Life After Injury

Exercise can be scary and intimidating, especially while recovering from an injury. But, it doesn’t have to be. Most simply, exercise is a way of building (or rebuilding) your strength—it doesn’t have to be vigorous, involve hours sweating on the treadmill, and it doesn’t have to hurt.

To begin, let’s say you were injured in a car accident. You used to be in pretty good shape and lived an active lifestyle, but you haven’t been able to do much since the accident. This has resulted in weight gain, because you’ve been eating more than usual and haven’t been able to work it off. Furthermore, this inactivity has led to muscle deterioration, which has led to a loss in strength, higher body fat levels and less lean body tissue. You want to get back to your old self, but you don’t know exactly what to do.

Fortunately, there is life after injury—it just might take a while to get back to where you were. It’s important to take things slowly so you don’t get hurt, but this means you might not see results as quickly as you otherwise would. If it’s the weight gain you’re worried about, start some light cardiovascular training. Go for a short walk—or if you can handle it, a long walk—three nights a week. If you’re a bit further in your progress, go for a hike, jog or run. Only do what your body can handle, and make sure you listen to what your body is telling you now—not what it said before the accident.  You can also conquer this weight gain by paying attention to your diet. Eat clean, healthy foods, prepare balanced meals, and stay away from the junk!

The strengthening component, though, is a bit more tricky. Walking might feel pretty safe, but weights and machines and the gym could seem dangerous, and the last thing you want is to hurt yourself again. However, it’s important to start rebuilding your muscle strength; the stronger you are, the less susceptible you are to injury. If you were active before the accident, you probably already have a pretty good understanding of what sorts of exercises you should do. If you weren’t a gymbody before, it might help to get your doctor to refer you to an exercise therapist to get started. The most important thing to remember while strength training after being injured is to pay attention to your technique.  Make sure you know what areas the exercises you are doing are meant to target, and that you feel the isolation in the correct area. You also need to focus on your posture while exercising, which will help you isolate the proper areas. Finally, make sure you slow down or stop if you start to feel an increase in pain.

It can be frustrating to bring your body back to where you used to be. Just remember that progress is supposed to take time—it’s not a race, and the results will be worth the wait.

Shaun Karp is a certified personal trainer. For further information call his office at 604-420-7800 or visit their web site www.karpfitness.com.

Get Involved In Your Rehabilitation

If you’ve been involved in a motor vehicle accident or have a chronic soft-tissue injury, such as shoulder, neck or back pain, you would likely benefit from an active rehabilitation program.

One of the benefits of this form of treatment is that it allows you to become actively involved in your recovery. The program emphasizes education to enable you to continue exercising properly and independently, while improving your overall health. Increasingly, doctors are recommending this type of therapy to patients with soft-tissue injuries, as the treatment is effectively personalized to suit the individual’s needs. Active rehabilitation is also a highly cost-effective form of treatment, as a patient is able to continue their therapy independently long after the program has come to an end.

Active rehabilitation programs are lead and supervised by a qualified physiotherapist or kinesiologist, who begins by assessing the client to determine their specifics needs, limitations and physical capabilities. Programs can be performed in a gym, pool or at home, and consist of an individualized exercise prescription combining stretching, core stability and strengthening techniques. Active rehabilitation programs work to restore range of motion and address postural mechanics, muscular imbalances and limited flexibility.

Though each active rehabilitation program is tailored to the individual’s needs, the common goal is to return the client to normal function. Active rehabilitation programs are highly successful in enabling clients to return to work, get back on a sports team after an injury or simply resume activities of daily living, as they are progressive and easily modified, if necessary. These programs often include work-simulation exercises and functional activities, which effectively prepare the client for a return to their pre-injury lifestyle.

