I can’t tell you how many times my husband tells me he’s pulled or otherwise strained a muscle when working out. It’s pretty common, especially the older you get and the less you stretch. As I always remind my hubby when he complains of this, you MUST stretch your muscles adequately before working out.

Read this past story about the importance of flexibility as you age for more on how vital this is to continued health and mobility as you age.

You can do a more dynamic stretch, like jogging in place or doing something that gets the blood moving, or if you’re going to do something like yoga, static stretches should be just fine. The key is in holding them long enough to actually stretch the muscle. Many people don’t hold the stretch long enough, and the muscle isn’t “pliable” enough to avoid injury or strain when they begin the hard stuff.

Stretching after your workout is absolutely crucial, and too many people either skip this step or they don’t do it for a long enough period. Stretching the muscles back out after they’ve been contracted for long periods of time is important in stretching the muscle back out and avoiding later pain and discomfort.

You should have a stretch session of at least five minutes after every workout, and make sure your muscles feel loosened back up when you’re done.

One of the worst muscles on me after working out tends to be my hamstrings. They are always tight. So I find myself stretching those several times throughout the day when I’ve worked out. It really helps to make my whole body feel loose and relaxed when just stretching that one large muscle.

Getting in a sauna is also a huge help. We use our infrared sauna all the time after a hard workout. It really relaxes you and deeply penetrates your muscles so that they stretch much more easily and are less prone to soreness and injury after a hard workout.

You can also sweat out some of those toxins that you may not have gotten out of your system during the workout, which helps to reduce muscle pain and discomfort after working out.

I love to get a massage when my muscles are tight. I actually prefer to get a massage after a hard day at work, which is when my muscles are most tight. I have a desk job, but sitting all day is far worse for your muscles than moving around all day. They stiffen up and become painful and contorted from stress and sitting in one position for too long.

If you want to read more about back pain and sitting too long – read about how exercise helps control back pain, a previous post I wrote about the challenges of having a desk job and having neck and back pain as I do from previous car accidents.

I’ve suffered back pain for the majority of my life, thanks to early back problems starting before I was twenty, to more back and neck pain thanks to two accidents where I got whiplash in my early twenties.  I’m sure that I’m predisposed to back pain anyway, and that is part of the reason that I’ve experienced so much back, shoulder and neck pain.

One factor remains constant though. I have always noticed  dramatic improvement in my back and neck pain when I am working out regularly.  Actually, studies have shown the low impact activity helps to decrease back pain.  This is because when you get up and move around, your muscles have less opportunity to get stiff and cramp up.

When I sit down all day long at my work desk, or if I’ve had a really lazy day at home, I notice that I’m totally stiff and have a hard time getting comfortable. Whereas, if I’ve worked out that day, everything feels looser, and more limber and flexible.

There is also the element of heat. When you exercise, your muscles actually get warm. This makes them more pliable, and certainly may also lend itself to muscle tension relief.  When the muscle fibers are warmer like this, they tend to help us feel more relaxed, and the muscles to let go of that stored up tension.

In addition to actually stimulating the muscles and helping to warm them and prevent stiffness, exercise also produces endorphins. Why would these “feel good” chemicals matter for pain?

Well, endorphins are actually sort of like the “antidote” to pain, so exercising will also help reduce the chemical reactions that cause pain, or offset them by producing their natural antidote, endorphins.

Plus, endorphins just make you feel good all the way around, so they help lift your mood and take your mind off of the pain that might have otherwise been bugging you.

Doing this can help you to avoid other common remedies for back pain and neck pain relief which unfortunately involve dangerous drugs and OTC pain killers.  Many OTC (Over the Counter) pain relief pills actually can harmful effects on the stomach, the lining of the digestive tract, and the liver over time.

Additionally, topical numbing creams absorb into the skin with their active ingredients, which aren’t the healthiest thing either. If you want something totally natural that can help ease the pain, try either using those microwaveable bags that help heat the pain away, or a sauna or hot tub to help penetrate the muscles with soothing heat to loosen the muscles.

My husband and I have owned our infrared (FIR) sauna now for about 4 years. We keep it in our basement. It has been the source of endless comfort for tired muscles, and for both of our backs and necks since we’ve both been in car accidents where we sustained injuries to these sensitive body parts.

For me it has been great in the winter time especially. I’m naturally quite the freeze baby and don’t have the greatest circulation to begin with. I can’t sit still for any period of time without getting cold hands and fingers.  So for me, our infrared sauna provides me with a much needed respite from the freezing cold, bone chilling winters we tend to have here in northeast Ohio.

A FIR sauna is an excellent gift for anyone who has frequent muscle and joint aches or back or neck pain a lot.  Both of these types of pain actually can ruin your day when they are pervasive, and are the source of much of the muscle pain that Americans suffer.

