Do You Take Care of You Body?

This entry was written by Alison Orr, one of the newest members of Team Cygen.  Alison has appeared on the stage many times as a fitness and bikini competitor and is currently training herself (and others) for the upcoming season.  This is Alison's first entry...enjoy!!!

Sure you do!  That’s why you eat right, exercise and take the appropriate supplements for optimal performance.  You have high expectations of your body; you push, train hard and heavy, follow these crazy diets and are barely able to walk out of the gym after a session.  Whether you are an athlete, a competitor or fitness enthusiast you thrive off this way of life.  Exercise is a great stress reliever, makes you feel good with all those positive endorphins being released.  It really is a mind, body, spirit thing. 

But what do you do for after care? What happens when you are sick? You’ve tweaked your shoulder, hurt your back.  Do you continue to train?  As they say “no pain, no gain” right? Wrong!  I’ve learned the hard way and have experienced this though clients and myself.  We all think we’re invincible, got to push through this.  Why would we listen to our bodies? Because if we don’t we’re really going to hurt ourselves and may require surgery down the way.

I tweaked my hip back in the fall, thought I could train through it-nope.  One morning I woke up and couldn’t walk on it.  I was hobbling around like an old lady.  It required a month of massage, and acupuncture to get it back.  I now train more sensibly.  It’s not about how heavy I can go, but am I performing the exercise properly, I make sure to stretch after each workout and warm up the muscle with a light set or 2.  Those foam rollers are a wonderful thing, it’s like having a massage therapist on a daily basis.  I also highly recommend seeing a massage therapist at least once a month.  Don’t go when your injured go as a preventative to injury.

I write this blog to you house bound.  I’m trying to fight off a flu bug.  Nothing major has transpired-because I’m listening to my body.  I’m resting, drinking plenty of fluids even though sitting still is killing me.  I’m dying to train.  I don’t feel bad, but I don’t feel 100% so I’m listening to my body and resting it so it can heal and grow strong.  Its competition prep time but I won’t make any gains if my body isn’t at 100%.  So listen to your body and rest, recuperate because that’s when you make the most gains physically and mentally.  Happy training and enjoy those rest days!

Alison Orr, Cygen Athlete