Exercise – Before and After Tips to Keep You Healthy!

The contestants on The Biggest Loser have Jillian Michaels to keep them motivated (or scared), but most of us are on our own when it comes to an exercise plan. When life gets busy and you’re trying to fit in a workout in the madness, it’s easy to forget the importance of doing it right. When you only have a small window of time, it’s tempting to jump right in and get it done. However, a good warm up and cool down is very important. It adds some extra time to your workout, but a healthy body is worth the sacrifice.

Drs. Joel Brook and David Northcutt, podiatrists in Dallas and Plano, TX, have seen and treated many kinds of injuries caused by overuse or improper exercise. The wrong footwear often plays a huge role, but leaving out stretching, warming up and cooling down can also put you at risk for an injury. Here are some quick highlights to keep in mind:

• Warming up prepares your body for exercise and increases blood flow to your muscles.
• A warm up starts with a focus on large muscle groups and should get your heart pumping but not leave you fatigued
• A cool down helps to gradually decrease you heart rate
• The cool down is the best time to do some stretching since muscles are warmed up. Keep in mind to only stretch until there is a light tension on the muscle, you should not feel pain.

If you are looking for some safe, easy exercises to improve your strength and help you avoid injury, contact Dallas Podiatry Works. We treat athletes of all kinds and ages on a regular basis. Make an appointment by calling our office in Dallas, TX (972) 566-7474 or Plano, TX (972) 943-3323.