UAB Sports & Exercise Medicine experts offer their advice on starting an exercise plan, preventing injury and knowing when to stop. Exercising has many benefits, including combating such health conditions and diseases as diabetes, hypertension and depression. Exercising boosts energy, improves mood and helps maintain a healthy weight. Unfortunately, a surge in activity without proper planning and guidance often leads to frustration, abandoning fitness goals and even exercise-related injuries.
Three UAB Sports and Exercise Medicine physicians offer their tips for starting an exercise routine, preventing injury and knowing the limits of working out too much.
What is the best type of exercise for beginners?
“Walking is the best type of exercise for anyone to try, especially beginners, because you can go at your own pace,” said Calvin Spellmon Jr., M.D., sports medicine physician and assistant professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine. “You don’t need any fancy equipment or a gym membership, and it can be done literally anywhere.”
Spellmon notes that most people complete this exercise whether they want to or not, and recommends walking on soft surfaces, wearing supportive shoes and orthotics if needed, and drinking fluids.
Make sure to warm up and stretch before and after a walk. Gradually build up distance and apply ice for recovery if needed. Spellmon recommends wearing bright colors for safety, keeping headphone volume low, avoiding high traffic areas and letting someone know your route.
What is the right way to warm up and cool down?
Ian McKeag, M.D., associate professor and UAB Sports and Exercise Medicine Fellowship director, explained that a warmup should increase both blood flow and heart rate and a cooldown should do the opposite.
“The goal for every warmup is to increase your heart rate above your resting rate, and to initiate some additional blood flow to the larger muscle groups you plan on working out,” McKeag said. “Conversely, the goal for your cooldown is to gradually reduce your heart rate toward your resting rate and return blood flow back to the pre-exercise state.”
Both a warmup and cooldown should be an easier version of predominant workout movements.
“If you are warming up for a long run, a slower-paced light jog would fit the bill as an appropriate warmup,” McKeag said. “If you are in the weight room, then try some slow, controlled, body-weight squats, push-ups or other significantly reduced-weight lifts.”
Although doing a pre-workout warmup and post-workout stretching is something he recommends to everyone working out, McKeag emphasizes that it is less important for resistance trainers to cool down than it is for people doing an aerobic or cardiovascular-based workout. McKeag still advises that most people incorporate a cooldown into their workout routine.
Am I exercising too much?
“All too often, the ‘No Pain; No Gain’ mantra leads to injury — both acute and overuse — rather than achieving your goals,” said UAB Student Health Services Sports Medicine Clinic Director and UAB Athletics Medical Director Heath Hale, M.D.
Hale recommends being aware of the signs that someone might be over-exercising.
A great way to determine whether a workout is too strenuous is to try to have a conversation with someone. One may need to dial down the workout routine’s intensity if the individual fails the “Talk Test.”
Hale says disposition issues can be a sign of over-exercise.
“Do you feel depressed? Anxious? More irritable? Are you constantly tired? Do you sleep poorly? If the answer to any of these questions is ‘yes,’ then you may be over-exercising,” Hale said.
Another possible sign is when an exercise regimen requires extra rest or is not a routine that can be kept up over time.
Finally, Hale recommends evaluating diet, which plays a crucial role in exercise.
“Your body is like a car. It needs fuel to run. If your nutritional demands exceed your intake, then that’s a sign to cut back on your exercise,” Hale said.
Think about how to make some positive changes. Whether it is about exercise, anxiety, healthy eating or other reasons, small steps toward a healthier lifestyle can go a long way toward a happier life.
Anyone starting a new exercise routine should always talk to their primary care provider, especially if they have existing health conditions, have not been active, have pain or take medications. Providers can assess readiness, offer personalized guidance, and help create a safe, effective plan to prevent injury and optimize benefits.