Why your body needs a tune-up
Spring brings the first blossoms after a dreary winter, and with them the urge to get outside and do something, which is a good instinct, since our bodies tend to become relatively inactive over the winter months. Getting your body ready for more rigorous activity is genuinely important, and physical therapists recommend seeing them even if you stayed active all winter. The reasoning is simple: people don’t use the same muscles for skiing as they do for hiking or gardening.
Beyond the physical side, it’s just as important to prepare mentally, and physical therapists are equipped to help with that too. Most of us overestimate our fitness level, whether we admit it or not, a simple gym visit won’t give you the same preparation as a visit to your physical therapist at the start of spring. An evaluation with a licensed PT can help you avoid repetitive motion injuries or other damage as you ramp back up.
Always start slow, and warm up
Most of us throw ourselves straight into new activities without the most basic step: warming up. Skipping stretching and warm-ups can lead to injury, at any age. When you’re guided by a physical therapist, nothing gets missed, they’ll address what you’re lacking, whether that’s building strength, preventing injury, improving flexibility and performance, or enhancing balance and coordination. A five-to-ten-minute dynamic warm-up is typically recommended before activity.
Increase your heart rate the healthy way
Physical therapists generally recommend at least five days of cardio exercise per week, thirty minutes at a time. Raising your heart rate and keeping your body healthy lowers your risk of illness. Winter can make us sedentary, too much time on the sofa or in bed, so spring often means putting in more effort than usual to get moving again. Start with the basics: running, hiking, and biking.
Pace yourself to avoid injury
There’s no point getting back in shape if you end up injured in the process, staying careful should always come first, and that means not overloading your body at the start of spring. Most injuries actually occur at the beginning of a sports season, often in spring, simply because the body isn’t used to the sudden increase in activity. The same applies to any seasonal change. To get the most out of your spring and summer workouts, physical therapists advise giving your body time to restore and heal along the way.
Whatever the season, a physical therapist can build a program of exercises around your particular strengths and areas of weakness, teach you how to stretch and warm up properly before working specific muscle groups, and guide you on nutrition and injury prevention as well.