Getting out of an exercise slump

I’ve seen this time and time again but have also experienced it personally when you go in and out of an exercise routine. Whether you have been sick, away on holiday or have other countless excuses with finances or the very popular no time.

Despite these, yes it can be hard to get the ball rolling again and get back to exercise but here are my recommendations.

  1. Starting Exercise

It has been a while since you’ve been back to some regular exercise, I strongly recommend chatting to a health professional (aka me, an Exercise Physiologist or one of my many amazing friends at Enhance Physiotherapy) to see if exercise is safe for you.

  1. Goal Setting

Not just thinking about how nice it would be to do XYZ, actually putting pen to paper and writing down some achievable and measurable goals that you want to work towards. For example number of exercise sessions per week. Keep these goals on hand by putting them on your fridge so you can be reminded of why you’re doing this.

  1. Exercise Type

Try and pick the type of exercise that you will enjoy. If you hate going to the gym at 5am don’t do it… You’re more likely to stay consistent with a type of exercise that you enjoy.

  1. Friends!

Not only someone to chat to but someone to give you that motivation and extra push. Its ok to have those hard days when the motivation is low, however exercising with a friend makes it so much more achievable!

  1. Food

Making sure you’re fueling your body to succeed with balanced and healthy meals. If you goal is to lose weight you can’t just starve yourself…  that not fun, nor is it healthy or something that you can maintain for long term. You end up putting more weight on, trust me I do this to earn a living.

I hope these tips are helpful and if you have any burning questions come visit me at any one of our 3 clinics or give me a call. I’m happy to chat and to help you with your exercise journey!

Samantha

Sam is our full time Exercise Physiologist. To book an appointment with Sam call our clinic on 9583 5165.

What is Pilates?

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”1977″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]Pilates is a form of exercise that involves low impact, small controlled movements to target flexibility and muscular strength and endurance.

Originally named “Contrology”, Pilates was developed in the early 20th century by Joseph Pilates to rehabilitate WWI soldiers. It involves precise movements with an emphasis on alignment and breathing to strengthen key muscle groups and improve balance, coordination and stability in the entire body.

Traditional Pilates has a specific focus on developing a strong “core” (“core” consisting of the global and stabilising muscles around the abdomen, lower back and hips). From a rehabilitation point of view, our bodies have two muscular systems; a global muscle system and a stabilising muscle system. We usually do a fantastic job training and strengthening our global muscle system, however often neglecting the stabilising muscles. Unfortunately, over time this can lead to muscular dysfunctions and ultimately pain and injury. Pilates has a strong emphasis on correctly activating and isolating those smaller stabilising muscles that have been forgotten and left behind.

At Enhance Physiotherapy, our Pilates classes not only target “core” strength but also full body strength with the aim to just get our clients moving!  Our classes involve matwork exercises with various equipment to increase the intensity of the class.  Each exercise can be modified in difficulty from beginner to advanced and each class is tailored towards the specific goals or injuries of the clients attending.

Having recovered from an ACL reconstruction and more recently a lower back injury, I am a firm advocate of Pilates to assist in rehabilitating those important stabilising muscles essential for everyday movements and activities. Pilates has helped me tremendously to bounce back from injuries and to return to doing the things that I love faster and stronger. Now, I continue to practice and teach Pilates at least twice a week for injury prevention and maintenance, as I find it is a great way to enhance my other training and sports.

I strongly recommend Pilates classes to anyone rehabilitating back from an injury and looking to get stronger and fitter, and especially to those who may be injury-free and training to achieve that next level, goal or personal best!!

For more information regarding our group Pilates classes including prices and times, please call 9583 5165.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Pre and post exercise nutrition

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”2557″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]Preparation and recovery are vital for optimal performance. In order for us to ensure we are ready to perform at our best we must ensure we are fuelling our body correctly. Ensuring we are consuming adequate carbohydrates during our training periods is the first step. For those of us who only exercise 3-5 hours per week, we only need to consume approximately 4-5g of carbohydrate per kg of our body mass every day. As we start to increase our activity levels, we also need to increase our energy sources. If completing 1-2 hours of exercise per day we need to look at consuming 5-7g/kg each day, and for those of us who are just that little bit crazy and undertake 2+hrs of exercise per day we need to really make sure we’re getting 7-12g/kg of carbohydrates in every day. Protein is also an important food source not only for energy production but also for muscle repair/regeneration. Like above, the amount of protein we need to consume is dependant on our activity levels: low level activity = 0.7g/kg/day, >1hr/day = 1-1.2g/kg, middle distance/endurance athletes = 1.2-1.4g/kg/day, strength/power/speed athletes = 1.2-1.7g/kg/day.

Another important part of preparing ourselves for our activities are ensuring we are hydrated. There are a few ways to measure hydration, but the easiest way is with a urine colour chart (see below). These are easily accessed online and can be stuck to the back of a toilet door as a reminder to assess your hydration status. This is particularly important in these warmer months as heat exhaustion and heat stroke are serious conditions that may need medical attention.

Post-exercise nutrition is just as important as pre-exercise. The optimal timeframe for refuelling after activity is within the first hour of activity. In this period we are looking to consume 1g/kg carbohydrate every hour until normal meals have resumed. Examples of foods that contain 50g carbohydrates can be found below. For our protein, we are looking to consume 20g of high quality protein within that first hour, and examples of these types of foods are found below. It is also imperative that we rehydrate following activity. The easiest way to know how much fluid we need is to weigh ourselves before activity and then immediately post. The amount of weight lost x 1.5 is the amount of fluid we need to consume over the next 2-4 hours. Without access to scales, I would encourage at least 2L of fluids to be consumed in the first 2-4 hours. Sports drinks are useful as they contain carbohydrates and electrolytes (that are lost in sweat) however they are not suitable for everyone. Those of us who have particularly salty sweat benefit more from electrolyte drinks than those who don’t have salty sweat (there are tests that can be conducted to determine specifically how much electrolyte replacement you need). Look for electrolyte drinks that contain 4-8% carbohydrates. As a side note, kids do not sweat as much as adults (they find it harder to regulate their body temperature) as such, particular care should be taken when exercising in warmer weather. In addition, as they do not sweat as much they DO NOT need sports drinks, these just contain extra sugars that are not necessary in their diet.

 Examples of 50g of carbohydrates

•        Sports drink: 700ml

•        Carbohydrate loader: 250ml

•        Liquid meal supplement: 250-300ml

•        Sports Bar: 1-1½ bars

•        Fruit juice: 500ml

•        Cordial: 800ml

•        Fruit smoothie: 250 -300ml

•        Flavoured milk: 560ml

•        2 bananas

•        Sultanas: 4 tbsp

•        Fruit flavoured yoghurt: 2 x 200g


Examples of 15-20g of protein

•        ½ chicken/turkey breast

•        250 g low fat yoghurt

•        300 mL of skimmed/semi skimmed milk

•        500 ml carton of flavoured milk

•        Small fillet of salmon

•        ½ tin of tuna

•        1 serve protein supplement drink/bar (depending on the brand & preparation)

 

 

There are plenty more ways that we can ensure we prepare and recover our bodies for events and/or everyday exercise. At Enhance we are looking to cover all aspects of this, so come in and see our physio’s for biomechanical assessments, injury rehabilitation and injury prevention strategies; our exercise physiologist for strength and conditioning training as well as rehabilitation and prevention training; our massage therapists for psychological recovery (through muscle relaxation); and our nutritionist to ensure you are getting the most out of your diet to ensure optimal performance.

Cheers, Madi!

To book an appointment with Madi call 6161 8901 or simply book online.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”2556″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row]