Since an infrared sauna penetrates the muscle and tissue more deeply than a regular “surface” heat sauna, it is great for people with circulation problems and muscle aches.  It is even recommended for those with arthritis and other joint problems as well.

For the sports enthusiast or active person, and infrared sauna appeals to the health benefits side of things too. Sweating for a length of time is thought to help promote a faster metabolism (while one is sweating). It is also thought to help remove toxins from the body since one of the major ways our body rids itself of toxins is through sweating.

Anyone who participates in vigorous sports or exercise activity can appreciate the deeply penetrating and soothing heat that a FIR sauna offers as well. It is a great way to end a workout or a long jaunt into  the world of sports.  It actually helps to de-stress and soothe the nerves, as well as to loosen up the tight muscles and headache tension that tends to come from stress and anxiety at work or in life.

You can actually get an infrared sauna for a very reasonable price these days. They can be shipped to your home and are relatively easy to assemble and get working. They’re also very attractive, so it’s not a major eyesore like some other recreational amenities. Oh, it’s also great for your complexion!

Many of us suffer from back pain. Whether it is from an injury we had, or from simple stress and genetics, back pain can be an all encompassing pain that really is life interrupting if you don’t know how to manage it.

Many people think, intuitively, that when you are in pain, you should stay still and this will help. That is exactly opposite of what is true. Staying still, and leading a sedentary lifestyle where you get little movement and sit in a chair a lot is the WORST thing you can do for  back pain.

Moving around helps to loosen up the muscles, get the blood flowing, and perhaps most importantly gets enorphins and pleasure chemicals released in the brian, which helps to offset any of the pain you might be feeling in your back. The same goes for neck pain, and often times back, neck and shoulder pain go hand in hand.

Think of moving as lubing up the body. It helps to loosen the joints, and also helps to keep you mobile and agile as you age and  your joints, bones and muscles inevitably become less elastic and more prone to injury.

Exercises like yoga, swimming and water aerobics are excellent for those that exeperience back pain. The elliptical machine is a great way to get your cardio in if you have a sensitive back or joints in your leg that act up, since it has almost zero impact on the muscles and the joints.

Walking is an excellent workout for those with back pain. In fact, just walking and standing in the upright position helps us to stay mobile and flexible, whereas sitting and laying down really allow the muscles to atrophy and to become inflexible.

It’s all about maintaining movement and flexibility in the body.  If you have a desk job, make sure you get up and walk around once every hour. If you can’t actually get up and walk around, make sure you at least stand up from your chair and move around your cube or office, or stretch your back.

If you are going to do yoga for your back pain, be mindful that some poses are not back friendly if you are not flexible enough yet, and must be eased into instead of forcing your body into them. This can actually create more pain or result in injury, so take it slow.

Many exercises for flabby arms also help to ease back pain, such as supermans and kickbacks, all of which help to strengthen the lower back and help prevent back pain and weakness.

Running is an excellent form of exercise, in my opinion. For me, in the summer, there’s nothing like taking a jog out in the fresh air, past the corn fields in the backroads by our home, and just enjoying the feeling of being free, and using my legs what they were meant for.

I’m not a big “runner”, in that I don’t do sprints, but instead take a slower gait and jog, but there are some times when I’ll sprint short distances and alternate jogging and running to really get my metabolism going. 

One thing you have to be really careful of when running, especially if you’re just starting out, is to protect your back and your joints from being damaged.  Running is excellent for you, however, there is a high risk of back and joint injury because it is considered a high impact sport.

To lessen the blow of the concrete or pavement on your joints and back, it is absolutely impertive that you get a really great pair of running shoes. Without good running shoes, you are putting yourself at risk for injury and discomfort. 

Excellent running shoes will absorb the shock of the impact every time your foot hits the ground, so you get a smooth, impact free exercise, instead of a jarring, potentially damaging exercise.

My favorite pair of running shoes right now is the Adidas Supernova for women.  I don’t like the Supernova II’s, because in my opinion, they were not as well cushioned as the Supernova originals.  They make you feel like you’re running on air.  They work well on pavement and cement.

Another way you can help ensure you are running without to much jolting and pressure is to run on a rubberized track. This may be hard to find, but if you have a high school near you, many schools are now turning to these tracks because they lessen the amount of injuries seen in sprinter and track runner.

They are a much softer and safer surface to run on. We have on at the high school near us, and although it’s hard to find a time when it’s not being used by their track or football team, it’s excellent on your feet and joints whenever we do find a free time for it.

Running with the righ posture is also absolutely essential to protecting your back and joints from injury or damage. Too many people run with the wrong posture, which puts more pressure on their joints, and can make the back and neck strain to stay straight.

Run straight up and down, but not so that you’re bouncing up and down too much, rather that you’re driving forward.