How to prevent 4 common injury set backs

How to prevent 4 common injury set backs.

As we get older, our tendons and ligaments grow weaker making it harder to stay physically active. If you are prone to injury there are certain precautions you must take in order to prevent training injuries and a set back in your work out schedule. Shin splints, knee injuries, blisters and lower back pains are among the most frequent injuries. If you have already experienced an injury in a joint or muscle remember to rest, ice, compress and elevate. Otherwise, here are a few tips that will minimize training injuries or keep you injury free and in the gym.

Depending on how terrible the case may be shin splints, one of the more common training injuries, may be reduced with certain measures. Strengthening the front of your lower leg, with your heel on the ground, attempt lifting the side of a weight plate with your toes, this should prevent shin splints. You may also try this walking around on your heels followed by stretching your calves. A sign of mild shin splints may mean you need to cut back on your running, or that your shoes are worn out and you need to run to the mall and get a new pair. If your shin splints are so bad you can’t run it’s probably best you see a doctor.

Knee injuries often occur in people involved in sports. Unsuitable contact forces upon the knee may cause injuries to the knee through poor lower body posture. You may have to check your posture for this one. There are a few ways to prevent knee injuries; it goes as far back as before exercising. It is suggested to warm up by walking, bicycling or some form of low-impact activity. To alleviate pressure on your knees, stretch your quadriceps and hamstrings. Once again, make sure that your shoes are in good condition and fit properly and you may be able to avoid this type of training injuries.

Blisters may seem like an insignificant set back, however they have been acknowledged to keep people out of the gym. A day away, is a day lost. Blisters are generally caused by friction to the skin. Often found on the heels, soles of the feet, and palms of the hands the top layer of the skin separates from the second layer resulting in a little bubble. To prevent pain, infection, or blisters all together ensure that the shoes, socks and athletic equipment you are using is all fit to your body structure. If you have a blister-prone area, try taping it with duct tape, and make sure the area is as dry as possible at all times.

A rounded back not only has its disadvantage of giving you lower back pains but it also makes you appear as a hunchback. If you do not see that arch feature that makes your butt stick out, chances are your lower back is rounding during exercises. When exercising, your lower back should never be rounded. I repeat should never be rounded to avoid training injuries. Keeping an arch avoids stressing the discs in your spine allowing it to function properly. As long as the shape of your spine looks like a thin ‘S’ shape, you’re in the clear.

You can avoid training injuries to the body by understanding what causes them, taking precautions, and focusing on prevention. From a scrape when you were five years old to a knee injury in your 30’s, treatment is always necessary. If you do not treat an injury properly it may put you out of physical activity on a permanent basis.

Fading Glory? Or Aging Gracefully?

 

Fading Glory? Or Aging Gracefully?

Today’s essay is a bit different from anything I have written before. Everything I write in this article has been kicking around the inside of my brain for weeks, months, dare I say a few years, and it’s not getting any better. It is now that I look to you, my faithful blog followers, to please consider the following, feeling free to share similar experiences you may be going through as well.

While it seems strange to write, and even more surreal to hear spoken out loud, I am in my late 40’s, and nearing 50. Yes, 50 years old. Not 50 dollars, not 50 pounds, but I have spent nearly half a century on this Earth. While the number itself does not bother me, as it does some, the transformations my body is going through is quite bothersome both mentally and physically. From an early age, I was always very athletic, playing baseball and football on a both a collegiate and professional level, while taking pride in the shape I was in and the strength, stamina and speed I had. So far this sounds not so unusual, I know; we’ve all had our ‘hey day’ where we were at the top of our game and in the best shape of our lives. While many find that entering into middle age is the best time of their lives; a time to rejuvenate, focus on health and fitness in hopes of extending life expectancy, I find myself in a different category at the present time (but with any luck, you will see a post a few months from now where there has been progress and transformation taking place).

After having suffered various athletic injuries and had a near-death car accident or two, I have now come this far to find myself lacking energy, struggling with chest pains (yes, they’ve been checked out and I was told it was stress) , stomach & digestive maladies, constantly tight, aching muscles, routine headaches…. I think you get the picture. What I don’t ‘get’ is how I got this way. I am someone who, just a decade or so ago was out to conquer the world… I was braving wild rapids, trekking across the globe to make it to Everest, spending much of my time as a dive master off the beautiful coral reefs in the state I call home. I love the water; being out on the open sea with the warm salt water spray leaving a trail behind me as I head to my favorite fishing grounds. I am at total peace in the water. When I’m diving, the problems of the world are left on the surface, with nothing but captivating creatures and awe-inspiring formations in an underwater world where time ceases to exist (well, okay… Keep an eye on the O2 left in the tank, for sure, but you know what I mean).

