Fitness Goal Ruminations

An exercise program can be daunting. Here are five of eight ideas from Jenny Hardfield. Achieving Your Fitness Goals; Massage & Bodywork Magazine; June/July 2007; page 168.

• Avoid doing the same exercise over and over again. Your body will become efficient at that exercise and won't burn as many calories as when you first started.
• Be patient. Getting active takes time. It takes twenty-one days [or longer] to create a new habit . . .
  
• Drop those excess pound efficiently by keeping a fuel log.
  
• If you are inactive begin with frequent but shorter workouts . . .
• If your are active [workout] three to five times per week, add one or two high-intensity workouts per week to boost metabolism, effort level and fitness.

PAIN-SPASM-PAIN CYCLE

When you injure soft tissue the muscles in the injured area contract to help support and protect the injured tissue. Other metabolic reactions also occur helping to slow the flow of blood in the area causing the build up of carbon dioxide and metabolic waste. The result is pain. The body then reacts to the pain as if it has being reinsured. Thus, the pain-spasm-pain cycle begins. The initial injury causes the blood to slow building up waste material in the area. This causes new pain which causes the continued slowing of the blood in the area and on, and on, and on. So, even though you may start out with a simple bump, bruise or strain, it can turn into a fairly painful, long lasting injury.
Massage therapy from a professional therapist can help put an end to this vicious cycle. A good therapist can increase the flow of blood in the injured area and help build up pliable, pain free scar tissue to get you feeling better and back to your regular routine.