Christmas is 2 weeks away and seemingly coming around quicker and quicker every hour!
At this time of year, there are always articles on '10 steps to a better new year' and 'Get your new year off to a flying start!'
And while the advice is the same, we don't often know why that advice is important. Here is a quick guide to keeping well this festive season (and why) - apart from the eat well and don't drink too much story!
1. Get some sleep and rest. 2020 has been a horrible year for many and full of stress. People have lost work, people have lost jobs, people have not been able to see family members or have lost family members Stress can be a normal and healthy response in the body, and is the primary driver with the fight or flight response. However, chronic stress changes a whole range of things in the body - and not for the better. Chronic stress maintains a prolonged fight or flight response, with adrenaline and cortisol levels remaining high. This keeps your heart rate and blood pressure high, your immune and digestive responses low and your pain sensitivity and response high. Cortisol can increase weight gain as well. Under chronic stress, pain and inflammatory pathways in the body are also sensitised and stress often manifests as pain - with patients complaining of headaches on increases in body aches or pains. Often people will notice that pain also comes back to areas where they have had other injuries in the past (such as back pain or neck pain).
The end of the year is a great time to reset and take a breath. A time to rest, sleep and be with friends and family. A time to meditate or practice mindfullness. All of these things help to dampen the fight or flight response - and in doing so, change your hormone profile and start 2021 off on the right foot.
2. Get moving or keep moving. Many people have not been active over the COVID period, and many people stop their activity over the holidays. Of course, we all know that exercise is key - and we know that it helps lots of different body systems and you feel better from it. We won't go into that here - but, how do you start? What happens if you have a break?
This is where load management comes in. Doing too much too soon increases your risk of injury, and most injuries we see come from this source - doing too much too soon after not doing enough for too long. Your body has a certain capacity for exercise, and if the load you place on it exceeds that capacity, then something has to fail - and in this instance, it is muscle, ligament or another body structure. The general rule is to progress your exercise by approximately 10% per week. Start off slow - if you take a break with Christmas, don't start where you left off. Drop the repitiions, drop the weight and slowly build up again. What takes a long time to build takes no time to lose. Click here to learn more about load capacity with this great video.
It doesn't have to be much - but every little bit helps! Pick something you like - walking, swimming, bike riding, or weights, start small, be consistent and slowly build!
3. Enjoy some vitamin D. We all know that nutrition is extremely important - and while we know a little about it, we certainly are not experts in nutritionand so we will leave that blog for someone else. However, Vitamin D is produced by your skin in response to sunlight. We naturally spend time indoors in winter (especially with COVID and a 5km travel limit), and with reduced international travel our Vitamin D levels are probably low.
But why is Vitamin D important? Vitamin D helps your body absorb calcium - which in turn helps to make your bones strong and reduce the risk of Osteoarthritis and similar conditions. Vitamin D also helps sleep quality, improves your immune response, improves weight loss and can help with your mental health and stress. So, short of taking tablets, get out in the sun and exercise (with slow progressions to prevent overload!). There are also many other things that you can eat and that help with Vitamin D (as well as all ofther vitamins) that also help with your optimal body function!
There are many more things that you can do over Christmas and the New Year to start 2021 off on the right foot - however, these are 3 quick tips for your to implement into your lives starting now! If you are unsure where yo start, please give us a call on 95801985 and we would love to help.