Listen to Your Body

March 14, 2021 –

Last month we talked about listening to and taking care of your heart. This month let’s focus on listening to your body. 

A client of mine is doing just that. Today he asked to cancel a session due to knee pain from an old football injury.  The injury is aggravating but not debilitating, and he has maintained awesome strength in his prime movers (leg muscles) over the years which keeps his body healthy.  Nonetheless, the knee (especially when it is cold outside) does make matters worse and painful.  But he listened to his body, and we talked about some ice/heat therapy to make matters better.  Listen to your joints, if they are “screaming at you” … they might need a break from your routine.  Or, perhaps more stretching for increased flexibility/elongation.  

If you are standing up and see a penny or dollar bill lying on the ground and choose to pick that up, are you too stiff to just bend over and grab it?  I have a friend who golfs, and recently told me how hard it is to get a “good read” on the golf ball.  He said “in the past it was easy to get ground level with the ball to look at my lie (ball path to the target) … now it is more of a guess.”  

Here is an example of ground level view;  this takes a lot of  muscle, balance, core strength, and practice.  Can you move that well?  Be careful if you try this!  

The point my client made was simple. He had lost the strength to lay flat on the ground (or close to the ground) and then get back up to his feet easily.  So he stopped doing that and now, he cannot do it at all.  If you are not practicing your bodies need for movement today you are getting stiffer and that practice is going to get harder to do.  USE your muscles!!  Use your heart too!

      
Today I ask you to listen to your body and consider what you hear.  When sitting at your desk does the middle section of your spine ache?  If you are texting a lot … do you find it hard to pull your head back into neutral position comfortably?  When you think about posture (did you just sit up and pull your shoulders back) do you find it almost uncomfortable to maintain?  The list goes on of ways your body is telling you that something is just not right.  Most often you are the person who notices these dysfunctions and only you can act on the issue.  What is your body saying?  

The cooler weather might have and adapting to the temperature might have your body telling you something.  Listen, get ahead of any issues. Stop by today for a FIT functional movement screen and tune up your body!   

In good health,

Bob

Things don’t correct themselves, you’ve got to go out there and work hard to correct them. – Tom Brady