Mid-winter re mojo – now is your time!
Many of us naturally spend more time indoors and as Winter will move to Spring in just over 6
weeks, it is time to think about moving again be it; heaving, rolling, running, pushing, or lifting. We
want to maintain our health and fitness and do that spring step thing when the Sun gets out!
It’s not uncommon for a person to “pick up where they left off” with their gym routine or even to
start a program at a higher intensity to “make up for lost time”. After an extended period of time
away from exercise, a sudden spike in activity loads can lead to preventable injuries (1). Our bodies
are slow to adapt to new demands and if they are put through excessive repetitive stress for a
period of time then it is not unusual for things to go pear-shaped.
To start an exercise program after an extended period of time off, start at a level that feels
comfortable. Whether its weights or cardiovascular exercise, pick a starting point that you know you
can achieve, now is not the time to experiment! A successful first few workouts should finish with
you thinking “I probably could have gone a bit harder”. It’s important to remember that any results that you hope to achieve will not be determined by how hard your first few sessions are but rather
how consistent your training volume is (2).
Once you have settled on a good baseline training intensity a rule of thumb for progression is 10%
per week for moderately trained individuals (3). An example of this is if you do a 5km run then the
following week you can trial 5.5km or if you do 10 reps 3 sets of 25kg weights then the following
week you can trial 27.5kg.
It is important to keep in mind these tips might not be applicable for everybody and are not as
effective as a tailored program, consider seeking the advice of your physiotherapist to determine
how appropriate this guide might be for you.
To help you get back to moving well we now have Dr Callan Gregory, Osteopath, who has teamed up
with Jayce onto the clinical team to leverage you to what you need to get re-mojod now.
References
- Gabbett, T. and Domrow, N, Journal of Sport Science. no. 13 (2007): 1507-1519.
- Wilmore, J. and Knuttgen, The Physician and Sportsmedicine, no. 5 (2003):45-51.
- Johnston CA, Taunton JE, Lloyd-Smith DR, McKenzie DC, Can Fam Physician, no. 49 (2003):1101–1109.
