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!

When it comes to playing sports, I’m the first to admit, I pretty much suck at anything that requires a whole of of hand eye coordination.  If you take me to play tennis, you’d probably be winning even if you’re just a mediocre player.

I can run allover the court all day, but when it comes to making contact with any ball in any sport, I’m pretty terrible. But that’s not what playing sports is really all about. It’s not about winning and competition all the time, but to me, even trying to play sports is fun and it also has a lot of benefits for my fitness.

One of the best calorie burners is tennis. Tennis is a game where you are running allover the court the whole time, and this is where the exercise comes in. You may not be hitting the ball all the time, but just running sideways takes a lot of coordination, and you are focusing the whole time.

Another sport that involves a court and a ball that is excellent for your cardiovascular fitness is basketball. Basketball players notoriously have some of the best physical conditioning when it comes to cardio fitness in the world.

If you look, you’ll also notice that they are almost constantly sweating, which means they are always exerting themselves.  They are running the ball up and down the court, playing defense and offense, and since it is such a high scoring game (unlike football), the game goes on forever, and many of the players stay on the court the majority of the time.

Basketball players can probably eat pretty much what they want because they literally burn calories the whole time they are on the court.  Another great sport is swimming. Although this could also be categorized in the pleasure category, swimming is a tough sport.

It conditions the muscles without you even feeling it, because you are weightless in water.  It also conditions your lungs and gives you compact, sleek muscles.

An important objective to keep in mind when starting on a fitness campaign is different ways to achieve and preserve your flexibility.  Flexibility isn’t just a concern for the fitness gurus as it is absolutely necessary to maintain your flexibility for everyday functioning.

It’s especially imperative as adults age to maintain flexibility.  Normal activities of daily living such as bending down to tie your shoes or reaching for items on high shelves involve a reasonable preservation of flexibility.

When flexibility is severely limited, even simple tasks like dressing yourself become either challenging or no longer possible.  Another very good incentive to maintain or improve flexibility is to decrease the possibility of injuries.

Muscles that are too tight are often a source of pain upon movement that will frustrate anyone trying to exercise to win the battle of the bulge.  When planning out your exercise routine, flexibility should be a part of your goal, but not your only focal point.

Achieving flexibility doesn’t mean that you should aim for being able to do contortionist activities.  As with anything, increasing flexibility should not go to that extreme.  If you try to take it to that extreme, you could risk injury by stretching your muscles too far.

What you should be doing is incorporating some stretching exercises into your workout routine.  You can do some stretching before and after your other workout activities.  Another good way to incorporate stretching into your activities is to do pilates or yoga along with your other physical activities of choice.

Working some stretching into your physical activities will help you to avoid injuries.  For runners and joggers, stretching your muscles will help to minimize the effect of pounding on your joints.

Golfers may notice an improvement in their swing when the muscles of their shoulders are not as tight and become looser and more flexible.

Probably the most important part of your body to benefit from improved flexibility is your back.  Your back is more prone to injury, spasms and pain when your muscles are tight.  Patience is required for the improvement of flexibility.

Often, it can take a person months to master a new yoga pose.  Flexibility goals will be different for every individual.  It will depend on your limitations of range of motion and general level of fitness when you start working on your flexibility.

Increasing and maintaining flexibility should be done in conjunction with physical exercise that builds strength.  Ideally, you’ll want to strike a balance of these two fitness goals to remain healthy and functional.

One of the best ways to make sure you keep a lean, sleek physique that’s not bulky or overly manly and “muscular” if you are a woman, is to combine a lot of stretching types of exercises with any weight lifting and cardio that you do.

Cardio is a must if you are going to get that lean look, since it is still the most effective way to get the heart rate up and strip fat from the body quickly and efficiently.  I have found that one of the best combinations for me personally to get lean and sleek looking (and I’m only 5′ 4″, so it’s tough for me to look this way), is to combine running and yoga.

Unfortunately, I run mostly when it’s nice outside, and since I live in Northeastern Ohio where the days can be extremely rare that you can get outside in the months of winter.  So then, I just have to resort to either an elliptical trainer or a treadmill and just run inside.

It’s just a lot tougher to keep your focus when you can’t be running outside past pretty green scenery, landscapes and other visually appealing and entertaining sights. Not to mention, you don’t get that same fresh air and the same runner elation that typically comes, for me anyway, more when I’m running outdoors.

