Manuel and Veena have been sitting at their desks all day, typing along, skipping lunch breaks determined to add finishing touches on their project. What do you think will happen?  They could experience lower back pain from sitting too long; wrists, elbows, and possibly shoulders may hurt from excessive typing and lack of physical movement. When the work day ends, its seems like a big decision : workout or go home and relax on the sofa with a TV show.

Pain and exercise go hand in hand understandably, but the key is to be able to understand the various types of pains.

This kind of pain is basically the scenario laid out above.  Day in and day out,  I see people with injuries due to excessive computer work. They are subject to repetivitvely using the same muscles 8-10 hours a day, 5 days a week.

If our work is defined by sitting all day. arms sprawled over our computers, rounded shoulders, typing away 100 words a minute, then we need to do something that counters those work movements and postures .  You could stand up and hang from a workout bar, stretching your body to its maximum potential. Since your hands have been spread out in front of your body, it would be good idea to put them behind the center of your body countering the work position.  

When you fingers have been typing all day, take time to stretch out your forearms and move the fingers through a wide range of motion.

This pain is usually caused from a very intense workout targeting  certain muscles groups. This usually occurs between 1-3 days after your workout,


The good thing  about this pain is that we have so many different body parts to train that we could just choose a different one.  Personally, I break my workouts down to certain muscle groups. Pushing exercises one day (Chest, Triceps) , pull exercises another (Back & Biceps) followed by shoulders and legs. Doing this allows me to workout everyday even if I am sore.

While one muscle group is recovering I am using a different one.

Another great way to eliminate muscle soreness is stretching. After a workout,  the next day when my muscles are sore,  I will spend 15 or so minutes targeting the prior workout day muscles with some intense stretching.

These problems are not the good ones. When you experience pain in this group, you might just be getting to that age where the body has its kinks to workout. Could be a prior sports injury, or even something as simple a taking a wrong step off the curb?

With this type of injury you have to be most careful and sometimes that is a challenge. We are too careful causing the body part to freeze up. Arthritis hurts, but it is actually better to keep your joints moving through some discomfort, because if you don’t move it , you lose it.  Nerve pain can sometimes be subsided with certain stretches,  freeing up more range of motion.

When everything hurts, sometimes good old fashion rest is the key.

No matter what pain you may be suffering from, most likely some exercise will always be beneficial to your pain.  Under only a few circumstances,  will you be not able to do exercise with pain being the only factor (usually under doctor’s recommendation).

Diet
How many times have you heard your friend say "I am going on a diet ?" Well in reality,  a diet is not what everyone needs. The word "Diet" seems too cliché that sometimes can get mistaken for changing your everyday habits for a certain period of time. There are several different kinds of diets out there [such as : paleo,atkins, south beach, juicing…etc] that are effective in their own way. When it comes to eating, you need a balance in life. A well balanced diet of healthy food tailored to what works for your individual lifestyle. Consistently repeating the same exercise or diet week after week, creates boredom for your body that tends to reach a plateau with no obvious results , leading to frustration that the diet is not working. Make sure to mix a variety of health foods into your diet on a daily basis like nuts, protein, dairy, carbs, fruits, vegetables.  Going on a diet is a great way to jumpstart your healthy lifestyle, but only a small incremental factor in your overall success.  

Lifestyle
"What did you do this morning ?” asked my client.  I briefly recollected my morning and then remembered the sound of nuclear alarm ringing in my ear at 4:45 AM. You know what comes next, “The Choice”, whether or not you will hit that snooze button. Reaching out to hit snooze, I remembered the promise I made to myself to make my mornings more productive. Long story short,  after mixing my oatmeal, watching the news, and reading a few business articles, I was on my way to meet you.


How easy would it have been to snooze and sleep another 30 minutes, wake up and miss my breakfast and rush here to meet my client. Whether you set the alarm clock for 30 minutes before work and rush out the door or prepare your clothes the night before and wake up before sunrise to go for a jog,  lifestyle choices directly affect our well being and productivity. Committing to something as simple as being active for at least 30 minutes a day is a great start. It does not have to be the conventional way of going to the gym and hitting the treadmill. How about walking your dog. What about taking your kids to the park and kicking the ball around or shooting some hoops with them. How about biking to work. Going for a swim. Walk to buy your milk and eggs. Think back to when you were a kid and you would harness every bit of energy, running around and driving your parents nuts.  A regular active schedule, in addition to promoting good health, has been shown to reduce stress , increase focus, eliminate old age ailments ..just to name a few. Make new friends during your lunch hour instead of sitting at your desk. When we expose ourselves to new experiences, we learn new things and open ourselves to opportunity. Whatever it is you choose to live an active lifestyle,  make the change and stick to it.   

Discipline is a pain in the you know what. When you can perfect it and use it to your advantage, life becomes a whole hell of a lot easier. Discipline is packing the gym bag and hitting the gym after work, or prepping your meals Sunday night for the entire week. Maybe discipline is ordering that yogurt parfait instead of the sausage egg mcmuffin as we know if we come home to sit on the couch to watch your favorite TV episode, you will find an excuse not to get up and go to the gym. Having a goal with a plan in mind to exercise that goal will lead you to living a healthy lifestyle and put you on a path for success. Take time to reflect on your mornings during lunch time, and reflect on your day at the end of the day. Self reflection helps us achieve that delicate balance of discipline and lifestyle choices.


Moral of the story choose a better lifestyle, not some new fad diet !