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Milder weather and longer days make sticking to your fitness goals so much easier, and spring can be the perfect time to try a new activity or sport. But rain and dark nights are not the only things that can ruin motivation. Tired muscles and pain bought on by the stresses of every day life can hit when you least expect it.
Whether you have a specific fitness goal or you want to improve your overall health and wellbeing this summer, regular training or exercise is the key to success – and pain can be the biggest hurdle to preventing it
The most effective way to overcome pain is by listening to and taking care of your body, and to take time to soothe any pain or injuries that you encounter as quickly as possible.
Here are some pointers to help prevent pain ruining your fitness goals this summer…
Gentle stretching before and after exercise should form a key part of your fitness regime. Target the areas and muscles you will use the most, but take time to stretch the whole body – and be gentle! Don’t force anything or you could do more harm than good.
Take rest days
Rest should never be seen as taking the easy route! Your body needs it’s rest days in order to recuperate and restore damaged muscles – and your energy resources. When you are tired you run a higher risk of damaging something.
Rest doesn’t necessarily mean doing nothing at all – try a gentler exercise like a brisk walk instead of a run, or some gentle yoga for a full body stretch – maybe even a sports massage to ease those sore muscles.
Mix it up
A change is as good as a rest (see above!) so try to keep your exercise routine varied. Not only will this alleviate boredom and over-familiarity, but it will also give some of your key muscles a break. Try a group exercise class or perhaps a game of doubles tennis if you usually exercise alone. Or a swim or cycle if you are usually a fan of pounding the pavements on foot. Skipping and Hula Hooping are great exercises that you can try at home, and give your body a really thorough work out whilst injecting some fun too!
Listen to your body
When you have a specific goal in mind like an event or a weight loss target it is very easy to develop tunnel vision. You focus on your goal so determinedly that you forget to listen to the signals your body is sending. A damaged muscle will stop you in your tracks for a lot longer than taking a day or two at a gentler pace, and if your body is feeling the strains try to massage and stretch it out rather than training through the pain.
Try TENS
Many Kinetik customers have reported that our TENS Pain Relief Range of devices have helped them enormously with muscle pain. They were particularly popular with the runners who visited us at the Virgin Money London Marathon Expo when we exhibited there this year.
What is TENS?
TENS (Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) is an effective, drug free method of relieving everyday pain. By delivering small painless electrical pulses via electrodes placed on your skin, the TENS Pain Reliever blocks the way that pain signals are sent to the brain and stimulates your body to produce more of its own pain relieving chemicals called endorphins.
Electrodes? Is that painful?
TENS should never feel painful. In fact, Kinetik TENS Pain Relievers have two channels – with 20 intensities per channel so you can select the most comfortable setting to suit you and the area of your body that you are treating. TENS actually delivers a soothing massage whilst the machine is doing its work, and if that massage feels too much for you, simply alter the intensity.
You can use your TENS machine in between workouts to help relieve any pain, but also as part of your daily life to help ease those aches and pains that can occur from rushing around – or sitting down for too long!