I’ve found that combining running and yoga practice really makes me keep my weight at a nice level as well. The running provides me with pure cardio, a great heart pumping practice, and also great for trimming down my legs as well as my arms since I pump my arms quite a bit when I run.

The yoga takes those same muscles that I work so hard when running, and it stretches them back out. It keeps me flexible, and it also elongates my muscles, which helps me to keep that longer, leaner look, and helps to “stretch” my naturally shorter body out a little more, making me walk and appear taller.

It’s also great for flexibility, as well as mood. Studies have shown that women who practice yoga regularly experience much less depression, and tend to have healthier attitudes toward their life and toward stressful situations.  A good yoga DVD is worth its weight in gold, and if you combine this with running as your cardio practice, then you can get a sleek, mean, lean look that you are going for.

If you asked me this question, I’d say it’s of vital importance. Some people may disagree, or may think that less of it is required than I do.  That is because for me, I’ve found that warming up and cooling down before and after my exercise sessions helps me immensely when it comes to avoiding injuries and discomfort from the exercises that I do during those sessions.

Warming up is even more important than cooling down for me, becuase I find that I don’t feel strains in my muscles or uncomfortable pulls when I’m working out if I do an adequate stretching session.  Adequate to me is about 3-5 minutes, although some people may do more than that.

I’ve gotten my warm up pretty much down to a science though, where I know my own body well and I know what the buzz spots are, so to speak, where I typically might feel pulls of discomfort if I don’t adequately warm those areas up.

It’s been proven time and time again that those who warm up their muscles have less occurrence of injury and pulls.  This is because our muscles are literally like a rubber band. When we strain them or press them to their fullest, if they are cold, they are less stretchable and elastic, thereby making them rigid and not as easily manipulated into movement.

They can strain, snap, and stretch too far when they are in this state, whereas when they are warmed up, they are more able to get into these positions easily. 

Now let’s talk about cooling down. For me, I like to cool down because I hate getting right off a piece of equipment and going about my day.  If I do this, then it feels like I’m going to pass out, because I haven’t given my body time to cool down from the vigorous activity that I just put it through. 

Cooling down means that you don’t just run off and start your normal life after doing stressful cardio or weight lifting, but rather, you stretch your body again, working out the kinks taht the exercises may have caused in your muscles yet again.

I’ve found that cooling down and stretching AFTER working out for me, is almost as important as the warm up, because it allows my muscles to slowly recoup themselves, and prevents them from tensing or bunching up again after my exercises.

Aging really sucks in general. At least when it comes to how aging affects your body, your facial appearance, and the many other fun health things that go with aging. But aging doesn’t have to be all together terrible when it comes to how you physically feel and look.

There are a ton of things you can do to maintain the way you look. Mainly, you can do this by exercising and eating well. But sometimes even doing that doesn’t prevent certain things from happening. Things like “turkey neck” and our necks getting saggier and looser are some of the ones that happen to even the best of us.

I started to notice that I was getting a bit of a “double chin” about a year ago. I had this extra little paunch of fat right below my chin. Not quite on my neck actually, but enough to eventually become a full fledged waddle. So I was determined to find natural ways to exercise the surrounding muscles and get that developing waddle to come back up and be firm and nice and defined, like my chin and neck were when I was young.

So I found a little device that was actually a neck exerciser. I bought it at Bed Bath and Beyond for just about twenty bucks.  It is just a simple cheap little plastic device that you rest on your chest, and put your chin in. You then do almost like a “sit up” with your chin, off of your chest. You can feel your neck muscles tensing as you do it.

You are only supposed to do this facial excercise for a few minutes a day at most. I find one minute to be sufficient, and in fact I actually get a little sore if I go more than that. The exercises are more intense than they appear, and you are exercising muscles that rarely get worked, so you may feel a little soreness in places that you’re not used to feeling that way.

These types of exercises for waddles, turkey necks, double chins and neck fat can be very effective, but they take time to work, and you must be diligent and consistent with doing them.  The underlying muscles need to literally pull the fat and skin back to where they belong. Of course weight loss can help in extreme situations, but many times it’s just age that makes us sag in these areas.  Damn Father Time!