Now that I am dealing with all these injuries and age-related consequences, I find myself depressed. Depressed that I have weight to lose and it’s hard to come off at this age; particularly when I have the legs of a 20 year old but carry all my weight in my stomach. I’m now very hesitant (I sometimes even use the word ‘scared’) to dive and do what I love most, for fear I could have a heart attack. I can’t walk up a flight of stairs without feeling winded!

I know all you fitness buffs out there will say “cut back on your portions, what are you eating, are you drinking lots of water, are you exercising….?” The answer to all of these questions is a resounding “yes!” which is what makes this all so frustrating. I like to walk; I load a book on tape onto the iPod and take walks along my favorite bays or a bike through the Everglades. I bought a Wii Fit, a Wii Active; a recumbent bike for the road that I thought would put the least amount of stress on my injured neck/shoulder. I’ve joined gyms; standard gyms, gyms that offer spinning classes, boxing gyms. I love to turkey hunt and scout the woods prior to opening season, but now even that is something I won’t do alone, for fear I could experience problems in the woods.

My question to everyone out there, and please DO reply to this post, is this: What have you done, or do you currently do to either deal with ‘old sports injuries’ / ‘old age’, or to KEEP yourself healthy and strong as you advance in years? Do you know of anyone that has been an inspiration to you, who has helped you along the way? Please tell us your story, so we can ALL continue to be ‘out there’ doing what we love to do most… Spending time in the Great Outdoors and having a high quality of life.

 

10 Kickboxing Moves for Beginners

10 Kickboxing Moves for Beginners

 

If you weren’t born a kick boxer or know little about cardio kick boxing, have no fear, everyone had to start somewhere. With these 10 essential kickboxing moves for beginners you will feel like you already know what you’re doing before you hit the bag.

 

The first move is the basic kickboxing stance. Your legs should be more than a shoulder width apart, while your lead shoulder and trailing shoulder form a forty five degree angle to your target. Two well known stances to consider are the Muay Thai stance and the MMA stance.

 

The cross power punch is sometimes called a straight right. Presume your targets stance, shift the right side of your upper body forward while swiveling your left side back. Broaden your right arm towards the target and pivot on the ball of your rear foot at the same time. Bring your weight forward from the rear leg and as your shoulder rotates forward push your right fist out in a horizontal movement. You have just preformed a cross power punch. See, cardio kickboxing isn’t that hard!

 

 

To try out a Front leg kick, lift your knee and point to your targets midsection, and then simply implement a front kick. When kicking always remember to use maximum power, put your hips behind your kick, and use the ball of your foot as the striking surface. This is why they call it kickboxing.

 

Want to know how to move your feet during a fight? Start in a kickboxing stance, and then lead with the foot that is already in the direction that you’re going. Once you’ve moved, dip into the motion with your knees and rotate your hips towards the direction you’re moving. Now shuffle your feet by bouncing from foot to foot. Once you’ve got those basics down, attempt moving your feet forward and backward performing linear movements.

 

To throw a hook bring your right shoulder forward and as you go in for the hook bring your left arm to a 90 degree horizontal angle facing your elbow away from your body but keeping your arm equal to your shoulder. Now shift your weight to the front leg and pull your right shoulder back as you punch. The hook is usually aimed to the chin, striking with the palm toward your body. Cardio kickboxing not only helps with endurance and weight loss, but helps you to focus your energies as well.

 

Why Cardio Boxing Classes may work for you!

Pump Up the Cardio

 

Everyone knows that having good cardiovascular health is critical to living a healthy life, but if you are someone that is just starting out on your own weight loss quest, ‘getting there’ can seem like a daunting task and the ‘how to do it’ can be confusing. Having a healthy heart and lungs means your body is getting the oxygen it needs to repair tissue and keep your organs working at their optimal capacity.  If you find yourself becoming winded by walking up the stairs or doing household tasks, a light cardio workout is a great place for you to begin your journey toward a healthier You in the New Year; you will actually discover you have MORE energy if you make the time to exercise your heart and lungs through some good heart-pumping exercise.  Depending on your fitness level, cardio kickboxing could be an ideal way for you to have some fun while strengthening your body and getting a good overall workout.

