Injuries, Strains and Sore Muscles A Personal Trainer in Hills District Can Help

June 3, 2009 by Don Harris  
Filed under Articles

A personal trainer in Hills District understands that experiencing soreness the day after a work out isn’t uncommon. After all, you’re pushing your muscles beyond what they’ve been used to doing. But sometimes we mistake injuries and strains as sore muscles and push through the pain, which can lead to lasting damage. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at why muscles become sore, what you can do to help prevent soreness, and why working with a personal trainer in Hills District can help you avoid injuries and strains.

Why do we get sore?

If you’re exercising correctly, muscle soreness should be very minimal, but those that are just beginning or have recently intensified their work outs may experience muscle soreness the day after a work out. This phenomenon is called delayed-onset muscle soreness, or DOMS, and generally occurs twelve to 36 hours after an intense work out. There are two factors that contribute to DOMS; a build up of waste products in the muscles and miniscule tears in the muscles. Not only are the muscles sore, but symptoms can also include feeling stiff, weak and tired. A personal trainer in Hills District understands DOMS and will know how to safely and effectively get you passed it without injury or strains.

Avoiding soreness

Working out shouldn’t leave you feeling tired and sore, but energized! You can help your body better recover by taking care of your body before and after your work out. Make sure you’re getting plenty of sleep, as exercise will only exacerbate the tired feeling, and take an appropriate amount of rest between work outs, so your muscles have time to recover. A personal trainer in Hills District suggests always warm up your body for at least ten minutes before any kind of intense work out, because exercising “cold muscles can lead to strains and injuries.

Stretching after a work out is just as important, as it encourages the blood flow to return to the organs and discourages lactic acid from building up in the muscles, which contributes to soreness. Finally, make sure you’re getting enough fuel for your body. Food give your body the energy it needs to work out efficiently, so consider adding a small snack an hour before your workout and eating a healthy meal afterwards, to help your muscles better recover.

Getting the help you need

If you’ve already tried some of these techniques and are still experiencing soreness after your work outs, chances are that you may have strained a muscle. A muscle is considered strained when it has worker harder than its capacity and it actually tears. If you don’t notice significant improvement over a period of a few days, you may need to seek medical advice.

It is, of course, very easy to avoid injury by making sure you’re using exercise equipment safely and not pushing yourself beyond your limits by consulting a personal trainer. Working out with a personal trainer in Hills District has many benefits for you, including designing a fitness regime that’s right for you, encouraging you along the way, but most importantly, making sure you’re working out safely and efficiently. A personal trainer in Hills District will be able to advise you about your muscle soreness, when you should seek medical advice, and how to avoid injury all together.

Personal Trainers in Hills District Stress That Stretching is Important

June 3, 2009 by Don Harris  
Filed under Articles

News From Personal Trainers in Hills District! You’ve managed to make time in your busy schedule for a workout session, but even so, you’re running late. In order to make up time, you’ve decided to skip over your stretching exercises and skip to the meat of the workout. After all, stretching is just a small part of the warm up anyway, right?

Personal trainers in Hills District say…Wrong! Skipping over the stretching part of your warm up exercises or even during your cool down is not only a bad habit to start, but could also be dangerous to your body and lead to injury. Stretching is a very important part of your work out routine, whether you’re walking or preparing to lift weights. In this article, we’ll take a look at why stretching is such an important part of your workout routine and why you should always stretch both before and after a workout.

Why Stretching is Good For You

There are a whole host of reasons that stretching is good for you. Muscles that are tired are have not be in use are usually tight and constricted. Stretching helps keep the muscles flexible, not just for work out routines, but for everyday tasks. Stretching promotes good posture, helps protect your joints, and leaves you feeling relaxed and free of tension. In fact, stretching has so much going for it that even those that stretch on days that they do not work out can reap the benefits.

However, overdoing it can be just as harmful as not stretching at all. Personal trainers in Hills District stress that stretching should never be painful! Every body is different so don’t judge yourself against the person stretching next to you. If you’ve stretched to the point of pain, back off a little and hold the new position for twenty seconds or more.

Stretching During Warm Up

It is important to remember that stretching is an important part of the warm up, but it is not all there is to warming up! Recently, personal trainers in Hills District have started recommending that a ten minute warm up period should precede any stretching. This is because the muscles shouldn’t be stretched while they are still “cold,” or before any physical activity has taken place. The warm up period of movement helps encourage the blood to flow to the muscles, sonovial fluid to “grease” up the joints, and get the heart rate increasing. Stretching before the body has had time to warm up a little can cause strains or tears in the muscles, which is exactly what you’re trying to avoid by stretching in the first place!

Stretching During Cool Down

Personal trainers in Hills District stress that just like during the warm up period, stretching is integral to the cool down period. All of the blood that is pumping through the muscles during the work out can pool there if the muscles are not stretched; stretching encourages the blood to return to the body’s organs. A good stretch after a work out can also discourage lactic acid from building up in the muscles, which can help promote the feeling of soreness the next day. Most importantly, stretching helps relax the body and relieve tension, which means that you’re likely to feel much better after your work out than when you started!