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Simple Tips on Staying Out of Pain Whilst Exercising

Published On: June 3, 2024By Tags: , , , , , , ,

What exercises can I do that won’t aggravate my body?

This is a common question asked by patients when starting treatment at the clinic. So, I will offer some guidance on how to stay fit without injuring your body, whether you’re a patient here or not.

Running

Running should be the most natural exercise of all. We’ve done it for millennia as upright humans. However, back then, we didn’t punctuate a sedentary lifestyle with bouts of running in shoes with arch supports and on hard flat ground. So, things are different nowadays. 

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If you are struggling with any joint pain in the spine, hips, knees or ankles, then running can aggravate. When running, with each foot fall  you put 4 times (on average) your body weight through these joints. Cross country running is better as it moves your body around a bit rather than force being head to toe (axial).   
When your joints are aligned optimally, your body becomes more resistant to these impacts, and running should become much easier again. If a patient at the clinic, try running with shoes that are as neutral as possible, i.e. no arch support.

Cycling

Cycling is good for keeping fit if you have lower limb issues such as knee pain. It is low impact and your knees will tend to stay in a safe tracking range as the hips and feet are fixed in the same alignment. However if you have peddle cleats that swivel this can aggravate knees. Cycling on road bikes can be a problem if you have neck and shoulder pain as your weight is on your shoulders a lot and the head in extension looking forward. More upright bikes may be more suitable therefore.

Photo by Coen van de Broek on Unsplash

Swimming

Swimming is usually great and low impact. Some people find breast stroke an issue if they can’t dunk their head between breaths which isn’t great if you have neck pain. So if you can train yourself to drop the head between breaths, this is better. The benefit of swimming is that it allows you to easily manage the strain you put on your body because gravity is out of the equation.

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Weights

Lifting weights can be very beneficial to your body if training is done correctly.  Common mistakes include squatting with your body too far forward and resting bars across base of neck. The best advice is to get a personal trainer to set a training plan for you and make sure you are doing the exercises correctly. Most are well trained now in how to exercise without putting adverse stress on the body. Like swimming, weights can be an excellent way of moving and strengthening our body in different planes of motion. Our bodies need this as we tend nowadays to focus on repetitive actions. Not only is it good for muscle strength but also for maintaining bone strength and density as we age.

Photo by Jonathan

Pilates/Yoga

Both have really taken off in popularity over the past 10 years. They can be an excellent way of improving flexibility, strength and health. Many of the rehab exercises used my physio’s and chiropractors (including myself) are used in Pilates especially for core and lower back mobility and strength. From a biomechanics perspective, you need to be aware of what your limits are (as with everything) and a good instructor will be aware of this too. There are some exercises that I feel are not good for the body, specifically the shoulder stand as it balances the body on the base of the neck and pushes the head forward. That is too much of a problem nowadays as it is! Many instructors are catching on to this also. 

Photo by Louise Vildmark on Unsplash

So, whether you are taking on a new sport or exercise or continuing an old one and starting chiropractic or other treatment, talk to your chiropractor or PT first.

Main – Photo by Alora Griffiths on Unsplash

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About the Author: Robert Spratley

I started my working life in the IT industry. Sitting long hours initially didn’t bother me. I was young and back pain wasn’t a thing in your 20s – right?! Then in my late 20s I injured my back carrying a piano. Although I didn’t have any pain immediately, over the coming days and weeks, my back started to hurt and I was getting pain down my right leg. I saw a physiotherapist on my GP’s referral and although it helped it didn’t resolve the pain for long. A friend of mine suggested seeing a chiropractor. This did help – and ignited an interest in how and why it helped as well as why I was in pain. Subsequently, I started my training to become a chiropractor and 5 years later qualified in 2013. As all new chiropractors do, I tested different techniques to see what seemed to work the best for me and my patients. During my first year of practice, I went to a seminar in Advanced Biostructural Correction (ABC). This turned out to be quite a radical approach to why bodies go wrong and how to fix them. The word ‘why‘ is important here because most techniques focus on looking at what is out of alignment in the skeleton and how to adjust it. But what if the misalignment is due to some other underlying problem that the body cannot fix? And how did this problem occur? This is where ABC shed light and provided a reliable and consistent template to fix structural body problems. In practical terms, I found that being treated with the ABC technique stabilised my body allowing my muscles to relax rather than constantly fighting against gravity to hold me upright. Previous techniques offered relief for a while by freeing up joints but then the tension and pain returned – because my body was still unstable. Furthermore, my body had formed layer upon layer of compensations to try and deal with the underlying issues that have taken time to unravel. These include fatigue, headaches, knee pain and shoulder pain. After receiving regular ABC treatment for almost a year, my symptoms were much improved. The goal of ABC is to have an ‘unawareness’ of your body. Most of us, if we stand still for a moment and focus on our body will realise that something hurts or doesn’t feel right. This is because it isn’t right. Pain often becomes like a background noise you get accustomed to and forget what silence sounds like. This is the aim with Advanced Biostructural Correction. Contact Details Email: info@rebalancechiropractic.co.uk Website Facebook Instagram X

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