So far this year we have had an unusually cold and snowy winter in Indianapolis. This prompted Tomo to give you some tips and tricks to help keep your muscles in good condition during this extreme weather.
Overall, cold weather is not the best for optimal muscular health. To avoid muscular tightness and dysfunction you want to avoid exposing yourself to extreme cold weather.
Shivering and shrugging are common reactions the body does to keep warm during cold weather. Your muscles have an elastic property and they will react to temperature change. If you are out in the cold weather and you are not dressed properly your muscles are less elastic and this can cause extreme muscle tightness. Then, if you start to shiver and shrug your shoulders in an effort to keep warm, you may be causing muscle dysfunction/tightness.
So here are some super simple tips you can follow:
1. Wear a Scarf
A scarf amazingly keeps you warm especially around your neck and shoulders.
Men can wear a scarfs, too! 🙂
2. Drink plenty of water
We recommend water intake of half your body weight in ounces (if you weigh 150lb, you need to drink at least 75 ounces). Keep in mind, if you workout you will need more water! Sometimes it is hard to drink water when it is cold, but dehydration causes muscular tightness. Make sure you stay hydrated, this is super important!
3. Take a bath
Bathing will warm you up and help you relax! If it is available, put some Epsom salt in the bath. Magnesium in the Epsom salt makes your muscles loosen up. Buy the big bag of Epsom salts add some lavender oil and you are set!
4. Set the right temperature in your room when you sleep
Sleeping in the fetal position makes certain muscles tight (Ex. chest, biceps, abs, hip flexors, and hamstrings). Sometimes you and your spouse disagree with the right temperature, but if you feel cold, make sure you wear extra clothes to be comfortable and warm.
Don’t sleep in this position! Sleep on your back is optimal. Otherwise you need to have proper support for sleep on your side. This is one of the biggest underlying reasons people have pain. If you have any questions about how to support yourself properly just give us a call!
It looks like we are in for a long and cold winter here in Indianapolis so, make sure you try a few of these tips to keep you working towards your 2014 Goals. If you are struggling to keep on track with you fitness, wellness, or pain management then try our Free Consultation. We sit down discuss your personal goals and help you formulate a plan for success.
We make sure we are a good fit for you before you start our program. This program is a complete system that will not only help you have more energy and lose weight, it will help with stress management, nutrition, accountability, and pain management!
Checkout why we are different! Hope you enjoyed this post! Have a great day today!
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