When it comes to sports and exercise, even smart seniors can do too much and end up with injuries, strains and sprains. Has this happened to you?
Here’s what typically happens in warm weather resort communities like here in Arizona. Around November, a new flock of snowbirds arrives back in town. They’ve escaped the cold of the north and are fresh, eager, and ready to play.
They show up at your Pickleball courts and give you new opponents, new opportunities to challenge your skills. Who can resist? Just one more game. And then it happens. Your competitive nature gets the best of you, and before you know it, wham! You’ve pulled something and now you’re sidelined for days or weeks.
Sound familiar?
How to Avoid Exercise Injuries
Unfortunately, it’s really hard for most of us to sense what’s enough and what’s too much when it comes to exerting ourselves. We’re not very good at the Goldilock Rule: know when your body is in the “just right” zone.
But, just as you’ve become an expert at knowing when you’re making excuses instead of motivating yourself toward health, you can become an expert at sensing your muscles. In fact, you are the only one who can truly know your body and its amazing abilities and limitations.
How to Build Strength and Improve Muscles
You need to stress muscles enough to trigger the chemical reactions within cells that provoke the repair process and build strength. But you don’t want to overwork or damage muscle tissue and end up with exercise injuries.
The key is to gradually warm up the muscles first. Bring plenty of oxygen and blood into your extremities. Get your heart rate pumping before you start placing demands on the muscles. Injuries happen when you go too far, either with too much weight, improper breathing or form, you run or walk too long or fast, stretch too quickly, and let your competitive nature get the best of you.
Not 20 Anymore
It’s easier to get injured as a senior because we sometimes forget that we’re not 20 anymore. We’re just not accustomed to our body’s changing limitations. I always think I can do as much as I used to when younger.
Injuries can have devastating effects on seniors, leading to permanent disabilities, exacerbated conditions, lost time resting and recovering, and ruining possibilities for an active, healthy, and long life.
Even though I see many seniors not doing enough exercise to get life-extending health benefits, doing too much too fast without proper preparation is a huge risk to seniors.
The Importance of Stretch
Warming up and stretching before exercise is critical for seniors. I recommend using a combination of dynamic and static stretching before a workout, targeting each muscle group (i.e. legs, hips, torso, back, shoulders, arms, and neck). Use gentle and controlled swinging, circling, lifting, lunging, or bouncing movements in successive repetition, gradually increasing your range of motion. This will help you get your circulation going, warm up your muscles, lubricate your joints, and allow for greater movement.
Cooling down with static stretching after a workout is also important. Stretch your muscle to near its furthest point, and hold the stretch for at least 20 seconds. This helps to release muscle tension, prevent soreness, and keep you limber.
Even if you’re not ready for a strenuous activity like tennis, pickleball, or running, it’s important for seniors to stretch. A study published in the Journal of Gerontology looked at the 12-month results of a stretch and flex program for older adults. The participants demonstrated positive changes in areas like physical fitness, self-efficacy, perceived functioning, and well-being. They also experienced a decrease in pain.
Don’t let exercise injuries put you on the bench. Get savvy, know, and trust the signals from your body. Approach exercise with the mind of a beginner; after all, you’ve never been this old before.
Make good use of trainers, physical therapists, coaches, and healthcare experts. Proceed with caution, give exercise a chance to work, one step at a time, one push-up, one step at a time. Make this stage of your life the best one yet!
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