What Exercises are Good for Me?

What Exercises are Good for Me?

Osteopaths are often asked to advise clients on appropriate levels of exercise as well as specific exercises for injured joints and muscles.

Ebony Jacklin, Osteopath at Thame Therapy Clinic, explains the thinking behind exercise…

Exercise is essential to keep us healthy. The government recommends that adults should do at least two and half hours of exercise every week, this should be broken down into at least five thirty minute periods. This can be difficult with today’s busy life. Long commutes and stressful work environments often leave us feeling too tired by the end of the day to do anything. Exercise however does not need to be difficult. Fitting a half hour brisk walk into your lunch hour is often achievable and may even lead to the afternoons being more productive and seeming to pass more quickly.  You could also include doing the garden, going to the gym, cycling anything that will work up a little bit of a sweat or get you breathing a bit harder.

Exercise helps us stay healthy by causing a little bit of stress to our bodies to encourage it to become more efficient. This lowers our risks of many common conditions including diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke and cancer and it’s never too late to start. Exercise has also been shown to boost people’s mental health as well, reducing symptoms of depression and helping self-esteem.

So there are lots of good reasons to get out there and burn some calories but are there any downsides? Certainly, if you’ve not exercised for sometime then it can be a daunting prospect. Walking is the best way to start and risks with walking are very low; the benefits certainly outweigh the risks. If you want to do something more energetic then there are a few things to consider to help keep injuries to a minimum. First of all warm up, get your muscles ready for what you are about to do by doing simple repetitive exercises to get the blood flowing then after exercise spend some time doing a cool down and stretch.

As Osteopaths we are well placed to help with advice and exercises to help get you going and should an injury occur then Osteopaths are qualified to both make a diagnosis and start a treatment plan to get you on the road to recovery.

Come and see us at Thame Therapy Clinic either for advice or for treatment for injuries.