What do you and Paris Hilton have in common?  With so many parties to go to, Paris Hilton may not have time to exercise regularly.  And I bet there were no personal trainers available to help keep her motivated during her jail time   Exercising for us non-celebrities with chronic pain may be challenging too, because of our busy schedules and physical limitations.  However, it’s especially important to keep in shape and limber, to help decrease pain through exercise, and to keep our minds active and in good spirits.

I invited Dr. David Berkson to address the problems that can occur with irregular exercise, and how to become a regular exerciser.  Dr. Berkson is Board Certified in both Family and Sports Medicine, and is a faculty member at Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia.  He’s the physician for several teams and organizations, so knows about exercise!  Here’s what Dr. Berkson writes:

Weekend warriors can be defined as part-time participants in fitness activities.  Weekend warriors attempt to squeeze in all of their fitness activity of the week into 1 or 2 sessions, most commonly on the weekends.  This asks your body to do more than it’s capable of handling, causing all kinds of problems, from simple sprains/strains to fractures and everything in between.

Your body has trouble handling the stress of this kind of participation because of a variety of issues.  The muscles that are being exercised aren’t prepared to deal with the high load of the exercise.  When muscles are exercised, they go through a process of breakdown and rebuilding to be able to handle an increased load.  For the weekend warrior, the muscles aren’t rebuilding from one weekend to the next, so they’re not ready for the type of exercise that they’re undergoing.

If you only exercise occasionally, the cardiovascular system – your heart and blood vessels – is also not used to being exercised on a regular basis and may not be able to handle the stress.  This may lead to simple problems such as becoming easily winded, or, in rare cases, catastrophic events such as heart attacks.

Improper technique is one of the major causes of injury during exercise.  For the weekend warrior, even if he/she was taught the right technique at one point in time, the correct way may not be remembered given the amount of time between exercise sessions.

What’s The Answer?
So, what’s the best way to avoid these problems and prepare the body for the stress of being a weekend warrior?  Turn the weekend warrior into a routine exerciser.

This is a simply-stated goal, but not as easily achieved.  You have to make exercise and workouts work for you.

Step 1:  Commit to daily physical activity.
We all have schedules that we keep for our “important” appointments, and we make sure that we don’t miss those appointments.  You need to make appointments with yourself for fitness sessions, and make these just as important as any other meeting on your schedule.  If you miss a session, don’t just forget about it.  If you missed or had to cancel a meeting, you would reschedule it.  Do the same with exercise.

Step 2:  Set short-term and long-term goals.
Be reasonable.  If you’re not sure if your goals are reasonable, just ask a friend what he/she thinks, and be open to feedback.

There’s a big difference between exercising to increase your overall fitness/health and exercising to increase your exercise tolerance or athletic ability.  For fitness/health, it’s recommended to exercise a minimum of 30 minutes per day.  These 30 minutes can be broken down into smaller increments and done throughout the day.  You want to avoid the “all or nothing” viewpoint, and be realistic.

Step 3:  Find time to exercise:
Fitting fitness in sometimes requires some creative thinking.  Here are some suggestions:

• Having a friend or exercise partner who’s interested in the same types of exercise, and who has similar goals, can be very helpful.  It’s nice to have someone else to help keep you focused, and you can do the same for them.
• Think of creative workouts – use the stairs, park farther away in parking lots to walk longer, carry one bag of groceries in from the car at a time, change your thinking about routine tasks – chores can be your “exercise friend.”

Step 4:  Keep it fun
Exercise needs to be fun to keep you coming back and involved.  Pick exercises or activities that you like.  If you find you don’t like running or jogging, try the bicycle or swimming.  And then find others who enjoy the same types of exercise.  You might like to join a group or class, or learn something new that involves movement (dancing, sports, etc).

Step 5:  Build up gradually and safely
No matter what kind of exercise you try, start out slowly and increase gradually to avoid overuse injuries (too much, too soon).  Ask a fitness expert or personal trainer with help on technique if you’re not sure if you’re doing something correctly.  The most common reason for injury is incorrect technique.

Last thoughts…  Remember that the best bet for weekend warriors is to increase their baseline activity level.  Eating a healthy, well-balanced, nutritious diet and maintaining proper hydration will also help in your quest to become more fit.  And ask your doctor before starting or increasing an exercise program.

Thanks so much to Dr. Berkson for this helpful info.  How is your exercise regimen going?  What helps you stay motivated?  Let us know in the comments.  (And when I figure out how to have Paris Hilton’s fortune, so I can afford a personal trainer, spa, and gym, I’ll be sure to post it