! It may not be easy if you’re at work, but there are ways that you can start exercising even on the job.
Second biggest excuse - I’m embarrassed to go to the gym in my current state.
Yes, walking into the gym and being the biggest person there is not fun. However, chances are, those people looked just like you at one time or another. You don’t need to feel ashamed of your body. If you find that you’re not welcome at one gym, try another. If all else fails, get some exercise equipment for you home or start a walking plan around your neighborhood. Keep at it until you feel comfortable enough to walk into the gym.
Third biggest excuse - The gym is too far away.
This is one of the few excuses that actually makes a lot of sense. We’re all pretty busy and driving that extra twenty minutes out of our way doesn’t fit into our schedules. If you cannot find a gym that is within a short distance of your home or work, try to get some exercise equipment of your own, or find ways to exercise that don’t require actual equipment, such as walking or running.
Fourth biggest excuse - I’m too out of shape and it’s too hard.
Well, with this mentality, you’re never going to get anywhere. Instead of leaping into a marathon training regime, you’re going to need to start small. Build up your exercise in five minute blocks, adding more moves until you are able to do them all at once. This helps you gradually get into better shape and it’s not so hard to get started.
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May 30th, 2008 — Meals, about, activities, diet, exercise, goals, gym, motivation, weigh in, weight loss
After 6 weeks on the medically assisted weightless program JumpStart medicine with Dr. Sean Bourke, I have lost 46 pounds in 45 days (just over a pound a day… Wow!) This week I lost 7.1 pounds and I am ecstatic to have achieved 109.2% of my goal. I have been feeling great, but the larger dose of Phentermine caused me to get light headed nearly to the point of passing out several time this week. (In addition to Phentermine, I have a weekly Methionine, Inositol, and Choline (MIC) Injection and daily I take Chromium, a multivitamin, B6 and B12 supplements.) I have decided I wanted to reduce the dose of Phentermine back to 30 mg (from 37mg). I had much less trouble with portion control on the higher dose, but the risk of passing out and falling is not worth it… I am 6′10″ and that is a long way to fall.
Having over-achieved my goal of 6.5 pounds (the previous goal was set to 6.5 to make up for missing a 5 pound weekly goal several weeks ago.) I am setting a more modest goal this week of 5.4 pounds. Why 5.4? :) My weight at this weight was 344.4, so if I succeed I will weigh an even 339. Here’s to a great week in the past and a great week upcoming.
Here is a graph of my weight loss (if you are reading this in the future this graph will have updated for future weigh ins as well)… Clicking the image will open to a larger image.
I didn’t get a chance to work out as much as I would have liked because of work consideration… I didn’t swim, play volleyball, or golf this week. I did play basketball twice and go on several walks… I am going to try and get to the gym for volleyball or basketball 5 times this week, I plan on playing (walking carrying my golf bag) at least 1 round of golf, and I would like to swim more than a few laps.
I plan to continue trying to eat less fat free cheese and more lean protein. I have been getting my dairy with a double tall non-fat no-foam latte from Starbucks.
I have not tried to stop my intake of caffeine, but my consumption of caffeine is drastically curtailed from where it was. (I need that morning java and coffee with skim milk just isn’t the same.)
Good luck to all that are working on losing the weight…
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May 16th, 2008 — about, exercise, goals, gym, healthy eating, weigh in, weight loss
After 1 month on the Jumpstart Medicine medically assisted weightless program I have lost 34 pounds… This week I lost 3.5 pounds with was 70% of my weekly goal of 5 pounds per week. I attribute missing the goal to a later than normal and larger than normal (for a 1200 calorie diet) dinner last night and missing my regular movement this morning. I except that there are normal fluctuations in the weekly number as even on a daily basis I can fluctuate 5 pounds from morning through evening with the ups and downs of water loss and water consumption with the Ketosis and exercise.
Here is a graph of my weight loss (if you are reading this in the future this graph will have updated for future weigh ins as well)… Clicking the image will open to a larger image.
So if I am to believe my claim that 1.5 pounds is within a normal fluctuation and that I am still maintaining a 5 pound a week average weight loss. Then I need to set my weekly goal for 5 pounds plus the pound and a half that the scale failed to recognize lost in the weigh in. So my goal for next week is to end the week at 350 or to have lost 6.5 pounds for the week.
My plan to accomplish the goal is to stick to the diet, reduce my fat free cheese intake and replace those proteins with more lean meat. My plan to address the lack of a normal movement is to continue to consume a 2 regular servings of sugar free Metamucil.
I had a good week for an exercise perspective… I played almost 2 hours of basketball twice and almost 2 hours of volleyball twice. I went for a short swim and several walks. My plan is about the same for this week, only with more swimming.
In talking with the doctor about my long term goal, he was hesitant to talk about a final weight number. Instead he focused on Body Fat percentage. At this week’s weigh in we did the electroanalysis again and my body fat percentage was 36% (down from 39% when I started). He thought he first goal is to get the BFP below 25% and ideally below 20%. At that point my actual weight is irrelevant. So, even though I have a number in mind for my final weight (230-260), I am now officially making it my goal to get to under a 20% body fat percentage. If I can continue to lose 5 pounds a week I should be able to reach my goal by the end of the year.
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