Wisdom and knowledge only work when they are shared. At Club Health, we have no inhibitions in sharing physiotherapy tips that will give your body new life.
Today, we put a list of ways you can instantly change your routine, mindset and body instantly. Read carefully and get some quick wins that your body will thank you for.
Physiotherapy Tip #1: Listen To Your Body
We know this might sound vague and idealistic, but this is actually one of the most important skills you need to develop. Listening, in general, is indeed a skill and listening to your body also falls under that realm.
Our body is always talking to us. Think about it for a sec: hungry, thirsty, sleepy. These are all ways in which our body is letting us know that it’s in need of something. The reason we listen to our body in the aforementioned scenarios, is because we actually can’t afford to turn the other way.
Food, sleep and water are kind of important when you want to stay alive. The thing is, those are not the only cases that our body is talking to us.
Here are some instances our body is reaching out to us but we don’t necessarily do something about it:
- Sore neck
- Stiff lower back
- Lack of mobility in arms/legs
- Pain from bad posture
- Minor discomfort in the way you sit
- Exhaustion at work/gym
We’re pretty sure you can identify yourself in some of the examples listed above and we’re even more confident that you skip past these warnings, these messages your body is trying to tell you. There’s no need to feel bad about it. We all do it.
We live in a world where we have to get so many things done on a daily basis. We have to be professionals, friends, brothers, sisters, spouses, athletes and if there’s time left, ourselves, that we’ve learned to push through.
Minor discomforts, soreness and tiredness seem as the natural price to pay in order to get things done.
While we fully understand and admire the mindset, we do feel there needs to be a better balance between mental toughness and the damage we exert on our body.
Listening is a preservation mechanism. Addressing these messages from your body will not only fix the problems in the short-term but it will allow you to have full control and use of your body into your later years.
When you wake up tomorrow morning sit on the bed for a minute and listen to your body. What’s bothering you? Do your joints, muscles, neck and back feel ok? Do the same thing at night. Listen. What is your body trying to tell you?
Physiotherapy Tip #2: Implement A Workout Routine
Don’t let the word workout spook you. A workout is not necessarily referring to lifting weights, running sprints or doing burpees.
At Club Health, we think of a workout as the time you need to set aside in order to connect with your body. The time you devote to listen and engage with your vessel of existence.
A workout routine could be either of the following:
- Breathing exercises
- Exercises to improve your posture
- Or even visit your physiotherapists for a session of remedial massage therapy
What we are looking to establish here is consistency – the keyword in the title is routine. Workouts come in all ways, shapes, forms and intensities that is up to you and your physiotherapist to decide on what’s best for you.
What’s important is to understand the importance of giving your body the time it deserves on a daily basis.
Physiotherapy Tip #3: Hydrate On Schedule, Not Need
If you only drink water when you are thirsty, you are doing it wrong. Drinking water at the right intervals and right quantities could do wonders for you.
Here are a few of the main hydration benefits:
- Assists cardiovascular health
- Allows muscles and joints to function better
- Keeps your skin healthy
- It helps internal organs maintain their capabilities
We do understand that running to the kitchen to get a glass of water can be difficult to maintain or keep up.
Thankfully for you, there are a multitude of hydration apps to choose from in order to keep your hydration levels high. Carry a bottle with you and don’t you skip any reminders.
Physiotherapy Tip #4: Don’t Let Age Discourage You
This is more of a piece of advice rather than a tip, but we couldn’t keep it out of the list since we come across it on a daily basis at the Club.
Age has nothing to do with trying to better your life.
That’s a life-long pursuit. It’s never too late to start, it’s never too late to improve. Whether it’s changes in your nutrition, your workout, stretching, breathing or sleep, they are always welcome and will always yield results.
Optimizing your body’s output and living a life worth living is not a young man’s sport. Life gets busy and there are periods we can’t do as much for our bodies as we ought to. That’s absolutely fine as long as we pick ourselves up and get back on the horse.
The pursuit of feeling great physically is not made up of singular activities. It is an amalgamation of mini-projects that are tied to each other and have flow and continuity.
Exercise, sleep, stretching, massage, nutrition and hydration are all cogs of a large wheel we call healthy life. The one pushes or pulls the other.
It’s important to understand that while you might naturally have more power to exercise when you are younger, that doesn’t mean you need to stop when you are older. What you need to do is adjust, not stop.
Switch up the type of exercise you indulge in, get more rest and be more selective with the quality of food you choose to fuel your body with. Age should bring adjustments. It’s not a stop sign, but merely a hurdle and what do we do with hurdles? We jump over them.
Physiotherapy Tip #5: Use Your Physio As An Advisor
Let’s start with a few statements:
- Physiotherapy is not just for athletes
- Physiotherapy is not only related to injuries
Now that we’ve established what physiotherapy is not, let’s tell you what physiotherapy is and how you can use it to your advantage. Physiotherapists are knowledgeable about the body in general. Not just joints and muscle groups.
Instead of merely relating physiotherapy to a massage table and manual work, you should think of it as a library of information that you can learn from.
Call you physiotherapist and bounce ideas off each other. Talk about the nagging pains, the uncomfortable sleep patterns. Their expertise in nutrition, kinesiology, and overall well-being can infuse seemingly minor changes to your daily routine that can yield humongous results.
Stop considering your physiotherapist as the person you reach out to when there is absolute need and start thinking about them as someone who can contribute more often and in ways you didn’t think it was possible.
