Get moving: a physio’s tips for getting started!

We’re focussing on movement and exercise this week. Physiotherapist Rebecca Dodson has some great tips and ideas for being active and staying injury free. She’s given us a set of tips for every day this week – and each day takes a different focus!

Stay tuned for ideas for injury prevention, women’s health, exercise and aging and how to keep your kids active and injury free!

Today Rebecca talks about the baseline for movement to keep healthy and how to get moving after a break.

Two and a half hours of moderate activity, every week is the baseline for staying healthy…

When I say moderate, I mean just that – it could include walking one extra bus-stop, doing some yoga, or taking the stairs!

We’re all busy… for those trying to fit exercise around kids’ routines and activities try… 

Getting active when your kids are. Join your kids in the playground, play football with them, or if they take swimming lessons at a public pool, jump in a lane and swim laps while they do! If you can do some physical activity for 30 minutes each day, you’ll be hitting the target to keep healthy. 

If that sounds tricky think about the small things that add up…

Like taking the stairs or walking to the next bus stop. And remember that you still have 23.5 hours to work, sleep and do everything else you usually need to do in the course of a day.

The other option is… 

A total of one and a quarter hours of vigorous physical activity across the course of your week. Running, cycling, hill walking – activities that make you out of breath, so you’d find it really hard to have a conversation while you’re doing them – are great for achieving this. And… there are further health benefits if you can do 5 hours of moderate or two and a half of vigorous activity.

If you’ve been inactive for a while or are just starting regular exercise, start slowly…

Focus on the baseline fitness we were just talking about (thirty minutes of moderate exercise each day).  Then you can build up slowly. That’s the best way to avoid injury – try not to get excited and go all out to begin with. 

If you’re getting started, choose something you enjoy… 

If you choose something that feels like a chore, you find ways to avoid it. Having an exercise buddy – a friend or family member to help you stick to your goals is also a good way to make it more fun. If you really want to branch out and try something new it’s important to get guidance from a coach, trainer or class instructor who specialises in your chosen activity.

The right gear will help keep you injury free – that’s more than just shoes…

I can’t stress this enough. The right shoes can help prevent all sorts of injuries and the same goes for other specialist sports gear. If you’re a woman go and get fitted for a good sports bra. We all change shape and getting fitted by someone who knows what they’re doing can help to keep your back injury-free.

Rebecca has trained and worked as a musculoskeletal and sports physio for 20 years. Over the past 10 years her passion for women’s health led her to specialise in pelvic floor physiotherapy, pre- and post-natal exercise, clinical pilates and acupuncture. She is a leader in women’s health and in 2015 established Leto Women’s Health with fellow physiotherapist and women’s health leader Stacey Law.