activities

How to Avoid Overtraining Injuries

January 27, 2015 by admin Leave a Comment

Overtraining is a common concern, and something that we should all be aware of (both physical therapists and clients). Learn more about overtraining injuries, how to prevent them, and get the right guidance for training from this article published on MoveForwardPT.com, an informational site created by the American Physical Therapy Association. For more questions please call at 619-756-7500.

Overtraining is a concern for all people pursuing fitness – from recreational or elite athletes to people who exercise to lose weight and stay in shape. Overtraining injuries are musculoskeletal injuries that occur due to more activity or exercise than your body is used to, and may happen to anyone who increases intensity or changes type of activity. Overtraining syndrome includes overtraining injuries, but also encompasses general fatigue and other symptoms.

Signs and Symptoms

If you experience any of the following after working hard to meet advanced fitness goals, overtraining may be a cause.

Physiological: increased resting heart rate, increased blood pressure
Physical: decreased appetite, upset stomach, insatiable thirst, sleep disturbances, increased frequency of sickness and infections, general feeling of increased difficulty and fatigue throughout the day, abnormal muscle soreness, pain occurs that is different than typical muscle soreness
Behavioral: personality changes, decreased motivation, altered concentration, lowered self-esteem, decreased ability to cope with stress
Performance: Increased heart rate during activity, decreased strength or endurance, impaired movement and coordination, multiple technical errors.

Avoiding Overtraining Injuries

No matter the activity (running, swimming, weight lifting, etc), when working to improve your fitness you need to push yourself in order to see results. But pushing yourself too hard can result in injuries that are detrimental to your fitness goals. Here are some tips to avoid overtraining injuries:

Don’t increase exercise difficulty level too quickly. Exercise needs to be progressed steadily at a gradual pace. Following a structured plan that increases your activity incrementally and safely can help you stay healthy and pain free. For example:

For running, increasing difficulty may include increasing speed, running up or downhill, increasing duration, and use of intervals, where you alternate intensity over time.
For resistance training, increasing difficulty may include increased weight, repetitions, sets, and decreasing the amount of time to perform the same amount of exercise.

Pay attention to your body.Your body is smart. If it feels like you are developing signs of overtraining, then take a break, lessen your activity, or rest.

Ease into it. Particularly if you are new to fitness or altering your exercise activities, take it slow. Don’t expect to make up for several months of inactivity with a few weeks of exercise. Aim for long-term consistency, not overnight success. People who try to do too much too soon often end up injured or frustrated and give up on their fitness goals altogether.

Avoiding Overtraining Syndrome

Overtraining syndrome occurs when an active individual or athlete increases activity faster than the body can adapt or is unable to recover from a sustained high level of activity. Your body then lets you know that you’ve done too much too fast through a variety of physical responses.

There are several signs and symptoms that may indicate overtraining syndrome but are also symptoms of other problems

Every active individual is unique. Your pain may be due to overtraining, but it also may be due to other health issues. For example, heart rate changes, general fatigue, and other systemic symptoms may be due to a more concerning condition. Physical therapists are educated to evaluate and treat a variety of conditions. If you have any of the above signs a physical therapist can help to determine the seriousness of the signs and what your next course of action for your health.

Here are some tips to avoid overtraining syndrome:

Take a break. If you have a scheduled rest day in your plan, use it, you’ve earned it! Your bones, joints, and muscles need rest days to stay healthy.

Get rest. Recent studies are supporting the important role of sleep in the health of active people and athletes. This is when our bodies’ build and repair and our immune system recovers.

Eat well. Proper nutrition is essential to the health of your body. Do not severely restrict calories when exercising. Make sure to eat proper nutrients, including plenty of lean meats, fruits and vegetables.

How will a physical therapist help me meet my fitness goals?

Physical therapists are movement experts, and work with people of all ages and levels of activity. During a visit, a physical therapist can:

Check your flexibility, strength, and endurance of muscles to support your desired level of activity.
Ensure that symptoms are due to overuse or overtraining and not something more serious.
Identify training errors to ensure a safe fitness plan, no matter your previous level of activity.
Correct biomechanical problems in form with your chosen activity to avoid overuse of a susceptible body part.
Provide appropriate training plan to minimize risk of injury and help you safely meet your fitness goals.

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Progress or Plateaus

December 2, 2014 by admin Leave a Comment

Most people will encounter plateaus at some point during a consistent training program. Learn more about what plateaus are and what to do when they arise in this article written by Jeff Gilliam, PhD, PT and published on physicaltherapist.com. For more questions call us 619-756-7500!

So often we see such great progress as we begin our weight loss program, pushing onward to our goal at a jackrabbit pace, only to be met with a discouraging plateau. When plateaus are experienced, our first response should be, “Am I doing everything possible to encourage my progress? Am I following through with the program as it’s been designed”??? If our answer is “Yes!” then our next question should be, what has happened to slow my progress, and what can I do to ensure continued progress toward my goal?

