Find Your Exercise Motivation

There are too many reasons to exercise to discuss in this blog. But, a recent consultation with a patient reminded me of my own reasons, and reasons that many other will relate to. This patient was a middle aged gentleman who knows he needs to lose weight, and recently learned that he needs to lower his cholesterol; Two related and excellent reasons to exercise. Increased energy, improved mood, and a trimmer physique are other benefits to exercising. Despite this knowledge, this patient was finding it difficult to stay motivated to exercise. This reminded me of myself. In the past, I found it difficult to exercise for exercise sake. I was not overweight and unaware of a cholesterol problem. My motivation was lacking. Fast forward to my learning of having high cholesterol. Cue the motivation, right? Wrong. I attempted to control the cholesterol with diet modification alone. Guess what? It works. I was thrilled a year later when my cholesterol count was lower. I didn't diet, per se, rather I simply cut out certain indulgent foods. But, diet modification isn't enough. Exercise is needed to keep driving those scary numbers lower. So, my motivation to exercise became stronger. However, I was still finding it difficult to go through the motions of exercise without something more exciting to strive for. Cholesterol, physique, mood are all great reasons to exercise, but, like me, and my patient, you might need another reason. As I discussed with my patient, I found motivation in competition. As a sports fan (player and viewer), turning exercise into competition was my key. Instead of exercising for x minutes a day and 3x minutes a week with the motivation being a blood test in a year, I have found drive by preparing to compete in triathlons. The blood test will still happen, but it is the last thing I think about when I'm exercising. I don't even call it 'exercise'; I call it 'training'. My patient really related to this concept. I hope he succeeds in finding his motivation. And, I hope you have found yours.

Helping to fuel my triathlon training motivation is my father. My last blog discussed my weekend bike ride and run with my father. This was the first time we had run or road-cycled together. It was a great weekend from a training perspective, and an even better weekend from a father/son perspective. My father used to compete in marathons and triathlons. I was too young to participate with him during his glory days, but he isn't too old to participate with me as I train for my first triathlons.

If you're interested in triathlons, check out the link below for the Subaru Triathlon Series. I'll be competing in the Try-A-Tri (400m Swim, 10Km Bike, 2.5Km Run). Once I am comfortable with this length, I will proceed to the Sprint length triathlon (800m Swim, 20Km Bike, 5Km Run). Feel free to join me. Familiar faces out on the course would be fun !

Subaru Triathlon Series

Let The Exercising Begin ...

Staying current with the latest news and research from the physical therapy / wellness industry is necessary to ensure I am providing the best care and advice for my patients. Sifting through the seemingly endless numbers of journals with the latest research can be tedious though. Thankfully, one of my classmates from CMCC does this job for me and any of my colleagues willing to subscribe to this valuable service. In turn, my job is to now pass this valuable information on to you - my friends, family, patients, and readers.

Today, I read a review of research about the role of exercise in rehabilitating from chronic low back pain. The results and conclusions were that prescription exercise is a necessary component to your chronic back pain rehabilitation. Moreover, the combination of exercise and conservative therapy improved pain and function more than exercise alone. The research went on to investigate which types of physical therapists tended to provide this best-care strategy, and how many patients in total actually received this strategy. I won't reveal too many more specifics about this research in this blog so as to not spoil the great work and service of my friend/former classmate. But, of course, I will be happy to discuss the specifics further via email, phone, and in the office.

But, this research review did remind me of something that I tell many of the people I meet who are thinking about or searching for a therapist to help them with their injuries: It does not necessarily matter which type of therapist you see (chiropractor, physiotherapist, etc), rather it is critically important that your therapist delivers excellent and thorough treatment. A single-modality approach to a chronic problem is rarely going to be the best approach. We know that (1) conservative therapy and (2) exercise prescription and advice is required to combat chronic injuries, so never settle for a limited attack (note to self: never say never; sometimes there are unique circumstances). In the old days, physiotherapists prescribed exercise, while chiropractors cracked backs. Today, with more research, more and more physical therapists are combining conservative treatment with exercise prescription.

As for what kinds of exercise (cardio, weights, stretching, etc), and what kinds of treatment (manipulation, mobilization, massage, laser, acupuncture, etc), we'll leave that for another blog or in-person discussion. Sufficed to say, I will continue to provide the best conservative treatment I can, while offering my best advice about exercise.

And, in the spirit of exercise, this weekend I will be outside road-cycling with my father on Saturday and then participating in the CMCC 5Km run for chiropractic education on Sunday.

Our first beautiful, warm weekend of the spring. I'll be out there training for my first triathlon (hence the picture above)! Hopefully you too will be motivated to get outside exercising this weekend. Be safe and enjoy!