As it happens, many if not most of the boomeritis complaints I
see in my office, including rotator cuff injuries and low-back pain, aren't the
result of sports injuries. Rather, they occur in people who are just going
about daily chores, like bending over to strap a child into a car seat or picking
up a bag of groceries. While some of these injuries are simply the result of
weak core muscles and poor flexibility, I also see these problems occurring in
the fittest of my patients — or at least the ones that look to be the fittest.
This gets me to another
important point. Many people who think they're doing smart workouts may be
doing themselves more harm than good. Conventionalstrength training, sometimes
called classic gym, can be counterproductive because it tends to isolate muscle
groups and train them in a manner that is not naturally functional. In other
words, the workout does not mimic everyday human activities, and it usually
neglects the core muscles. The result is muscles that may look good in the
mirror or on the beach but aren't much help when it comes to injury prevention
or performing active sports or day-to-day tasks.
The best exercises you can
do to prevent boomeritis injuries are called functional exercises. These
exercises, which are similar to movements you can execute in your daily life,
require you to use several muscle groups in one fluid movement. For example,
when you bend over to pick something up, you're engaging all your muscles,
including your legs, midline, back, and arms. The core muscles support all your
other muscles and help you maintain strength, good posture, and balance.
You may be surprised to
learn that as a cardiologist, I place as much importance on core-strengthening
exercises as I do on cardio conditioning. The
fact is, because this type of exercise promotes stability, strength, and
flexibility, it's essential for preventing injury and maintaining a healthy
weight. And if you suffer an injury and you're in pain, you're not going to do
an effective cardio workout — or any workout at all. In my practice, I see all
too many patients who are no longer able to exercise due to injury.
The importance of
functional fitness has only
recently become appreciated. During my travels, I visit many gyms or fitness
rooms associated with the hotels where I stay. I have noticed that more and
more of the people who are exercising, with or without a trainer, have incorporated
functional fitness into their workouts. I am pleased to find both women and men
lifting hand weights while sitting on stability balls, or using
pulley-type machines, or standing on balance boards, which all require them to
engage their core muscles as the work other parts of their bodies