Winter Exercise is Critical For Your Health!

Winter Exercise is Critical for Your Health Regular exercise in winter is critical to help your body absorb vitamins and to keep flexible. Participating in winter sports can be difficult. Once the temperature drops, it can become hard to find the motivation to exercise outside. Your muscles become stiff after only a few minutes, leaving your body sore. However, spending time outside during the winter is very important. Being out in the sun for fifteen to twenty minutes a day allows your body the proper amount of time it needs to absorb Vitamin D, which helps the body absorb calcium. In order to receive the proper amount of Vitamin D and get yourself moving during the colder months, Physical Therapy Speciaists of Idaho is here to help you prepare! If you are struggling with an injury or if you have sore muscles after being out in the cold, set up an appointment with one of our specialized therapists! A therapist will evaluate the injured area, deciding which type of therapy and exercises will be the most beneficial for you. If you are heading out for a run, walk, or ski, keeping your muscles safe while out in the cold will be a top priority. How Can We Help? Whether it is your back, shoulders, knees or ankles, we are here to help! Once your therapist has determined the area in which the pain is coming from, they will often incorporate manual therapy, a type of hands on therapy, to help loosen muscles, increase flexibility and range of motion, and reduce pain. The therapist may also incorporate modalities such as heating and cooling tools, E-Stim, or ultra sounds to help reduce inflammation. After the hands on portion of the appointment, your therapist may go over an at-home exercise program that will help continue the rehabilitation in between appointments. The therapist may recommend dynamic stretching, a type of movement that mimics the actions made during the actual physical activity.

Winter Exercise is Critical to Year Round Health Not only does dynamic stretching help the body warm and loosen up, but it allows for a better range of motion in the body as well. Often times, therapists will also incorporate strength exercises in order to help the injured area become stronger. In doing so, the likelihood of reinjuring the area should decrease.