Many people who have exercised their entire lives may not think twice about their activities. But eventually, there will come a time when everyone has to take a good hard look at their regimen to determine if their actions could be doing more harm than good.
We all age, and at some point those activities we’ve taken for granted for years can begin to cause pain and make us rethink our actions. This should prompt a visit to the doctor or to a physical trainer, each of which should be able to provide an assessment of your capabilities and the types of acts that are going to be the most beneficial to your longterm health.
Knowing when such a visit should take place is difficult, but the American College of Sports Medicine has put together some advice to help citizens make the right decisions when it comes to their workouts. Much of it hinges on asking oneself some questions and providing honest answers.
Basically, you’re trying to identify any potential threats that may crop up based off of your history and demographic information. If you’ve been inactive for awhile and are thinking about exercising anew, or if pain has started to pop up where before there was none, look to your medical history and that of your family.
Have you or your family members been privy to heart disease? What about blood pressure issues that could lead to the same? Have you smoked or do you currently smoke? When you’re walking around in your normal daily life, do you feel pain in your joints or succumb to tightness in your chest? Are there any prescriptions that could create injury hazards if you submit to an intensive exercise regimen?
Any of these things aren’t necessarily something that should concern you if you have to answer yes, but they might indicate that a doctor ought to be consulted so that you know you’re exercising in a way that helps rather than hinders your health. For instance, those workouts that require an excessive amount of strain can actually make your blood pressure worse. A doctor will be able to direct you toward light exercises that will lower the risk.
A doctor or trainer will also be able to explain how best to ease yourself into exercise. You don’t automatically stand to gain when you go as hard as you can as often as you can. You should be slowly increasing the intensity once you’ve gotten accustomed to a light workout. Your age will dictate exactly what form the exercise will take.
Hopefully this will help you make an informed decision about safe exercise.
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