Starting Fresh

swimming

For many people who have been exercise-free for years, entering the gym can seem like an insurmountable obstacle. The sheer amount of information available at a second’s notice regarding health and wellness can also be overwhelming and leave you feeling disenchanted. However, the blatant reality is that if you want to live longer and feel better, regular exercise is almost indispensible. Besides helping you to maintain a healthy weight, exercise is good for things like promoting better circulation and stimulating endorphins to help manage stress. If you are amongst the millions of Americans who want to feel better and look better but are at a loss as to how to start, give our office in Park Slope a call. We have found that a face-to-face, human-to-human conversation can be the catalyst you need to get motivated and excited about working out. Here’s how: 

  • A clear plan: the main benefit of interfacing. There is no grey area or internet overload; we hash out your health goals, your priorities and limitations and go about setting up a plan to deal with achieve success in a concrete manner. 
  • Starting slow: what are you comfortable with? What are your strengths and what do you absolutely detest? Not everyone is cut out to be a gym rat, but almost everyone can find their happy place with specific workouts and stretches. 
  • Accountability partner: this is key. Great things are built by teams, and we want to be your go-to-resource for information, chiropractic care, acupuncture and accountability. 
  • Managing pain: Certainly working out is made miserable by pain. If an injury or chronic pain is holding you back, we need to correct this so you can stop using pain as an excuse.

A fresh start is attainable if you go about it the right way. As a doctor of chiropractic and acupuncture, I am completely invested in your health and well-being. Let’s start on a path toward a healthier, happier you together and let’s start today. 

Dr. Karen Thomas, D.C., L.Ac. 

Overtraining as a Syndrome

Listen to your body! In all aspects of life, your body’s internal monitor can be an ally or foe in your quest for health. It is always a good metric for athletic endeavor: getting in tune with your limits is important.

Your body will send sublte warning signals when you are approaching the brink of overtraining, and you should definitely know when you have overdone it. But overtraining is a syndrome: it goes against our nature to stop working out just because our body feels strained. After all, how are you supposed to build more muscle or endurance if you can’t keep going?

But at a certain point, more work stops equaling more reward. Injury and sickness accrue when you keep pushing past these warning signs.

Here are sure signs that you’ve overdone it in the gym:

  • Chronic fatigue
  • Depression
  • Underperformance
  • Aches and pains
  • Feeling drained after a usually productive workout
  • Personality and mood changes
  • Loss of concentration

Many of these symptoms can be traced back to nervous system imbalances, which may be aggravated by too much physical stress and not enough rest. So take a day or week, if need be, off weights. Switch to light cardiovascular exercise and give your body a chance to catch up. Rest and ingest healthful ingredients and plenty of hydration and before you know it you will be back in the gym performing at an even higher level.

At Community Chiropractic & Acupuncture, we specialize in helping people get in tune with their bodies to maximize their health. Call our office in Park Slope at (718) 398-3100 to schedule an appointment today.

Dr. Karen Thomas, D.C., L.A.C.