Post Winter Wake-Up
Don't "spring" into warmer weather season
To say it was a long winter could almost be an understatement. Between frequent snow and ice storms and continual freezing temperatures, plus a few record-breaking cold days - many of us have been in physical hibernation. In other words, not very active.
However, now that the thermometer is starting to climb and snow is quickly melting, don't be too quick to jump into action.
Kathleen Meade, a nurse practitioner with OSF Medical Group says it's not a good idea to try to run a marathon when you haven't even walked a block or two in quite a while and your body may be in a state of - as she calls it - deconditioning.
"Where our muscles become atrophied and they just don't have the same stamina that they had when, if you were active in the past," says Kathleen Meade, Nurse Practitioner with OSF Medical Group. "So, you do, truly, have to recondition your muscles to respond to the activities that you want to do."
"Slow as you go" should be your mantra for the first several weeks of spring. Meade also wants you to be careful if your sports activity interests have changed.
"If you've always been - a golfer and then you decided to play tennis, you're going to use a lot different muscles than you are used to," says Kathleen Meade, nurse practitioner for OSF Medical Group. "So, again, good stretching, gradually taking a lesson - but don't just go out there and play a match right away."
Finally, Meade suggests having a medical professional check you out before you get too far down the outdoor activity road.
"We want to make sure that nothing has changed," says Kathleen Meade, nurse practitioner for OSF Medical Group. "That your heart can handle it. That your respiratory system can handle it. Sometime we do just some basic blood work to make sure you're no anemic or that your vitamin levels are appropriate that would give you the extra energy."
Don't want to go through the hassle of waiting to see your doctor, OSF Medical Group in Rockford now has same day appointments. Learn more at www.osfhealthcare.org/practices/search/