How Bracing Can Help You Stick to Your New Year’s Workout Resolutions
It’s almost that time of year again! According to recent data, only 64% of people who set a New Year’s Resolution stick to it after a month. And considering that at least 50% of these resolutions involve exercise, that number is a little concerning. However, as many reasons for prematurely quitting an exercise program include fatigue, injury, difficulty, or pain, bracing can improve those odds.
BRACING CAN HELP IMPROVE RECOVERY TIME
Some new gym goers get put off by delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS): The aches and stiffness that seems to affect your entire body the next day, even if you felt the workout wasn’t that intense. Additionally, DOMS can derail a pre-set fitness routine, as it can last up to 72 hours.
However, bracing can help your muscles recover via medical-grade compression. Performance products like our Sports Compression Arm Sleeves gradually compress the arm from the wrist to the shoulder, boosting circulation there. As a result, your hard-working muscles get the oxygen and nutrients they need faster, and the deoxygenated blood flows out of them faster too, thus reducing muscle inflammation. So, your muscles will recover quicker and be less sore after your workouts, keeping you on track.
BRACING CAN HELP YOU AVOID INJURY
Especially if your New Year's resolution involves taking up a more strenuous sport like Rugby, Jiu Jitsu, or Tennis, a brace can go a long way to helping you minimise the severity of (or even outright avoid) injuries.
Our Sports Elbow Support, for example, is great for batting and throwing sports. Its breathable compression weave and gel padding support your elbow and boost blood flow to straining muscles, tendons, and ligaments. You can stick to your scheduled training and matches without worrying about sprains or repetitive strains.
IT CAN HELP YOU RECOVER AFTER INJURY
Bracing can also help keep you active after injury. We know that if you’re in pain, your exercise resolution will be the last thing on your mind. But our bodies are made for movement. Long periods of bed rest can be very detrimental to the function of your joints, potentially leading to muscle atrophy and shortened, less flexible tendons.
Fortunately, quality braces can help. Our MalleoTrain Plus Ankle Brace, for example, is designed for sprained ankles. It features a figure 8 strap that will help stabilise your ankle through movement. Its compression knit and gel pad, meanwhile, will help relieve pain and swelling and boost blood flow to the area, speeding up the healing process. So, you’ll be able to get around more comfortably and get back to your fitness routine faster (with your physio’s permission, of course.)
Do keep in mind though, that injury recovery especially calls for perfectly fitting braces made of quality materials. Anything less, and you risk wasting your money at best and re-injury at worst.
AND IT CAN RELIEVE ARTHRITIS PAIN
On that note, some braces (like our GenuTrain OA Knee Brace) use similar principles of stabilisation, compression, and padding to help relieve arthritic pain and get you moving again. As we mentioned, we’re made for movement. Joint cartilage especially benefits from it as it's avascular, meaning it gets nutrients from fluid instead of blood. As this fluid cycles in and out faster when you’re moving the joint around, you can imagine how beneficial exercise can be for a cartilage degeneration condition like arthritis.
Learn more about how braces can help you manage knee arthritis: 7 Types of Knee Arthritis: Symptoms and How to Relieve Your Pain
BEYOND BRACES
As you now know, a good brace can go a long way to help you stick to your New Year's workout resolutions. But there are other key steps you should take to meet your goals.
- Keep it realistic. Workouts take time and effort. And especially if you’re just starting a new fitness routine, sport, or exercise class, it will take months to see good results.
- Pick a behaviour, not an outcome. “Sign up for Krav Maga” or “Go for a walk once a day” are much more concrete and easier to stick to than “Get fit” or “Lose weight.”
- Plan it. Once you have your behaviour picked out, sit down and take some time to work it into your schedule. For example, should you take your daily walks in the evening? Will you need to set reminders? Can you get up earlier to walk before work if you’ll be too busy after?
- Don’t push too hard. Sports braces and compression sleeves can do a lot for your body, but they're not miracle workers. Lifting heavy weights every day when you’ve never lifted before is a surefire way to end up with a torn muscle or injured joint. So, start slow and stay alert for your body’s warning signs.
TO SUM UP
Through compression knit, padding, and stabilisers like straps and splints, a good brace can help support you through movement and help you stick to your New Year’s resolutions. But for the best results, you'll need quality braces (and quality planning).
If you require assistance selecting the right product for your needs or wearing the brace, call us on 1300 668 466 or contact us via live chat.
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