During weight loss programs, momentary plateaus are an absolute. Plateaus occur as the body loses weight and no longer requires the same amount of calories to run its basic bodily functions and daily activities. No longer are you carrying around 10, 20, or 30 extra pounds during daily activities, which means fewer calories are being expended now, than when you started the program. Also, whenever you go on a caloric restricted diet, your body becomes very efficient in running its basic bodily functions, and requires fewer calories for the Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR). Lastly, during weight loss programs, typically 25% of the weight loss is from lean body mass, while approximately 75% is from fat. The likelihood of muscle loss is increased when resistance training does not accompany a weight loss program. Maintaining muscle is a key to ensuring that the RMR continues to expend energy at a high rate, subsequently burning calories at a level that will allow for continued weight loss.

When plateaus arise, modifications in your program will be necessary to ensure ongoing progress. Increases in your exercise intensity/time are often required, and a close examination of your food choices may be necessary. In order to offset this trend, it may be necessary to increase your exercise output (an increase in exercise time and/or intensity) making sure resistance training is a part of your routine. Additionally, making sure your protein intakes are optimal will spare lean body mass loss during caloric restriction. The importance of protein in a weight loss program is highlighted by a recent study which found when subjects on an ad lib diet increased their protein intake to 30%, they ate 441 fewer calories each day, lost more weight, and experienced greater feelings of satiety than the lower protein group. Remember at your current weight you’re expending fewer calories at rest than when you started your weight loss journey, which means you must continue to make better food choices to encourage your body to continue to lose excess body fat.

These changes should cause your body to increase its fat burning capacity and is often affective in “recharging” the system and renewing weight loss at an acceptable level. During times in which you experience a plateau in your weight loss, strategic shifts toward better food choices and avoiding those occasional food temptations will allow you to realize ongoing progress. The use of daily exercise to boost your metabolism has been shown to be helpful in offsetting a depression in the RMR.

Remember: Plateaus are only momentary pauses in our progress that will soon be relinquished by making the appropriate adjustments in our dietary and exercise regimens.

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How can fitness professionals encourage seniors to strength train?

December 12, 2013 by admin Leave a Comment

With increasing age, your body’s ability to absorb calcium decreases, which unfortunately causes an increased risk for osteoporosis. Strength training can help counter bone degradation! Come see us at San Diego Sports Physical Therapy for your strength and rehabilitation needs! 619-756-7500

Frame strength training as solving a problem.
Identify why the senior needs more strength. In the examples above, Dan doesn’t want to give up golf – it’s an important part of his life. For Jan, the fitness professional will want to probe further; studies have shown seniors may not be swayed by health problems alone. Does she want to travel? Baby-sit her grandchildren? Linking enjoyable life activities to getting stronger provides the motivation to overcome fear and inertia.

Measure progress in “real life” ways.
Continually go back to the senior’s goals and every day activities. Is it easier to bring in the groceries? Are they navigating stairs better? How’s the golf or tennis game? The best part of working with seniors is the rapid gains they make to improve the quality of their lives. They’ll share them with you gleefully!
Strength Program Design Tips for Seniors

Keep it simple.
Design strength training programs with just a few exercises for major muscle groups. Explain the exercises fully and why the senior is performing them. For example, explain that a seated row will strengthen their upper back muscles (rhomboids) which will improve their posture and have the added benefit of improving their appearance!

Strength Program Design Tips for Seniors
Take it slow.
Have the senior perform all exercises slowly. Watch their form and make corrections gently and politely (“please and thank you” are appreciated). Give positive feedback for keeping correct form. Use the same exercises for several sessions so your clients understand them well and get a sense of mastery and control.

Keep strength training to 10 – 30 minutes.
Many seniors have fears of being in pain and getting exhausted. You can relieve those fears by explaining to the senior that strength training is not painful but requires focus and precision to get results. Therefore, they’ll be performing the exercises for 20 -30 minutes – and they can stop at any time if they feel pain. Develop balance, flexibility and cardiovascular exercises if you need to provide an hour session.

The fitness professional’s main goal when working with seniors is to build trust. Trust is extremely important to seniors. They want an expert on making them stronger as well as someone who cares about them and their goals. Celebrate their progress, even small victories, and you’ll have a friend for life. Share your experiences or insights from training seniors in the comments below.

Betsy LaMond is an ACSM Certified Personal Trainer and owner of BoomerFit Cape Cod, Fitness Center for Boomers and Seniors located at 947 Main St, Route 6A, Yarmouthport, MA, BoomerFitCapeCod.com. She teaches Mature Adult Fitness at Cape Cod Community College and provides fitness presentations on boomer and senior fitness to senior organizations.

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