Photo by Kelly Neil on Unsplash
Here in Bucks County, Pa. summer means BBQs, yard work, and cool nights spent enjoying the fireflies. Yet, if you’re like a lot of people, it also might mean overdoing it in the garden or in your last golf round.
Some of you are probably avid bikers, hikers, or even paddleboarders at Tyler State Park. It’s all fun and games until a wrong move leaves you aching and sidelined from the fun.
Turn these “preventive maintenance” tips into active habits and you’ll protect yourself from common summer injuries.
Skip Common Summer Injuries With These Health Habits
Chances are, these will sound familiar to you. There’s a reason they’re perennial favorites in lifestyle magazines, blogs, and news channels. They’re important to your well-being. Fortunately, they’re not that difficult and you can adapt them for your activity level.
1- Warm Up and Cool Down – You’ve heard all the advice about warming up and cooling down before exercise but do you do it? Depending on your age and fitness level, it’s better to do more than you might think is necessary.
YouTube is a wealth of warm-up and cool-down exercises geared toward specific activities. For example, Marshfield Clinic Health Systems recommends these warm-ups to loosen up your back and other muscles for gardening. Here’s another one from a physiotherapist.
Not a gardener? You can always Google, “YouTube + warm-up exercises + your activity.”
2- Start out Slow – If you’ve been more sedentary than active lately, try boosting your activity levels by 10-15 minutes a day in a slower ramp up. There are a ton of fitness apps you can try. Fiton turns your living room into a gym. Just choose the type of workout you want to do and the length of time and boom. You’ve got dozens or hundreds of options available to you all led by certified trainers.
3- Take a Break – If you’re tired, take a break or call it quits for the day. A lot of common summer injuries happen because people push themselves and ignore the signs their body is telling them. Getting outside in the sunshine and fresh air is great. What’s not great is ignoring the signs of fatigue or dizziness. That’s when accidents tend to happen. Also, stay hydrated.
4-Chiropractic care – Of course, we’re going to mention this one! We are a chiropractic blog after all. Yet, regular chiropractic care is a great tool for a healthy body. Regular visits help keep your spine aligned and healthy. That way, your blood, and oxygen flow in, around, and through your body in their best way. When blood and oxygen flow freely, messages get from your brain to your cells and you feel pretty good.
If you’re not already using chiropractic care as part of your wellness plan, we encourage you to consider it!
5- Massage therapy – Massage is another way to stimulate your body’s circulation system. It reduces tension and helps with joint flexibility. Massage also promotes relaxation and loosens your muscles. Combined with chiropractic care, it’s a great partner. The massage relaxes your tense muscles and a chiropractic visit shifts tendons and ligaments back into place. Because your muscles are more relaxed, they’re less likely to push those tendons and ligaments right back out.
Both massage and chiropractic care are great ways to stimulate healing in your body from the inside out.
As you can see, preventing common summer injuries boil down to having a wellness plan and sticking to it. It can be as simple as having a warm-up and cool-down practice before you garden, golf, bike, or whatever you do. That and paying attention to your body can go a long way. We encourage you to add chiropractic visits as additional maintenance. Dr. McQuaite in Doylestown offers a free consultation to see if chiropractic care is right for you.
