This time of year, the gyms are busy with people making a great effort to start off healthy in the new year. Just a few weeks later, our clinic is busy with those same people dealing with injuries derailing their great plans for better health. There are a number of ways to avoid this trap and enjoy injury-free exercise. Here is one simple recommendation to minimize your odds of injury.

Injury-free Exercise

The 10% Exercise Rule: When increasing your exercise routine, avoid increasing the intensity by more than 10% from one session to the next. You could increase the number of repetitions from 30 to 33, or increase the weight from 50 pounds to 55 pounds or even the duration of your exercise from 30 minutes to 33 minutes. This may seem like a very small increase, but it starts to add up very quickly and is much more sustainable over the longer term which is what we need for major improvements in health. Follow this rule and you will significantly reduce your odds of injury while making great gains in health. This is especially important for those who have already experienced significant injuries. Of course, you also want to make sure to start at a reasonable level that won't kill you with one session.

Other helpful tips to consider to further reduce your odds of injury:

1. Focus more on form than heavy weight or high reps. A few exacting repetitions with good form are much more beneficial than trying to crank out a mess of sloppy reps that will eventually cause injury.
2. Don’t forget to rest. Our body improves from a healthy stress (exercise) followed by a chance to rest and rebuild. Rotate your exercises working different body regions or take rest days in between.
3. Mild short-term muscle soreness that confirms you worked your body is fine. Longer-lasting soreness (more than a few days) or sharper pain are signs of injury or dysfunction that should be addressed.
4. Exercise shouldn’t cause enough pain to require pain relievers. If you are taking medications to block pain enough to allow you to exercise, you are likely overlooking a problem that needs addressed and setting yourself up for bigger problems. 
5. Keep your body tuned up to avoid injuries. Moving wrong, standing wrong, or sitting wrong become much more harmful when adding weight and repetitions with exercise. A doctor of chiropractic cannot just minimize pains, but improve form and function of your body to improve your odds of being active without injury.

​Follow these simple tips to make 2022 a great year for your health. Remember, you have more control over your health than your genes do.

If a bowl of candy is sitting nearby, the battle is already lost. We only have so much willpower to resist the addictive nature of these temptations within easy reach. We may succeed for a day or a week, but eventually the candy is more persistent than we are and it often wins out.

This time of year, we commit to improving our health with better diet, more exercise, and other good habits. However, an important part of making these healthy changes long-lasting is missing and they tend to be short-lived. This article is not about what healthy changes to make. It’s more about how to make them more sustainable. It's the consistency and persistence over time that really bring about major improvements in health. The longer you can sustain your improved habits, the more great health you will experience which will help you stick with it longer and experience even greater health.

The Missing Piece

Here’s the piece missing from most health improvement plans: changing your environment. This can mean a lot of different things which may be easy and some may take a little more effort, but changing your environment is key to sustainable habit changes for improved health. You must surround yourself with an environment that makes healthy choices much easier and unhealthy choices more effort. That could mean changes at home, at work, with friends and family, or with where you go and interact.
​
Start to improve your health success by considering these questions and your health habits (diet, exercise, posture, sleep, mental stress):

1. Is there something in the house that encourages bad health habits? Is a tempting treat or snack always within reach? Is a source of stress right in front of you?
2. Is it easier to make healthy choices at home or unhealthy choices at home? What would make healthy choices less of an effort than unhealthy choices at home?
3. When and where are you most likely to make an unhealthy choice? How can you change that environment to make a healthier choice easier?
4. Does your work environment help you make healthier choices? If not, what could you change to encourage healthier choices?
5. Are there friends or family that are more likely to cause you to make unhealthy choices? How could you interact with them differently to avoid making unhealthy choices with them? Are there friends and family that more consistently make healthy choices that you could interact with more?
6. Are there unhealthy temptations along your usual daily path to/from work or school? Can you slightly modify your usual path in a way that reduces temptations or even encourages healthy habits (drive by a gym or park instead of a fast food place)?
7. Does your team of health care providers encourage and support your better habits or ignore your habits in favor of procedures and interventions?

Answering these questions gives you a great place to start. You may even want to list the things in your environment that lead to unhealthy choices. Then start to chip away at them. Some examples that we have seen with patients: replace the bowl of candy with a bowl of fruit you enjoy, keep a bottle of water nearby to avoid sweetened drinks, have a meal with friends that make healthy eating choices and find other ways to interact with friends that have unhealthy eating habits. Whenever possible, replace the unhealthy object or situation with a healthy object or situation. Don't leave a behind a hole or it will be filled with something unhealthy.

Keep asking yourself, what would make a healthy choice easier? We are human. We want things quick and easy, so feed that need for quick and easy. Also recognize the state you are in when making decisions. Eating or shopping hungry or feeling down is asking for trouble. Eat something healthy before the party, the store, or even the restaurant and you'll make it through in better shape. Here's to a healthy 2022 and beyond!