Hi lovers & friends!
SOOOO happy to be writing this piece.
Introduction:
Since the beginning of my time in health and fitness(16 years ago), the main age of my clients has been around 40. Being almost 40 now myself (37) I have had the privilege of walking alongside SO many health, fitness, and injury rehab journey’s. And as many of you know, I have personally experienced almost everything I write about.
I bring you this article in hopes that it will confirm some things you may have intuitively known when it comes to healing your injury, but haven’t given much importance to. I also hope it provides insight and motivation to continue to PRIORITIZE healing your physical body in your 40’s.
For women specifically, see this blog post:
“The Best Way for Women to Heal Their Body’s – Part 1“
“The Best Way for Women to Heal Their Body’s – Part 2“
So let’s get into How to (actually) Heal Injuries in your 40’s!
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Stop doing the things that are making your injuries worse.
I’m not saying stop exercising all together, I’m saying – find something else, another activity.
As I said in my article ‘One of the Biggest Mistakes of the Fitness Industry‘ – understand that activities like running, HIIT classes, spin, weight-lifting, boxing, are not the only form of exercise, especially if your body is speaking to you – I recommend to listen. Honour. Dearmour your ‘high pain tolerance.’
As applying the familiar and similar stressors, will keep your neurological patterns firing in the same loop of protection.
For the clients that generally walk through my door and use Exercise as a form of Stress Management (Type A) – my recommendations for alternative exercise, and ones I do myself are:
- Uphill-walking (ideally not on treadmill)
- Nature & trail walks
- Swimming
- Body-weighted exercises
- Deep core exercises!!! (see a sped up video of my deep core exercises)
- Stretch Flows/Yoga
- Foam Rolling, correctly. See this video. This is a copy from my client learning platform
2. Remember that trick where you could just “rest” or take a week off? It don’t work no more.
By 40:
- Your tissues, have experienced more wear and tear and muscles become hypertonic.
- Underlying compensatory patterns have peaked their head
- Tissues *generally* become more rigid (due to dehydration & stress)
- Quick fix treatments become less effective
As Dr. Joe Dispenza teaches – after age 35, the body’s neurological patterns become hardwired. This simple fact provides SO much insight into injury rehab and behaviour change.
So, due to the above fact, we can infer that quick treatment will only allow you to get quick/short-term/surface-level results.
Alternative to quick fix treatments, you can have much more success by:
- Become aware of current movement patterns
- Improve breathing patterns
- Regulate the central nervous system (especially if it is in fight or flight a lot of the time)
- Engage in corrective exercise
- Have regular practices to help your tissues (mind and body) recover
3. Refrain from seeing multiple therapists.
After breaking my femur 10 years ago, I understand what it is like when you don’t feel at your best, you want to be fixed!
However, remember the body wants to feel S A F E.
I highly recommend you find 1-2 body workers that speak to your soul AND find 1 energy worker such as a coach, somatic therapist, breathwork teacher, shaman, reiki master, to help bring your brain and body into coherence.
4. Do the (right) work.
Day in and day out. Sadly, I see people who achieve a little success, then deem it ok to stop once they experience a little bit of relief. Suddenly days go by, and the THING peaks it’s head again.
For my clients there is no shortage of things to do. If it’s not corrective exercise, it’s a stretch flow, or a foam roll flow, or a breathing meditation, or various breathing exercises – to continually allow them to expand their capacity.
When your breathing capacity is shallow – it directly reflects your body’s adaptability to change.
Shallow breathing also keeps your body and Central Nervous System in a more activated sate.
See blog: Stress Tolerance The Cortisol Addiction
5. Slow down the mind
This is for MOST of the clients that come to see me – TYPE A. Take. The. Pressure. Off. Please. You do enough.
Slow down the mind. When the body is in activation, it is NOT in it’s healing state. It is in – well…activation/Nervous system fight or flight response. Whether you are physically busy or just sitting there – working, watching TV or ruminating – the brain is firing and processing information. It is not resting. To bring your body into a state of HEALING, here are some suggestions for most of my Type A’s:
- Start prioritizing body work.
- After body work, keep you body in as non-stimulated a state as possible. Stay out of rumination mode. Get some tea and a book, write, draw, play music, bath, steam, sauna. Do not let your brain snap you back into rumination. Allow your brain to rest. You deserve to. Take. The. Pressure. Off. Please. You do enough. Allow the body to heal itself. It is one of the MOST important tips here that I left to the end in hopes that all the other tips will earn me rapport and your trust. One of my biggest tips to heal your injuries is Rest. Engage in Pleasure.
- Accept it or change it.
In conclusion,
Remember, healing requires SAFETY. The injuries you are experiencing will not be healed by quick fix treatment as the body is smarter than that. The Nervous System and Fascial Network want to feel safety. Sometimes the goals we set are too big, daunting and ego-driven that our Nervous System goes into a freeze response and when this happens we stay in a Freeze response. Get support from trusted therapists on how to move forward.
Update on bookings: Please note my calendar is indefinitely closed to new clients. Please check back at the end of May 2022 for an update.
Feel free to send me an email or message via Instagram and ask a question or share a story.
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Asma Kassam, BHK, CSNA, CFST
Kinesiologist, Personal Trainer, Certified Nutrition Advisor, Fascial Stretch Therapist, Animal Flow instructor, Women’s Health advocate
Active Kinetix Fitness & Rehabilitation
Burnaby, Vancouver
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