HEALTH TIPS
Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle: Diet and Exercise Recommendations
In today’s world, it is considered common knowledge that a healthy diet and regular exercise will improve your quality of life. Whether you are an elite athlete, a grandma, a high-school athlete, a teacher, or an accountant, proper diet and exercise will help you lose weight, maintain a healthy weight, and reduce the risk of numerous chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, and much more. Many people are under the misconception that to eat healthy one must count calories, buy expensive foods, and that they will never get to eat “pleasure” foods. Similarly, in regard to exercise, many people think they need a gym membership and hours of extra time each day dedicated to being physically active. Unfortunately, these are all factors that stop people from eating healthy and exercising and most of them are not true! The best thing a person can do to start eating a healthy diet and to sustain a regular exercise plan is to become educated about the benefits of each. Following are the latest diet and exercise recommendations to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Understand Your Injury: Common Injuries and Preventative Methods
Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness is quite common and is often irritating, as it typically prevents a person from doing their daily activities free of pain. DOMS describes an experience of muscle pain, muscle soreness or muscle stiffness that is felt 12 to 48 hours after exercise, particularly at the beginning of a new exercise program, after a change in sports activities, or a dramatic increase in the duration and/or intensity of exercise.1 This muscle pain is a normal response to unusual exertion and is part of the adaptation process that leads to greater stamina and strength as the muscles recover and build. This muscle pain is much different from the sort of muscle pain or fatigue you feel during exercise and it is also much different than the acute, sudden muscle pain or injury such as strains and sprains. DOMS is generally at its worst within the first two days following the activity and subsides over the next few days. There are no proven preventative or treatment methods for DOMS, as it is a natural response to exertion. But staying hydrated and stretching before and after exercise may help reduce the severity of DOMS.
This article was written by By Kelley Lindstrom, Physical Therapy student and former intern for PT Northwest.
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