Be careful when you 'spring' into action
4/23/09
By John Hanc
You're ready to roll, aren't you? Ready to lace up the shoes, hop on the bike, take the court, or swing for the fences. Well...not so fast. Or as the grizzled desk sergeant used to say to cops going out on patrol in the old TV series, Hill Street Blues:
"Hey....let's be careful out there."
Yes, let's—because while there is every good reason for you to get out and get moving, there are equally good reasons to do so sensibly and carefully. "This is the time of the year for injuries to be on the rise because people start to exercise more vigorously than they should," says podiatrist Dr. Edward Fryman of Seaford, the medical director for the Long Island Marathon. "People have been sedentary for the winter and now realize they need to shed those extra pounds before bathing suit season so they do a little bit too much too soon."
First and foremost among the too much-too-soon crowd are the Baby Boomers, who drive sports and exercise participation and whose injury rates increased by 33 percent over the course of the 1990s. The Boomers now in their 50s and 60s show no signs of slowing down here in the 21st Century. But while their urge to stay active is a good one, they need to exercise caution, along with it. In 2007, more than 149,000 people between the ages of 45 and 64 were treated in emergency rooms, clinics and doctors' offices for injuries related to exercise and exercise equipment, according to the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission. And while those numbers weren't broken down by season, it's a safe bet that many of them occurred in the spring.
One problem is that folks often try to pick up in April what they pretty much stopped doing in September or October. "Usually people try to start out with the same program they left off with," says certified personal trainer Carlo Ferriere of Valley Stream. "After any more than a few weeks layoff one should start as if they never worked out. Take baby steps. Work each muscle group with one exercise and build from there. Start with a 10-minute walk or cardio of some sort every other day in the first week."
Fryman agrees. "Be realistic with your expectations," he says. So, for example, if you were able to briskly walk or run 30 minutes before the winter, but slacked off during the colder months, don't go out expecting to cover the same distance right away. Start slowly, increase time and distance gradually. Follow the time-honored 10 percent rule—meaning that you should never increase your training by more than 10 percent a week.
Remember also, that your injuries may not manifest themselves while you exercise. "What I try to tell people is that it's not necessarily the big things that get them into trouble," says Maria DiCroce, a certified fitness specialist in Rockville Centre. "It's not unusual for someone, especially an older adult, to say to a doctor or chiropractor, 'I don't understand it. I just bent over to pick up a pencil and wham!' That 'wham' comes from a series of micro-traumas, rather than one serious trauma, like pulling out a heavy trunk to put the winter gear away and pull out the spring gear!"
To avoid that, in addition to the gradual increase in training volume, make sure that you stretch and warm properly before exercise, and also—whether you're gardening, spring cleaning or playing tennis—make sure you practice proper form. (When you lift something, keep your feet shoulder-width apart, your back upright and bend at the knees, using your legs and tightening the stomach muscles as you do.)
So let's enjoy the spring on Long Island and all of the opportunities for healthful outdoor exercise that come with it. But hey, let's be careful out there. The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons offers these tips to help make sure you don't spend the summer recovering from a spring fling with exercise.
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http://www.newsday.com/news/health/ny-hscov5632898apr01,0,4686307.story
