With the warmer months approaching, Northern Virginia is a wonderful location to see a lot of the beauty that Virginia has to offer! Lots of people are eager to get back outside and explore the area. Unfortunately, sometimes the winter weather keeps up inactive and can lead to an increase in injuries in the spring time.
At Advantage Physical Therapy, we’re ready to help if you’re injured. But we would love for you to prevent those injuries! Here we have several common exercises that can help keep you active and warm you up before you jump into your spring activities. If these exercises cause any pain or irritation, please stop and speak with a physical therapist and don’t just push through. It might be that your form is a bit off, leading to that irritation.
The colder and shorter days of winter naturally drive people indoors. These boundaries aren’t as conducive to activities that keep you in motion. Sitting by the fire may be just as enjoyable as working in the garden, but it doesn’t work your body in the same way.
Spring projects and sports both have an allure that creates “dive-in” attitudes. However, when your body can’t keep up with your spirit, injuries happen. Often these tasks lead to a lot of repetitive activities, such as painting a fence or a building, and can lead to some tendon inflammation and pain. Watch your form and your reps and make sure you rest whenever starting a new activity.
After a sedentary winter, you need physical preparation to transition into springtime activities without injury. Consider these exercises to ease your way into the season.
Flexibility, mobility, stability, and strength are the four areas of focus that need attention before you jump into your favorite spring activities. Here are some exercises to get you started.
Your calves, glutes, and quads support several joints prone to overuse injuries, like gardening, running, and walking. Choose squats to build strength in these muscle groups. Also, it is super functional. You need to be able to sit down and stand up!
Target coordination and core muscle stability with bird dogs. This can also help build up your neuromuscular strength by getting your nervous system firing in sync with your muscles. During these exercises, make sure your hips are level, your shoulders are strong, and you are able to hold the pose with slow controlled movements.
Planks help gardeners and athletes alike. If being on the floor is too intense. Try an incline plank leaning on your kitchen table. Just make sure you are bracing your core!
Lower body flexibility and strength are the focal points of lunges, which also improve your balance. When working on the garden, you will need to lunge down to pull up a weed. Make your exercises purposeful so that you can accomplish your spring time goals.
If you’re a spring-sport athlete, resistance band sidesteps work the hips to maintain alignment with the knees. Runners, hikers, and tennis players can benefit. Often when we are picking an exercise it is all focused on one direction. Such as walking or biking forward. It is important to strengthen muscles that move to the side to help support your hips and knees and ankles!
Many yoga exercises are great for full-body flexibility, including downward dog. You can loosen tight muscles from the hips to the calves, reducing your risk of Achilles and plantar fasciitis.
Go up on your tippy toes! Your calf muscles are the heart muscle of your lower body. By keeping these strong they can support your heart as well as power you through your activities.
Whatever your activity, start at 50% capacity and stay comfortable. Warm up, whether you’re on the soccer pitch or moving bags of mulch. When things hurt, stop.
If you would like a more detailed personalized plan, or if springtime activities got the best of you, we are here to help. Contact Advantage Physical Therapy at our Reston or Falls Church, VA locations. Call or click at the top of the page to book your appointment today. If you would like to see videos of all of these exercises, check out our instagram for an upcoming post!
