Fitness Pitfall 5: Falling
foul of injury or illness
Usual Outcome: An interrupted fitness plan
leads to frustration and loss of routine
The Road to Success: Understand injury or
illness and work around them
Embarking on a new fitness regime can be
a daunting prospect if you are in good health and even more
of a challenge if you are carrying a long-term injury or ongoing
illness. If you have any kind of pre-existing medical condition
at all you must seek advice from a doctor or a specialist
before you put your fitness plans into action. There are two
reasons for this. Firstly, you need to be medically safe to
proceed and you must be sure that any action you take in a
new regime is not going to aggravate your condition. Secondly,
you need some initial guidance on what you will and will not
be able to do. A medical specialist will provide you with
early direction on what your programme should consist of to
most effectively fix any long-term injury or work around any
pre-existing medical condition.
If you develop an injury after you begin
your new programme, seek advice on what you should do as soon
as you can. Too many people are put off their exercise routine
because of something quite minor that could be fixed in a
matter of days. Letting a minor injury get in the way of fitness
progress is often a sign there is something missing with the
plan or the motivation and the injury is just a good excuse
to avoid doing what needs to be done. Because your exercise
plans have been so carefully considered, and your motivation
is high, you will be in the opposite position and will be
keen to fix any injury soon so you can get on with reaching
your goals.
If you feel unwell but are not sure what
is wrong, your GP should be the first person you visit. He
will be able to diagnose your illness and advise you on the
way forward, whether this be with medication or with an alternative
solution. He/she will also be able to tell you whether or
not it is wise to exercise prior to full recovery.
If you have injured yourself, your GP will
advise you of what your specific injury is and how you can
fix it. He/she may advise rest or he may advise specific exercises
to correct a minor problem area. If your injury is more serious
you will be referred to a specialist. This may be a physiotherapist,
osteopath, chiropractor, podiatrist or any number of other
experts, depending on your situation.
Top Tip Injury
This is simple advice. If you are injured
and you visit your GP or an expert practitioner and they provide
you with some rehabilitation exercises, make sure you do them.
Many people allow a short-term injury to turn into long-term
aggravation simply by not taking simple steps to fix the injury
at an early stage.
Top Tip Illness
If you feel under the weather and you are
not sure if you should exercise or not, use the following
guidelines. If you are beginning to feel ill you may still
be able to exercise but be careful. Go gently as your capacity
for exercise will naturally be reduced as your body tries
to fight off the illness. If you feel groggy above the neck
and are suffering from cold symptoms, sore eyes or a runny
nose, you are OK to exercise gently as long as you are safe
and will not make your symptoms worse. If your bones are aching
and you display symptoms of 'flu such as shivering or feeling
hot and cold, you should rest until you feel better. Consider
others when ill and do not go to the gym if you are in danger
of passing anything on. As you recover you may be able to
exercise outside with a walk, a gentle jog or bike ride and
the fresh air could do you the power of good.
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