Although pain affects more than 76 million Americans, it can be an isolating experience. According to the American Pain Foundation, pain is a critical, biological warning sign to the body when something. Pain can signal injury, such as touching a hot oven, or an underlying disease or infection, such as cancer or shingles. Pain is classified as acute or chronic. Acute pain usually follows surgery or injury and resolves as the body heals itself. Pain is diagnosed as chronic when it persists after healing has taken place.
Failure to treat acute pain promptly and appropriately can contribute to the development of chronic pain syndromes. In such cases, pain signals remain active in the nervous system for weeks, months or even years. In addition, pain can lead to other health problems, causing damage to the body. If untreated, chronic pain can weaken the immune system, decrease the quality of life, create feelings of anger and depression, lead to a deterioration of relationships, and result in a loss of independence.
Many people wrongly assume they have to live with pain – that it is an inevitable part of their disease or condition, or a natural part of growing older. The fact is most pain can be relieved with proper pain management.
Pain should be assessed thoroughly and treated early and aggressively. Early treatment is the best way to minimize the suffering and disability often associated with under-treated pain.
It’s important to become your own best advocate as you navigate the road to pain relief and reclaim your life. The earlier you seek treatment, the better. Following are some helpful things to keep in mind from the American Pain Foundation:
In the search for a healthcare provider who will help you reach your goals of pain relief and management, you may have been told, “Nothing more can be done to ease your pain,” or “You’ll just have to live with it.” If this is your situation, take the time to find a healthcare provider who has the education, skills and willingness to work with you to manage pain. Don’t be afraid to speak up. Only you know the extent of your pain and how it affects your quality of life.
Consider starting a pain notebook, a tool to help you keep a record of pain. The notebook should include when the pain occurs, for how long, the level of pain, and its impact on day-to-day life. Keeping track of what things make your pain better or worse will help your healthcare team find the best ways to treat pain.
Knowledge is power. There are a variety of drug and non-drug therapies (e.g., physical therapy, yoga, meditation) available to effectively control pain. These are typically used in combination. Ask your healthcare provider about ways to relax and cope with pain. Pain can feel worse if you are stressed, depressed or anxious. Be an informed consumer and learn all you can about pain and pain management options.
As you work with your healthcare provider, set realistic goals for things you most want to do. Do you want to achieve better sleep? Begin exercising or return work? Begin with the easiest goals first. Set realistic goals for pain relief. Persistent pain tends not to disappear. Look for a provider who will work with you to get you to the point where you can “live life again.”
Prior to appointments, write down questions you have and let your provider know if there is something you don’t understand. Also, bring along a relative or close friend to provide support and to help take notes and remember what was said. Sometimes, it’s easy to forget or misunderstand what was explained during doctor’s appointments. Having someone else there to process the information can be a great boost to your appointments.
During initial appointments, share with your provider what over-the-counter medications, vitamins and supplements you take, at what does and how often. Also, be honest about personal health habits, such as smoking, alcohol use, etc., which can interfere with some pain treatments and increase pain levels.
Finally, find out about support groups and educational programs in your area or online. Also seek the support and encouragement of friends and family members when you need them. They can provide the incentive you need to not give up in your quest for pain relief. And remember, there will be both good and bad days. Give yourself some grace as you traverse the road to pain relief.
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Boxing is a great workout for women to get in shape. Boxers need to have strength, speed, endurance, and explosiveness to win fights. However you don’t need to hop into the ring to take advantage of the benefits boxing has to offer. There are countless gyms across the country that offers boxing workouts for women. The workouts usually last an hour consisting of bag work, focus mitts drills, skipping, and medicine ball exercises. Many of my clients over the years have noticed significant weight loss over the years after only 4 weeks of training.
Roadwork is great for building your cardio and requires no equipment. It also allows you to get outside and enjoy the fresh air.
Now you don’t have to sign up at a gym if it is not your cup of tea. Many boxing drills do not require equipment. Instead you can do roadwork which is basically running mixed in with calisthenics. Here are some tips on how to begin your boxing roadwork workout for women:
1. Start off with a light warm up by doing arm circles forwards and backwards.
2. Put your hands on waist and circle your hips left then right.
3. Place your hands on your knees and circle your knees to the left then right.
4. Stand straight up with your hands above your head together and tilt to the right to stretch your lats. Hold for 30 seconds. Then tilt to the left to stretch the other side.
5. Keep standing straight and reach down to touch your toes and hold for 30 seconds.
6. Start with a light jog with light punches in the air.
7. As you continue to jog, get your knees up to waist level for 30 seconds then resume regular pace. Alternate between light jogging and knees up every 30 seconds.
8. Once you get a little sweat going you can perform lunges. I like to use lamp posts as my visual benchmark. I lunge to one lamp post then jog to the next. Alternating each time I reach the next lamp post.
9. Change it up again by alternating between light jog to sprinting using the lamp post as the visual benchmark.
10. My route always consists of a field with a playground. I stop at the playground to do some push-ups, crunches and light shadow boxing. If there is a bench nearby I’ll include some tricep dips.
11. Finish your workout with a cool down consisting of stretching. Hold each stretch for at least 30 seconds.
So there you have it, the basic boxing road workout for women that will help you slim and tone your body.
Remember if you are just getting back to exercise make sure you progress slowly and with caution. You are not training to be the next world champion. Take care of your body and it will take care of you. Raz Chan is a professional martial arts instructor teaching women’s cardio kickboxing and self-defense. To find out more about his online workout for women you can follow his blog at: workout for women blog or his website at: workout for women online