A common misconception with active therapy is that exercise should be avoided to prevent further aggravation of an in injury, when in fact the opposite is true. Monitored, controlled exercise is healthy way of strengthening muscles to speed up recovery and prevent reinjury. Dr. Stephen Hoschuler, co-founder and orthopedic surgeon with the Texas Back Institute write, “Controlled gradual and progressive exercise, rather than inactivity and bed rest most often provides the best long-term solution for reducing back pain.” You may initially experience some discomfort upon beginning an active rehabilitation program; however, this is a normal part of recovery, and you will begin to see positive results and ultimately improve your physical well being with continued and consistent effort.

The guidance of a kinesiologist throughout your program will ensure that you are not only performing your routines properly, but will also provide you with the motivation and structure necessary for a successful return to normal function and continued involvement in a healthier lifestyle.

Karp Rehabilitation is an active rehabilitation program specializing with soft-tissue injury rehabilitation. For more information call 604.420.7800.

Elevation Speeds Recovery

The principle of elevation uses gravity to decrease the blood flow to the affected area, reducing the
swelling of the injury. The key is to keep the injured part 12 inches above your heart. Pillows are a great way to comfortably elevate the area, and to give your body some time to rest.

Karp Rehabilitation is an active rehabilitation program specializing with soft-tissue injury rehabilitation. For more information call 604.420.7800.

Rehab With Water

So drink up!

If you are trying to lose weight drinking plenty of water is the easiest thing you can do to help with your efforts. Water is an essential nutrient for optimal health and survival. Sweating during exercise is our body’s way of controlling our temperature so we don’t overheat during training and water cleanses our bodies of toxins and wastes. Water also helps your liver convert fat into usable energy. If you do not drink enough water your kidneys are overwhelmed with concentrated fluids and they make your liver do extra work. If your liver is doing the kidney’s job it does not have time to convert fat into energy so it just holds on to it. To top it all off, if you don’t drink enough water throughout the day instead of excreting waste and waste products, you reabsorb used water to reuse. This is what causes water retention and bloating. Consistently drinking water therefore actually helps you lose weight and prevents those dreaded weight fluctuations that too many of us suffer from.

On a final note, thirst signals are often confused with hunger signals so when your stomach “growls” and you haven’t had your daily water intake you may actually need a glass of the cold stuff rather than a candy bar.

Okay then, how much should I drink?

You need at least 8 cups of water a day. If you exercise or are in a hot climate you should increase this to 10 cups per day and if you are overweight drink an extra cup or two. People that carry excess weight around with them burn more calories in the day than they normally would so they have more waste products from metabolizing food that needs to be flushed out of their bodies.

Are you kidding? That is way too much for me to drink in one day!

Don’t worry, water comes in many forms. Most fruits, especially watermelon, and some vegetables including celery, lettuce and cucumber are made up of mainly water. Milk and juice are also fantastic sources of water, but beware! If you consume beverages with caffeine such as coffee, tea and pop you will actually excrete water before it is put to use by your body so you need to drink extra water to counteract for the loss (that means an extra cup or two)!

Always keep a water bottle with you at work and at the gym. Also eat lots of fruits and vegetables throughout the day and you will easily meet your daily needs! Good luck and drink up!

Karp Rehabilitation is an active rehabilitation program specializing with soft-tissue injury rehabilitation. For more information call 604.420.7800.

Cardio For Rehab

Cardiovascular exercise can help to reduce cholesterol, blood pressure and body-fat, however, it is easy to become overwhelmed with all of the options available for a cardiovascular workout. You can choose between a stationary bike, treadmill, stairclimber, elliptical machine, or rowing machine or you may prefer aerobic classes, a walk or run outdoors, or even a little cross-country skiing. Whatever you choose, there is a simple formula to ensure that you are utilizing your time the most effectively.

Step One:

Figure out your maximum heart rate by subtracting your age from 220. For example, a 35 year-old person would have a maximum heart rate of 185.

Step Two:

To determine your target heart range, multiply your maximum heart rate by 0.6. Then multiply your maximum heart rate by 0.8. That means our 35-year-old example with a maximum heart rate of 185 would have a target heart range of 111 to 148 beats per minute.

