As we get older, our brains remember what we were able to do during exercise when we were younger, but somehow our body forgets. As we hit our forties, our bodies begin to change and we lose the important minerals for healing and our soft-tissues become less elastic and more prone to injures. If you are like me, you wonder where the years have gone and remember how easy it was to get into shape.

What do most people do? We join a gym.  Start the cardio workout’s and hit the weights. This is where we forget that we are not in our 20’s or even our 30’s anymore. As you begin your exercise routine, you start to reshape the soft-tissues, but as you stress these areas, small injuries begin to occur. But since these tissues are not as elastic, the healing process takes a little longer. Because most of us have a sedentary lifestyle and with our diet that has a lot of sugar in it, our bodies are not able to adapt quickly enough to the new life changes we are trying to make. Soreness and fatigue will not seem to go away, and because we do not see the immediate changes to our bodies, laziness works our way into consciousness and we slowly stop the exercises.

When people start to work out, they are enthusiastic and eager and start at 3 to 4x per week, but because our body does not respond like it used to, most people slowly stop the workouts. When I am discussing an exercise routine with a patient, I always recommend that they start out at 1x per week for 4 weeks, then increase their routine to 2x per week for a month, then try 4x per week for a month. This gives them a little win for working out and slowly gives them confidence in what they are doing. It is ok to work out 2x per week, as long as you are doing something to give your body the necessary movement it needs.

It is important for patients to realize that flexibility will help reduce any type of long-term injury to the areas that are being worked out. I always recommend that they start out with a stretching routine to help loosen up the areas before beginning the workout. After the workout, if you have time, it is recommended that you stretch the areas that have been worked out for at least 10 minutes. This will help with the flexibility of the areas.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me. We have two offices in Tucson. Our East side office is called Aragon Chiropractic and our number is 520-290-8892 and our Northwest office is called Accident Center of Tucson and that number is 520-887-2ACT (228). Or you can contact our office on our website at www.chiropractorsoftucson.com.

 

– Dr. Richard J Aragon DC