Tag Archives: fitness

General Safety Issues

SAFETY TIPS FOR PREVENTING INJURIES FROM WORKOUTS OR WORK (GUEST POST)

People love to exercise and keep healthy, but a few  precautions should be taken in order to prevent an injury during your workout.  Some typical workout injuries can include; knee or shoulder injuries, wrenched  ankles, dislocated or sprained wrists, shin splints or tendinitis, and many  other general muscle pulls and strains. Here are five safety tips for preventing injuries during your  workout, each aimed at helping you to keep yourself safer. (You might consider using a lifting belt to support your back.) Besides suffering  fewer injuries, you will also find yourself able to keep a steady exercise  schedule thanks to less downtime:

Warm Up and Cool Down

One of the very best ways to avoid injury is to do a complete  warm up and cool down before and after every workout. A warm up should be about  10 minutes long, allowing your heart rate to increase slowly and loosening up  your muscles; a warm up could include jogging in place, jumping rope, or riding  an exercise bike. Your cool down should be 5-10 minutes of walking, or other  slow exercise, to reduce your heart rate back to its normal pace. It is also  recommended that you spend some time doing a thorough stretch both before and  after warming up and cooling down, helping your muscles to prepare and cope,  respectively.   Take the time to do this before beginning your days’ work, as well.

Use Proper Equipment

A second tip for an injury free workout is to make sure that  you always have the proper equipment. For example, if you are a runner, your  sneakers should be your primary focus, whereas bicycle riders should ensure  that their helmet fits snugly and properly. You want to make sure your clothes  are not too baggy, as they could get snagged on a machine causing you a great injury.  If you have a workout room at work, take advantage of this before or after work, or during lunch break.

Work with a Trainer

The best thing about this tip is that it involves friendly  support! It is suggested that before starting any new exercise program, you  speak with a certified trainer; one chosen specifically to suit your needs.  Most gyms will offer this service free  with a membership, or you can pay them an hourly rate for the first few  sessions. These experts will guide you into a routine that is right for you. A trainer will show you all of the correct ways to perform  your exercises, and they will offer advice on the right amount of weights and  rest times, helping you to maximize benefit while limiting risk. They will even send workout information home with you, so you can exercise there, as well.

 Know Your Body

The fourth step is all about knowing your own body and paying  attention to your weak areas. Got a trick knee? Then don’t run on the treadmill  or use the stepper. Same goes if you have a bad back; there would be a few  machines and stretches that you simply should not indulge in, at least right  away. By being aware of the spots on your body that are weak, you can start to  wake them up with slow and gentle exercises, working safely towards more vigorous  exercise.  One way to fit exercise in at work is to park farther away, and take the stairs rather than elevator.  If your job requires repetitive lifting, get a partner to help you with loads that are too heavy.

Get Plenty of Rest – Your Muscles Need It

And finally, after all that exercising, you’ll need to rest!  You should take one or two days a week off to rest and allow your muscles to  heal, giving them the time that they need to strengthen and mend, and limiting  your risk of straining or pulling something. If you are sore or nursing an injury, use the RICE method: in particular: rest your injury, ice  the sore spot, compress to minimize swelling, and elevate to reduce blood flow.

You probably can’t take off work to rest your muscles, so by gradually getting used to the exercise involved in your daily routine, you will be able to work off soreness each day.  Get plenty of rest at night.

Author Byline:  This post was written by Anna Fox, who writes about fitness and dieting, and is passionate about healthy food, active lifestyle and self-improvement.

Ergonomics, General Safety Issues

NATIONAL SAFETY MONTH – WEEK 2 – PREVENTING OVEREXERTION

Aren’t we all guilty of overdoing it, the first time we try a new job, sport, or game?  My granddaughter introduced me to the Wii a couple of years ago, and tennis was her choice of sport.  I was thrashing and slashing all over the room, when I noticed she was simply flicking her wrist and beating the socks off me!  We all want to try “extra hard” when learning a new sport or physical type of job.  That’s when the muscles show us that we aren’t in as good shape as we thought! 

This is the second week of National Safety Week, when the National Safety Council asks us to emphasize the importance of preventing overexertion.  According to Injury Facts, 2011 Edition, overexertion is the third leading cause of unintentional injury treated in emergency departments in the United States.  Approximately 3.3 million emergency department visits occur yearly because of injury from overexertion.  Usually it is associated with lifting, pushing, lowering, pulling, or carrying.  