Step Three:

An easy way to manually take your pulse is to turn your hand palm up and place your index and middle fingers gently across your wrist. Feel for a pulse over the radial artery(on the thumb side of your wrist). Then count the number of beats you feel in 10 seconds. Just multiply that number by six and that is the number of beats per minute. Start by taking your pulse every five to 10 minutes during your cardio workout until you become familiar with working in your optimal range.

Try to stay within your target heart rate range a minimum of three times a week for 20-50 minutes. If you work above your target heart rate range you may be burning stored sugar or possibly even lean body tissue instead of body-fat. High intense workouts such as Tae Bo, Spinning Classes, or Interval Workouts are great for advanced exercisers, but if you are simply looking to slim down these workouts may not be for you.

Feel free to utilize different pieces of equipment or stay active outdoors. There is no \”best exercise\” when it comes to cardiovascular fitness, the most important rule is to stay within your target heart range and not to overdo it. You should always stay within your comfort zone when it comes to cardiovascular exercise and consult your physician before you start.

Karp Rehabilitation is an active rehabilitation program specializing with soft-tissue injury rehabilitation. For more information call 604.420.7800.

Good Technique Is Essential To Rehabilitation

If you are headed to the gym for a workout be sure to warm up before you get started and pay close attention to proper exercise form. Bad exercise technique and not warming up properly can lead to injuries.

Your warm up should consist of 5-10 minutes on the stationary bike, treadmill, or any other piece of cardio equipment. The goal of your warm up is to slightly elevate your body temperature and to increase the blood flow through your muscles. Once you are warm you should stretch your muscles following a thorough flexibility program. Warming up before you stretch is important because soft tissue flexibility is increased with temperature elevation. After you are warmed up and stretched out do not jump into using heavy weights. Light to moderate weights should be used for the first set of each exercise to further prepare your muscles for the force of the heavier weights.

Poor technique is usually the result of using too heavy of a weight, not using full range of motion during an exercise, or by recruiting the wrong muscles into an exercise. Proper mechanics during exercise is essential. Exercises should be performed through a full range of motion in order to develop strength through the full range and to maintain flexibility. Do not sacrifice technique to use heavier weight. If your goal is to improve your strength, try lowering your repetitions and increasing your sets on each exercise. Strength improvements are best seen with low repetitions of 4-8. Your strength will also improve if you allow greater rest between your sets, often a 2-3 minute break is required to recover from a heavy set. If you are happy with moderate strength improvements or just looking for a toning program then keep your repetitions between 10-15 and keep your breaks between 20-30 seconds.

Poor exercise technique usually ends up targeting the wrong muscles which can lead to muscle imbalance injuries. For instance, people often try to do exercises to strengthen their back but end up using their arms and shoulders. If this happens over a few months you may end up with underdeveloped back muscles and over-trained arms and shoulders. It is also important to avoid sloppy exercise technique. For instance, many people perform barbell curls and use their bodyweight to swing the barbell up to their chest and then drop the weight down to their legs. Your movements must be slow and controlled

An exception to the rule of proper exercise technique is when an injury prevents full, pain-free range of motion. In this case the exercise should be performed throughout the pain free range only and your physician should be contacted to be sure that you are not performing any contra-indicated exercises.

Karp Rehabilitation is an active rehabilitation program specializing with soft-tissue injury rehabilitation. For more information call 604.420.7800.

Excercise Can Reduce Blood Pressure

Physical inactivity, obesity, high sodium intake, low potassium intake, heavy alcohol consumption, high cholesterol and psychosocial stress have all been associated with high blood pressure. As exercise can help modify several of these factors, it can in turn help reduce hypertension.

Blood pressure is defined as the amount of pressure exerted by the blood on blood vessel walls as it moves through the vessel. There are two measurements taken when finding blood pressure: the systolic blood pressure (SBP), which is the highest pressure on the walls immediately after a single heartbeat and the diastolic blood pressure (DBP), which is the lowest pressure on the walls immediately before the heartbeat.

