Your workout is going great, and then suddenly something feels off. You feel a pain, a tingling sensation, or a wave of nausea comes over you. Or maybe you don’t feel anything until later, in the form of soreness or shin splints or even swelling. Whatever the symptoms may be, the cause is likely that you’re doing something about your workout wrong.
At Lederman Kwartowitz Center for Orthopedics, our goal is to keep you doing what you love to do safely. Beware of the following signs that your activity could be harmful to your body.
- You’re Super Sore the Next Day: A little soreness can be good, but if you’re so sore you can’t move, you need to tone your workout down a bit.
- Your Feet Keep Falling Asleep: This is a typical problem of gym goers who like to multitask during their workouts. Possibly you are on the treadmill, the rower and you are watching a movie or reading a book. Distractions can cause you to focus less on your form which makes your feet fall flat and asleep.
- Shin Splints Turn Your Run into a Hobble: This is another problem runners can experience. If your shins are begging for mercy, it may be because you have suddenly increased the duration or intensity of your runs. Other possible explanations include using the wrong shoes or running exclusively on hard surfaces. Instead of trying to improve by huge leaps increase a little each week.
- Cramps are Cramping Your Running Style: If you’re cramping when you exercise, it’s likely you didn’t wait for food or drink to be digested before you started. Other causes could be dehydration or breathing that is too shallow. Eat 1-2 hours before so that you are fueled but not still digesting your food and drinking water throughout the day and not just when you’re active will keep you properly hydrated.
