Exercise Mistakes

I like Pilates as a regular workout, but I also like hiking or riding my bike around the desert looking at birds and other wildlife. It's very easy to spot the ubiquitous road runner and sweet little groups of desert quail with their tiny babies like yellow cottonballs running behind them. I also love the burrowing owls, you can see them quite often in low rock formations, even in rock landscaping. I've seen many hummingbirds, especially in the Indian Canyons, the Morongo Preserve and the Coachella Valley Preserve. Other birds you might see include blue jays, the cactus wren, kestrels, larger hawks, and if you are really lucky, eagles.  The vermilion flycatcher, hooded orioles, woodpeckers, vireos and thrashers are other birds you might spot. You'd better bring a guide to desert birds with you so you can identify them.

This post is really about exercise mistakes. One of the mistakes, of course, is to make your exercise boring. Watching nature, spotting interesting critters and plants, as well as the beautiful views around here make outdoor exercise a wonderful experience.

Other exercise mistakes include:

No exercise at all. Tell yourself that you only need 12 minutes a day of real exercise to make a difference. Walk up hill for 12 minutes, working hard enough to have to breathe more deeply than usual. At the end of 12 minutes, turn around and walk down hill, a little more easily. That adds a few minutes to your exercise, works slightly different muscles than you were using to go uphill, and it lets you cool down your muscles before you stop exercising.

Not enough exercise. If you are out of shape, it doesn't take much exercise to make a difference in your condition. As you get more fit, you need more exercise, at least 30 minutes a day of walking or biking vigorously.

Too much exercise. If you like to exercise, it's tempting to just keep doing it. However, if you over exercise, you are more likely to be injured. Which leads to the next mistake:

Lack of rest. Exercise challenges your muscles and bones, but they actually grow and change during rest. Be sure to rest enough after exercise to fully recover and allow your body time to adjust. Rest can include just laying off the heavy workout for a day or so, or it can include different activities such as swimming or meditating.

No variety. Variety in your exercise makes it more interesting, of course, but it also challenges different muscle groups. If your exercise is a simple good long walk, vary the terrain so that you walk uphill and down, over easy terrain and over difficult terrain so that different muscles get worked. Then, at a different time, do your stretching to keep all your muscles balanced.

Never getting a massage.  Massage helps to iron out the tight muscles, reduce soreness, balance your muscles and improve the circulation of lymph, which stimulates your immune system. You know you need a massage! Contact us for more information about our massage services.