When a SBP 140 mm Hg and/or DBP 90 mm Hg it is known as hypertension. In practical terms, this means that the heart is doing extra work in order to pump blood through a persons body. If you have hypertension, you are at a greater risk for cardiovascular diseases such as stroke, heart failure, angina, renal failure, and myocardial infarction (heart attack).

Exercise training can lower both cardiac output and peripheral vascular resistance at rest and at any given level of work. Lowered cardiac output is primarily due to reduced heart rate. All these help to reduce the amount of work needed for the heart to pump blood, thereby decreasing both resting SBP and DBP. Even exercises of moderate intensity can induce these beneficial changes.

The exercise recommendations for those with mild hypertension are generally the same as those for healthy adults. Endurance, or aerobic, exercises are shown to provide greater benefits and should normally be performed at a frequency of 3-5 days/week for a duration of 20-60 minutes at 60-85% of one¡¯s maximum heart rate. However, for those with severe hypertension or particularly elevated blood pressure, the intensity should be lowered to about 50-70% of ones maximum heart rate.

People with hypertension should exercise cautiously when performing all types of weight lifting. Lifting heavy weights occasionally inspires breath holding and an increase in intra-abdominal pressure resulting in a subsequent sharp rise in blood pressure. This is a dangerous activity for anyone, but is particularly so for someone whose blood pressure is already elevated. Therefore, perform all weight training activities with low weights and high repetitions and concentrate on even, regular breathing. Also, be sure to contact your doctor before starting an exercise program.

Karp Rehabilitation is an active rehabilitation program specializing with soft-tissue injury rehabilitation. For more information call 604.420.7800.

Functional Training Rehab

Functional training is fast becoming a popular alternative – and a fun addition – to traditional methods of weight training and exercise.

Although it is open to wide interpretation, it general involves performing exercises that mimic a movement in a sport or daily activity or a multi-joint movement designed to improve performance in a sport or daily activity. It is quite the opposite of bodybuilding, which generally involves isolated muscle fatigue. Whether you are a professional athlete, just beginning a workout regimen or simply looking for an interesting alternative to your regular routine, functional training offers many physical benefits, including improved neuromuscular coordination, speed, agility, endurance and balance.

Functional training has its roots in rehabilitation. When a person is injured and off work registered therapists often use functional exercises to help prepare the injured patient so they can return to work without re-injury. For instance, if a carpenter were off work they would perform exercises to simulate lifting, hammering and ladder climbing activities to prepare their bodies for a safe return to work.

A wood-chop using a medicine ball is a great functional exercise that simulates the movement involved in swinging an axe. It incorporates upper body, lower body and core muscles and it also increases your heart rate and improves your flexibility and range of motion. Because this exercise uses so many different muscles it can make everyday activities such as grocery shopping, cleaning and lifting much easier. It can also be used with athletes, such as a boxer or hockey player who want to improve their agility, balance and coordination. There are many great functional exercises that use a stability ball, wobble board, exercise tube or traditional dumbbells and pulley systems that can improve athletic performance.

Another benefit of this type of training is improved coordination between the muscular and nervous systems. When full-body coordinated movements are performed repeatedly, we are actually training our nervous system to send a signal to our brain before we even realize there is a need for a particular muscle contraction. For example, a snowboarder would benefit from engaging muscle groups in their entire body while balancing on an unstable environment, as their reflexes would naturally improve with increases in balance and stability; the body’s response to different physical environments becomes almost automatic as we subconsciously improve the communication between our nerves and muscles.

Functional training is also extremely beneficial to elderly people who experience difficulty with performing everyday activities, as it serves to strengthen core muscles while conditioning arms and legs, and translates improvements in functional strength to activities of daily living. As such, functional training improves quality of life and can be very liberating for individuals who have struggled with performing simple daily tasks.

Karp Rehabilitation is an active rehabilitation program specializing with soft-tissue injury rehabilitation. For more information call 604.420.7800.

