By Eric Martinez
Jan. 18. 2011-
Ever wonder why you have small nagging pains daily and you don’t even know why you’re getting them? Knowing and understanding why these pains occur can be a weapon against them. These are the everyday things you do that cause you pain and at times really can be annoying. Here are 5 common causes and tips on chronic daily pain that you should be aware of and try and prevent.
1.) Elevated Stress: First off there are two different types of stress: “Eustress” (positive) and “Distress” (negative). We need the positive stress in our lives to perform optimally, because stress is married to performance. With it, you rise to a challenge. On the other hand we don’t need the negative stress in our lives. Excessive distress can potentially lead to dis-ease. I understand a typical day is filled with stressors: a commute, work responsibilities, chores at home, bills, family and kids, basically life. All of these demands can be so overwhelming at times and you don’t even realize what it’s doing to your health. When you live in excessive distress, you feel anxiety, anger, irritability, and frustration. Your emotions start to get the best of you and release stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol, this is very bad for your body. Your blood pressure starts elevating and your breathing becomes shallow, then your muscles from your neck down through your back tense up. This leads to tightness, discomfort, headaches, and pain. So try and avoid distress, as tough as it may seem you must realize what it will do to your body overtime.
2.) Too much sitting: I’m going to take into consideration that most people have to sit a lot due to their jobs. Sitting too long in one position is not good for you. Your hips, hamstrings, and quads have no way to move, they have no blood flow. Your ass takes most of the beating in this position, and your back muscles tighten and pull your shoulders forward. Your neck, shoulders, and back tense up and you then slump and hunch forward. All of this leads to bad posture, which alters your bodies fascia and limits its elasticity, ever wonder when you get up after sitting for hours and you are so stiff? Well there’s your answer. So make it a habit to get up every hour and stretch a little or walk around, your body will thank you for this.
3.) Poorly designed exercise programs: I know you might be working out or trying to at best. But have you ever thought that you might be doing some movements in your program that are potentially causing you more pain than you think? Do you even your workouts out and work your back side as often as your front side? You should be doing a 1:1 ratio, for every “push” exercise you should be doing a “pull” exercise as well. Overall just don’t cheat your body, we all know that certain muscle stand out more than others and look great. But always even it out and get the overall results your body needs and desires.
4.) Too little stretching: Once again I emphasize “Stretching”, there’s no way to sugar coat this. The average person, even the average active person, has serious flexibility issues, especially in the hips, hamstrings, and chest muscles. When you’re pressed for time in the gym, what do we generally skip? Stretching of course. We do this because we figure stretching is not important and can wait for another time. Well you should know by now that failure to stretch properly leads to muscle tightness, discomfort, pain, and potential injuries. The older you get, the worse it’s going to get, so take the time to stretch!
5.) Poor recovery and regeneration: Remember that great results will never come if you don’t rest and recover, allow your body to reenergize. Nutrition, sleep, and flexibility all play a vital role in the process; your recovery needs to be an active process. Also if you can, try and get a deep tissue massage from time to time, this does wonders for your joints, tissues, muscles, ect. So remember rest, recovery, and reenergize the body.