Now that spring is upon us and the weather has turned pleasant and favorable for a more active lifestyle, there are some precautions that you should take heed of in order to protect your health and longevity.
Many of us lead rather dormant lifestyles during the winter months. The cold weather and shorter days naturally tend to lull us into a lazier, less active lifestyle.
Then the first beautiful day of spring or the opening of baseball season motivates us to get off the couch and go out and do some much needed yard work or pitch a little baseball with the kids. The catch is, however, that we are not accustomed to the strenuous activity and many of us spend the next few post-activity days or weeks suffering from aches, pains, strains, sprains, torn muscles, slipped disks – or worse, a heart attack.
To further complicate matters, we often put a lot of pressure on ourselves to get the job done in one afternoon or weekend. Slow down - the life you save may be your own! Pushing your body too much too fast could land you in a funeral home, hospital or on the bed recovering for weeks or months.
Slow and steady may not always win the race, but it may insure that you live longer and perform stronger for many races to come in the future. (Turtles usually live very long lives)!
Here are some tips to insure that you stay healthy and happy:
1. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! Water is the key to life - and dehydration is a leading cause of high blood pressure, muscle aches, cramps, headaches and a whole host of other ailments. It is estimated that 90% of Americans are dehydrated daily. Coffee, soda, Gatorade, energy drinks, etc… are NOT substitutes for water – in fact, many of these “drinks” further dehydrate us. I recommend pure, alkaline, mineral rich water such as FIJI Water (click to find out why).
2. Stretch. Our muscles and deep tissue can become oxygen and nutrient deprived due to inactivity. This deprivation combined with the decreased ability to detoxify and remove lactic acid can lead to a lot of aches, pains and more serious problems. Stretching can loosen these atrophied muscles up and get the juices flowing to prepare you for work.
3. Get a massage: Massages and therapeutic bodywork isn’t just a luxury that rich housewives enjoy after their facials and spa treatments. Bodywork is a MUST in your pursuit for health, happiness and pain-free living. Deep tissue massage can rapidly detoxify the body and get nutrient-rich, oxygenated blood flowing to muscles, organs and tissues that are starved of life and attention. Massage can revitalize your body and make you impervious to injury and disease.
4. Hot/Cold therapy: Visit a sauna or a hot yoga studio and expose yourself to some heat in a controlled environment. When the heat becomes too great, take a break or a cold shower and then re-visit the heat again. This will build up your tolerance and prepare you for the changing weather outdoors and high levels of internally generated heat from activity. This will also get your juices flowing and help your body detoxify – thus reducing your chances of dropping dead in the yard from heart attack or heat stroke.
5. Interval training: Start out with some gradual physical training. Do one minute of strenuous activity followed by one minute of rest. Check your resting pulse before the activity, check your active pulse immediately following the activity, check your pulse again after one minute of rest. Your pulse should return to its initial resting rate within one minute of stopping the activity. If your pulse is not returning to its resting rate, it means your heart is “gasping” for breath – which could be a great indication of cardio-pulmonary problems. Try implementing an arginine (amino acid) supplement into your diet to naturally improve cardio health.
6. Gradually increase activity: If your pulse returns to its resting rate within a minute, then start to gradually increase the activity periods, but still rest for a minute in between activity. Example: Two minutes of strenuous activity, one minute of rest – increasing the activity by one minute or so every day until you are ultimately working for 10 minutes, resting for one.
7. Get a check-up: See your physician for regular physical check-ups even when you are feeling fine. Find a good physician who will devote the time to listen to you and truly care about your health and lifestyle. Interview doctors until you find the right one (your life may depend on it). Visit the right doctor regularly – not just when you are sick. Keep him up to date about all changes (for the better or worse) in your life and all medications you are taking.
8. Chiropractic Adjustments: Your body runs on electricity. The brain communicates with the organs and every cell in the body through electrical signals sent through the spinal cord and nervous system. If your spine is out of alignment causing pressure on nerves and disks, then the body cannot function properly – leaving you susceptible to disease and injury. Chiropractic adjustments are easy, painless, affordable and essential in your quest for health and pain-free activity. Finding the right chiropractor will be an integral part of maintaining optimum health and peak performance.
9. Smile: The act of smiling greatly reduces stress. Stress is the number one underlying cause of all disease. If you have to do something (like cut the grass) – you might as well make it enjoyable – so smile while you are doing it! If you can’t muster up a smile for such activity, then hire someone else (or a lawn company) to do it for you. If you think the $45 for the lawn service is too much to spend – weigh the lawn maintenance cost in comparison to $45,000.00 heart surgery – followed by weeks of missed work. Maybe you can smile as you enjoy a different activity such as playing with your kids on the professionally cut lawn - knowing that you avoided a health crisis. Care for your body and use your time wisely and you will be living on Easy Street!
10. For many more healthy tips, join us on Wellness Wednesdays at the DME BeneFitness center as we present our Peak Employee Performance (PEP) program from noon to 1pm. Inquire with the DME HR Department, Stillman Rice at BeneFitness, or email Lea D'Loughy.
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