Healthy Eating Facts

Today’s article includes a variety of health and fitness facts.

Here are some fit tips that answer commonly asked questions and also some important but not commonly known fitness facts. If you want to test out your health and fitness knowledge, read on!

- One tablespoon of olive oil has approximately 13 grams of fat and 120 calories.

- A healthy range for body-fat for men is 8-15%, women are healthy between 18-25%.

- Improving your hamstring flexibility and abdominal strength can reduce your lower back pain.

- One cup of peanuts has 830 calories and 70 grams of fat.

- Improving your posture can lead to reduced headaches.

- Egg whites have no fat but egg yolks have approximately five grams of fat in each one.

- Stability balls(a.k.a. Swiss Balls) were developed in Switzerland about 90 years ago, where they were predominantly used by physiotherapists.

- One avocado has the same calories as six apples.

- Your maximum heart rate can be determined by subtracting your age from 220.

- Plyometric exercises are good for athletes that want to improve their speed and acceleration.

- Regular exercise combined with healthy eating can lower your cholesterol and blood pressure.

- Sweating is one of your body\’s cooling mechanisms and is related to the relative humidity in the air, the greater the humidity the more you may sweat.

- Regular weight bearing exercises are good for osteoporosis prevention.

- Exercising in the morning can increase your metabolism causing you to burn more calories throughout the day.

- Stretching is an important part of an exercise program as it can prevent injuries, improve performance and reduce muscular soreness.

- Water cleanses your body of toxins and wastes and helps your liver convert fat into usable energy so be sure to drink at least eight cups of water a day.

- A “superset” is when you perform two sets back to back with no rest in between.

- The goal of your warm-up is to slightly elevate your body temperature and to increase the blood flow through your muscles.

Karp Rehabilitation is an active rehabilitation program specializing with soft-tissue injury rehabilitation. For more information call 604.420.7800.

Stretching Is Useful Rehabilitation

If you take a look around most fitness clubs you will notice that the majority of people perform strengthening exercises and cardiovascular exercises, but very few people stretch. In fact, some fitness clubs do not even have designated stretching areas. Stretching can prevent injuries, improve performance, reduce muscular soreness and it is a great stress reliever, so do not put it off any longer!

Your stretches should be performed after an initial 5-10 minute warm-up, which can be done on a stationary bike, treadmill, or you can go for a brisk walk. When stretching, hold each stretch for 15-60 seconds, applying a gradual stretch to each specific body part holding with a steady force. This form of stretching is called static stretching, it is the easiest and one of the safest methods of increasing flexibility.

Do not bounce when you stretch. Jerking and bouncing when you stretch is called ballistic stretching and was used a few decades ago but it is no longer recommended. The rapid increase in force can cause injury and it is less efficient than static stretching. Stretching techniques should be performed with careful attention to form in order to stay within the window of safety and effectiveness.

Increased flexibility minimizes your chances of pulling or tearing muscles. Poor flexibility can limit normal joint range of movement. Once this occurs your body can be forced to perform abnormal movement patterns which can place excessive force on your joints and muscles. This can lead to muscle imbalance injuries. Common problems related to poor flexibility are shoulder tendinitis, low back pain, and tension headaches.

Improved flexibility can also enhance your performance and reduce muscular soreness that is sometimes experienced after exercise. A flexible muscle reacts and contracts faster, and with more force, than a less flexible muscle. This can improve your overall performance. If you experience muscle soreness the day after you workout or if you can barely walk after a day of skiing, then stretching can help. If you stretch after the strengthening component of your workout, or leisure activity, you will not be as sore the next day.

Stretching can be performed effectively in only 5 to 10 minutes and can be done at home, in a gym, and some stretches can even be performed at work. So, if you are exercising and not stretching remember that it is important to stretch all the major muscle groups as part of a balanced exercise routine.

Karp Rehabilitation is an active rehabilitation program specializing with soft-tissue injury rehabilitation. For more information call 604.420.7800.

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