The Proper Way To Be A Weekend Warrior
With the never-ending demands of modern life, many find it hard to allocate time to physical activity during the work day. But because they love a particular sport or are trying to stay in shape they try to make up for this deficiency on the weekends, going hard for hours at a time. The more you sit during the week, the longer you have to exercise on the weekends, or so the Weekend Warrior mentality goes. This approach is dangerous, as we are subjecting our body to 2 different extremes on a regular basis. By being inactive for days on end our muscles atrophy and get tight while our joints see decreased range of motion. When we then suddenly push the same muscles and joints for several hours we create the perfect environment for serious injury. During our many years of Physical Therapy we have heard this story too many times. Older athletes are especially vulnerable in this regard. As we get older our joints and tendons naturally diminish in flexibility and strength. Without a regular training regiment one awkward jump shot or golf swing is all it takes to incur injury.
The cure is to try to be active on a regular basis. Even if you don't have a full workout routine, 20 minutes on the elliptical or even a brisk walk around the neighborhood makes a difference. If you play a specific sport on the weekends then you want your weekday workouts to prepare you for it. Although our Fitness For Life philosophy calls for regular attention to all around strength, endurance and flexibility, once a base level is established we tailor our own workouts and those of our clients to specific activities. A competitive golfer has different needs than a basketball player, so consult with your fitness professional on a sport-specific routine.
