FEELING GREAT: Don’t stop or even slow down if your body is stiffening up

The weather isn’t always an excuse for you to avoid getting out now is it?

Now if you read my advice last week, you would be all too aware about the winter stiffness and tension issues many of my patients are suffering from.

I really find it hard to understand how so many people just accept it as the norm and fail to do anything about it.

What a lot of you reading this don’t understand is that stopping or even slowing down if you’re feeling stiff is the last thing you should ever do.

You can ward tension in your muscles and joints off, you can even stop it dictating what you can and can’t do. Despite what some people will tell you, stiffness and tension rarely go away with rest or inactivity, and neither goes away on its own. That is for certain. No, to win the stiffness battle, you’re going to need to keep active and on the go. Don’t stop is my outlook and It’s a very important message for you to take into any winter season when the ‘stiffness monster’ comes out to haunt innocent knee, neck and back joints.

It’s always worse in winter – my physio clinic will see a 20-30% rise in ‘stiffness victims’ over the winter months, each struggling to do the simple things like lean forward to pick up a TV remote, or get down and play with grandchildren (because they know they’re not going to be able to get back up). I know there are men and women aged 50+ who, in the winter, fall into the trap of spending MORE time on the couch and LESS time in the swimming pool or walking around the park, stretching in a yoga studio or working on muscle tone in a Pilates class. And that’s exactly where I’d recommend you be to help fend stiffness off. The weather isn’t always an excuse for you to avoid getting out now is it.... think of the fresh air, the sea breeze, the smell of the great outdoors!

Keeping active is the only way to fend off the unwanted effects of joint stiffness and muscle tension. Take action with the ideas mentioned above to keep active and you can ignore the gossip that says it’s your age and you’ll just have to accept it. When it comes to fending off joint stiffness, there definitely is a better way.

For more tips and advice, please call my team for a FREE copy of my book The Healthy Habit. It’s a great New Year boost for anyone looking to improve their outlook and health! I have a couple of copies available to the first readers to get in touch. Call 01429 866771 or visit paulgoughphysio.com.