Bright Fitness believes every body is a beach body - but these are some good fitness tips anyway!
Sarah contributes to an article on Always Active Athletics 

Sarah was recently asked to contribute to an article on The Active Times where trainers shared the worst fitness advice they've heard. Read the entire article to see if anything you've heard is on it!

Did the article miss anything? What's the worst fitness advice you've ever gotten?

Angela's Voice:  I love to workout. Throughout the years, I have participated in a variety of types of workouts, and really found things that I love and want to stick with. But I always want to challenge myself with different workouts. Recently, I have found a new enjoyment of martial arts. For several months I have participated in Muay Thai kickboxing, and more recently Tae Kwon Do. I love the balance of mind and body, and I have been feeling stronger than ever.

Two weeks ago during a training session, I started having some hamstring pain. I took a variety of steps to alleviate this pain, attributing it to using muscles in a way that I was not used to (and this probably was the case). But my efforts weren’t working, and I continued to push through anyway. As someone who is passionate and knowledgeable about fitness, I would never encourage someone to continue on the way I was, but somehow I managed to convince myself that I could not have sustained a serious injury. So instead of resting, I pushed myself, and yesterday learned that I have partially torn my hamstring.

This type of injury can heal on its own given the proper rest, and with the prescribed physical therapy from my doctor, he says I will likely be back to full capacity in the short time period of 6 weeks. SIX WEEKS?!!! SHORT?!!! Not to me. I love my workouts, I love pushing hard, going all out, and I am just learning a new art! Immediately I start to think of ways to skirt this healing time and get back into things. But here are a few things I’m going to devote this energy to instead of trying to defy my doctor and go full speed too soon.

1) I’m going to put my all into my physical therapy. I’m going to do the prescribed exercises, not miss appointments, and add things back in at a speed that the doctors and I can agree on, not what my bullheaded brain says.

2) I’m going to focus on nutrition. I’ll admit my first go to when I’m upset is some comfort carbs (read: cookies). I’m not going to fall into this. I know that the injury is not a permanent situation, and the better I take care of my body now, the easier my transition back into my routine will be.

3) I’m going to ditch the excuses. There are things that I can do that don’t involve my legs at all, and while it’s easy to just let all exercise fall to the wayside because I can’t do what I want, that is counterproductive.

So here it is. I certainly need all the support I can get, and I will keep everyone posted on my progress. I am keeping a positive attitude and taking the time that my body needs to heal so I can be my best!