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46 EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGY FROM PAGE 44 However, while this might be motivation enough to head out the door for a 10km run, it’s important to exercise right to avoid injury, especially if you haven’t exercised for a while. Mr Douge says that if someone has a sedentary lifestyle, it probably means they haven’t done any exercise for at least two or three months, “and unfortunately that’s a lot of people”. “We always remind people that there’s no rush to start setting personal bests or doing extreme activities when they first start, even though that’s what they feel like they need to be achieving,” he said. He advises that to minimise the risk of injury, it’s important that people considering taking up a program of regular exercise should first consult their doctor. “Your GP is your first port of call to get the clearance that you’re safe to start exercising, and then look to your other health professionals – for example, your exercise physiologist – to perhaps come up with a program that’s suitable for you initially,” he said. Mr Douge points out, though, that completely avoiding injury isn’t a realistic expectation because with “any new activity, injury risks are there”. “It’s like doing anything,” he said. “If you started a new job, that comes with different stressors as well. \\\\\\\[With\\\\\\\] a new physical task, there’s always a risk of accidents or injury. But it doesn’t mean you should avoid it altogether. \\\\\\\[Just make sure you’re\\\\\\\] taking precautions that are easy to implement.” Mr Douge says people may initially experience some general muscle or joint soreness, which is “pretty normal, but it can feel uncomfortable, too”. “In terms of actual damage to bodies, sprains and strains are really common,” he said. “And that goes hand in hand with doing more intense exercises, usually, so, things like resistance training or strength-based circuit training or faster-paced activities like running.” This, he adds, is when one might “end up with injuries like sprains and strains, and that can be from anything – from fatigue to overexertion”. “The other \\\\\\\[injuries\\\\\\\] typically come from accidents,” Mr Douge said. “So, if you’re walking on a path that has \\\\\\\[an\\\\\\\] unsteady surface, you might roll your ankle, \\\\\\\[but this is an example\\\\\\\] of some of the things that just happen in life.” Whether someone should continue to exercise through an injury or illness depends on “their condition or what the injury is”, says Mr Douge. “If it’s ... a virus or fever, something where you have an elevated heart rate or body temperature, it’s recommended to \\\\\\\[avoid\\\\\\\] exercise, and to rest and recover,” he said, pointing out the importance of seeing your GP for a medical assessment. “If you’re experiencing any pain or suspected injuries, it’s always a good idea to \\\\\\\[again\\\\\\\] see your GP first, or a physiotherapist, to assess the function there, and if there’s any damage it means that you need to avoid certain activities. “Generally, \\\\\\\[though\\\\\\\], some sort of movement or exercise is part of a rehab plan anyway, if there’s an injury involved, and for a lot of health conditions \\\\\\\[experts\\\\\\\] do recommend exercise for its benefits and helping to manage symptoms.” So, while exercise is important to overall health and wellbeing, there’s a fine balance between doing enough to reap the benefits, and overdoing it, putting yourself at risk of injury and illness. “For your body, as much as it enjoys the stimulus of exercise, recovery is just as important if you’re training, especially for fitness,” Mr Douge said. “When you’re training for health, you don’t really need to work that hard. As long as you’re getting a little bit of heart rate elevation and using most of your joints and muscles, you’re going to be healthy. “But if you’re training for fitness and pushing your body to fatigue, you do need some recovery time. If you’re not allowing that, you’re likely to end up injuring yourself from overtraining. You might even end up in a state of burnout, which is where your body will begin to actually stop you from working that hard. It won’t allow you to generate the same energy. You’ll feel sluggish, your mood will be affected, your sleep will be affected. “It’s essentially your body telling you, you’ve had enough. \\\\\\\[But\\\\\\\] you need to work pretty hard to get to that point.” One way to monitor how hard you’re exercising, particularly when you’re starting out, is by doing “self- assessment” and using such as an “exertion scale”, according to Mr Douge. “Generally, people are pretty good at self-assessment,” he said. “So, we often ask people, if I said to you, ‘you’ve got to start exercising tomorrow, without any guidance’, what would you choose to do? Most people would say they’d happily go for a walk. “From there we can use things like an exertion scale, so, one to 10, with 10 being the hardest thing you’ve ever done in your life, one being asleep on the couch. “Getting people to use that \\\\\\\[scale\\\\\\\] to modify their own intensity, especially when it comes to cardiovascular exercise, is really easy. So, telling someone to say, hey, if you go out for a walk or jog, stay at an intensity of about six or seven out of 10, and that should RETAIL PHARMACY ASSISTANTS • MAR 2021