We overexert ourselves in many ways, either at our jobs or physical training.   Close observation helps eliminate the possibility of serious effects of overstressing the muscles.  The load should be reduced and recovery pursued.  Symptoms of overtraining (and overexertion) may be:

  • Disturbances in movement;
  • Disturbances in rhythm and flow;
  • Lack of concentration;
  • Soreness in muscles, joints. 
  • Fatigue.

Here are some suggestions to prevent overexertion:

  • Stretch or warm up before lifting objects or strenuous activity;
  • Lift with legs bent and hold object close to body.
  • Avoid bending, reaching and twisting when lifting. 
  • Approach an object straight on;
  • Ask a friend for help when lifting.
  • Pace yourself when pursuing any activity.
  • Take breaks.
  • Stop if you can’t handle the load. 

Overexertion can lead to cardiac arrest when working or doing outdoor work during hot, humid days, or shoveling snow in the winter.  If our bodies are unaccustomed to these duties, we must gradually get in physical shape before taking them on.  When tendons, ligaments, and muscles work harder than they are meant to, sprains, strains, or other damage happens.  Usually the back is the most common area of injury.  Age has a lot to do with our strength, as well.  One should never try to lift an item that is too heavy, as he/she  may be able to do it now, but could have complications from it later on. 

Wellness centers have personnel who can help you get into shape and feel better, ready to tackle the world!  Workplace wellness programs offer incentives to employees by helping them with ergonomics, fitness, and nutrition.  Companies that offer these types of benefits may find less missed work time by their employees. 

To not be counted among the statistics of emergency room visits due to overexertion, “take it easy!”  Pace yourself, whether at work or play.

General Safety Issues

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING PHYSICALLY FIT

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Because the month of May is National Physical Fitness and Sports Month, we want to talk about how important it is to take care of our bodies by being active.  President Dwight Eisenhower started the Presidents Council on Youth Fitness back in 1956, emphasizing the importance of ensuring that our youngsters were as physically fit as their European counterparts.  Through the years, different Presidents have given the project various titles, always emphasizing fitness of young people, followed later by promoting physical fitness of all ages.

According to findings by the following: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, Office of the Surgeon General, Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity, and the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, we want to highlight some valuable information.

  • The ideal requirement for adults (18 or older) is 30 minutes of physical activity for 5 or more days per week, and children and teens should get 60 minutes of activity every day for their health.  Thirty to sixty minutes of activity may be broken into smaller segments of 10 or 15 minutes throughout the day to count toward your total exercise time.
  • Physically inactive people are twice as likely to develop coronary heart disease, the leading cause of death among U.S. men and women.
  • Inactivity and poor diet can lead to overweight/obesity.  This increases the risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, gallbladder, respiratory, diabetes, and other serious health problems.  Nearly 60 million Americans are obese.  Sixteen per cent of children and teens aged 6 to 19 are now 3 times more overweight in 2002, than in 1980.  The number of overweight children ages 2 to 5 has doubled since 1980.
  • Not all high school students participate in regular school physical education.  It is important that schools emphasize the need for physical education.
  • A study done by the National Association of Sports and Physical Education (NASPE,) shows that infants, toddlers, and pre-schoolers should engage in at least 60 minutes of physical activity daily, and should not be sedentary for more than 60 minutes at a time except when sleeping.
  • One-fourth of U.S. children spend 4 hours or more watching television daily.

In the old days, we would play outside with neighborhood kids until our parents called us in for supper (dinner).  We rode our bikes, roller-skated, played hopscotch, and did all kinds of activities, simply having fun, not knowing it would possibly have health benefits in later years.

Not all kids are into sports, but parents can do things with them, like taking them bowling, playing miniature golf, or doing other fun things that keep them moving.  It’s good for mom and dad, too!  By showing them there’s more to life than playing video games for hours, texting on a cell phone all day, or sitting in front of the television or computer, they will develop healthy habits for the rest of their lives.

It’s never too late for us grownups to locate a fitness center.  Just taking thirty or forty minutes out of your day to work out, or take a daily walk (cost is free), will be worth the effort.  Many companies and schools provide places for employees and students to exercise.  You don’t have to be a professional athlete, just get out those jogging shoes or barbells and see if you don’t feel better!  Last, but not least, choose healthy foods.