Regular exercise is a key component of achieving better health and fitness. Along with proper diet and sufficient rest and recovery, you can achieve your goals, be they to lose weight or simply to have more energy to face the challenges of daily living.
Apart from knowing how to correctly and safely perform exercises, you should also know how to give your body sufficient time to recover from your workout. During exercise, your muscles are subjected to controlled stress which causes tears or micro-trauma in the tissues. Through ample rest and recovery, you are giving your body the opportunity to rebuild these tissues, making you stronger in the long run. Forgo rest and you risk injuring yourself and setting yourself back farther from your goals. Here are a few expert tips from specialists in physical therapy Downtown NY residents should follow.
Warm Up and Stretch
When you are trying to squeeze time away from your busy schedule in order to go to the gym, it is easy to skip past performing your warm-ups and stretching. However, both are critical in preparing your body for your workout. Skipping these can lead to unwanted and preventable injuries.
Ideally, your warm-up should consist of movements that mimic the exercise you are about to perform. For example, if you are going to barbell squat, a suitable warm-up would be to perform bodyweight squats.
Stretching, on the other hand, should be performed before, during and after exercise. Dynamic stretching moves like toe touches are best performed before your workout. Static or isolated exercise, wherein you hold a stretch position for a period of time, is best done after a workout. Foam rolling can be performed in between sets.
Learn To Listen To Your Body
When it comes to working out, the most important thing that you should listen to is your body. Going to the gym can be intimidating to a lot of people. And as such, many give in to peer pressure – from doing an extra rep when you simply can’t to adding more weight to the barbell. Not all types of pain lead to gains. If you feel tired, fatigued or if you feel that something is amiss, don’t ignore these.
Cross-Train
The best way to commit to exercising is to find an activity that you enjoy. Some people choose to run, others to bike or swim. However, training in other disciplines, apart from the one you truly enjoy, offers several benefits. For example, hitting the weight room can strengthen your muscles, allowing you to protect your body against injuries. If you choose to run to lose weight, you can consider strength training to allow you to burn more calories while giving the muscles used for running ample time to recover.
Sleep
During sleep, your body goes on full-scale mode to repair its various systems. Ideally, adults should sleep between seven to eight hours per night. If you subject yourself to serious training, make sure that you get ample quality shuteye.