 

 

Cardio Kickboxing is a great way for those that deal with depression or stress to get some endorphins surging and not only will you find your stress level is reduced, but you will subsequently sleep better too!  Committing to a cardio workout like kickboxing is great because it requires very little in the way of gear.  Since most people start off in a traditional class setting, learning the moves and combinations that are used, all that is needed are the clothes on your back and the appropriate sneakers on your feet.  If you then find you really like it and want to move on to incorporate a heavy bag or a sparring partner in your workout, the investment in a decent pair of gloves is minimal compared to some workout routines that may require extensive equipment or machines.

 

Whether you are already regularly exercising and are looking for something to keep your attention through the New Year or you are just starting out, a good cardio workout will undoubtedly be addicting; you will see an increase in your stamina, you’ll find yourself feeling refreshed after a good nights’ sleep and over time, you will notice that you are firmer and stronger than ever. You might even make some great new friends!

 

Sharing Your Success Story

Not only do weight loss success stories bring hope to those who have risked everything just so they could get the body they wanted, they also remind everybody that whatever you allowed to accumulate in your body is not easy to lose, and they warn those who are starting the process of gaining to watch out or be sorry you ever wanted to indulge yourself too much.

Weight loss success stories are not just stories of other people. These stories are also about us; it is about how we live, our preferences, and our risks. Much about the characters in these stories started like some of us, lean or skinny. They went through stages until they realize that life became harder the moment they became bigger. Some of us are now experiencing the stage of difficulty. Sometimes the difficulty being experienced is aggravating. It becomes more than the physical difficulty we all know; it grows into a difficulty in self perception, a social difficulty resulting from the intimidation felt for being too large and not as fit as others, and the emotional difficulty of not being able to regain the confidence once exuded.

Weight loss success stories tell us about the flight of people from the past to the present. They are often entitled, “Before and after.” These stories are accounts of people whose exploits have been to battle against themselves, to lose the excess baggage in their body, and to look as fit and amazing as they want so that they can function positively.

Some who shared their weight loss success stories are able to lose a considerable pounds, are proud to display the pants they used to wear and how slim they have become. Their stories became sources of inspiration and information for other people. As great as the amount they lose is the extent of what they gained in themselves. Reading their stories is no different from reading novels and stories with heroes and villains. The only difference is that in these stories, the hero and the villain is the same person. The characters battle against themselves, their habits, and their lifestyles. It was a long battle, and they do not claim to have superpowers and magical tricks. But in the long run, they were able to weave their story of a happy ever after.

The Bean Exercise

Fitness is everybody’s dream. There are people who blessed with a naturally fit body and who do not have to work much in order to get the body everybody wants. They are the lucky few. However, there are people whose genes are not the kind they would ever wish to have if only given a chance to choose before being brought out in the world. There are some who started quite fit and fabulous with a perfectly sculpted body but because of the delicious temptations around every single minute they ended up looking like a behemoth. There are simply so many factors, that most of the time we could only point at something to be the culprit in our dilemma. But in the end, not achieving the body that you want boils down into one-our self.

The planning was good. You have given dieting a try. At first it was religiously followed then it comes to a halt. You find exercising quite time and energy consuming. You couldn’t get yourself to do the crunches and the sit-ups. You are bored and at the same time your body hurts. You think nothing happens anyway so why waste your time? And then you realize, you are getting bigger than you imagined you could. Friends start to notice the change in your size, and you are starting to become the butt of joke. You made a resolute plan, this time more determined to continue working out and go on dieting. And the cycle of a seemingly love and hate relationship goes on.

Well this is a natural process; trying to lose weight is a forward, backward, and forward again process for almost everybody who tried to do it. Enumerate the reason and you would end up with a long list. However, there are fitness exercises that will get you into shape nowadays without overly doing and driving yourself to exhaustion. These exercises would make you feel like you are actually resting or playing while you do the exercise so your mind is conditioned to do it all the time. Before you notice it, you are starting to get the body you wanted.

One of these exercises is the bean exercise. The bean exercise is nothing similar to other exercises. You can do your workout without straining your back and traumatizing your body with a bean exercise; it is perfect for beginners. The bean exercise helps you tone down thighs, and your abs by the rocking action it does. The focus in the bean exercise is on the belly and legs. It is the motion that gives you the crunch to have the abs you are dying to have. It can be used by all people of all ages, since it is safe to use. It is even practical and easy to have because it can be inflated and deflated anytime you want. Bean exercises can be browsed in the net, but an instructional DVD along with the bean can give you a better trial.

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