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Every week, Dr. Jean-Marc Sène, sports doctor, presents his sports column in Priorité Santé. This week, he gives advice on practicing a sporting activity in complete safety.
How to exercise safely?
First ask yourself regarding his condition and his health: can I practice today?
- do not practice if you have a fever, the flu or any other health problem.
- do not practice if you do not feel well physically.
- do not practice following having eaten abundantly and this especially if it is an intense activity: it is preferable to leave a period of the order of two hours before doing a physical activity. Digestion requires additional blood requirements in the intestine. The practice of a physical activity can divert these contributions towards the muscles or the heart.
Once we have started our session, what are the signs that should alert us?
The goal is to do you good, not to cause an accident.
You should be careful and stop at the following signs:
- unexplained tiredness by the effort that has just been made,
- feeling sick difficult to define, especially yawns that have absolutely no place at the moment,
- feeling of heart that beats hard, irregularly or rapidly,
- abnormal difficulty in breathing during activity when the effort is not more intense,
- chest painin the neck, arms or abdomen,
- abnormally heavy sweating,
- muscle, joint or bone pain that is not normal taking into account the activity carried out.
When one of these signs appears, you should stop the effort you are making, gradually reduce your pace, continue to walk a little before stopping if you can.
Discuss this problem with your doctor before resuming any activity.
After having had a good session, how important is the recovery?
Recovery is key!
This involves replenishing the body’s reserves: the body’s energy (glycogen) and water reserves.
Recovery allows the body to repair the micro-lesions created during the session.
Indeed, multiplying training and competitions without suitable recovery exposes you to potential risks:
- that of feeling tired and having a decrease in your performance.
- to be more vulnerable and therefore exposed to injuries but also to infections.
- The ultimate risk remains the syndrome of exhaustion linked to overtraining and named in the world of sport: burn-out.
A good rehydration, diet, good sleep and relaxation will be essential to achieve between 2 sessions!
