From the famous words of Allen Iverson. For those of you who that don’t watch sports, check it out. When you don’t practice on your craft, it shows. This applies to any line of work. When athletes don’t practice, it will definitely show on the field. I like to apply this same concept to how the body is feeling. Have back pain? Hip problems? Or any type of problem/injury for that matter. The question I have is, are you doing anything for it? “I have back problems.” My response, “Okay. Are you stretching?” “No.” This is when I just stare at them and wonder if they actually want to get that particular injury better or not.
Injuries don’t heal by itself. It’s going to take some course of action to feel better. Breaking through scar tissue, seeking a specialist, relieving muscle tension, controlling the swelling, stretching, etc. Requires practice, and lots of it. You CANNOT expect tightness to correct itself. Actively stretching on a daily basis for weeks, months, years will allow the body to loosen up. But overall, you have to PRACTICE and BE CONSISTENT. You can’t just do it once in a while when it feels bad. I tell people don’t wait for the pain to happen. If you really want to feel better, you have to spend time on things that will lead to that. Allocate some time for stretching and make a daily habit. If you sit for 8-10 hours a day and expect the body to not have consequence is not realistic. YOU ARE GOING TO BE TIGHT.
For those of you reading this, we are all professionals in some field. Majority of our day is comprised of…….yes, work. Fantastic, huh? If this is the case, then I suggest you listen to your body. When you start moving your body after sitting for prolonged period of time, it’s not going to move the way you want it to. Back aches, knee pain, shoulder tightness, the list goes on. It’s as if you were to cook frozen meat and try to eat it right away. Going to take some time to thaw it out and tenderize the meat, right? So to avoid the “frozenness,” spend more time stretching. Practice what leads you feeling better. Not just once in a while, all the time. Hope you liked this week’s blog; stay tuned for more next week………………………Kei