Is it time to get moving, Rapid City? To shake off the long cold winter, get outdoors and reinvigorate your muscles? We think so!
Regular activity is critical for everyone: to keep your optimum health and also to recover from injury or illness. There are some great activities we recommend if you’re looking to get outside, get moving and enjoy the spring weather. Here are our favorites: we’re calling them the 3Gs!
Golf
Swinging a club might feel like easy, natural exercise but it’s a coordinated effort between multiple parts of the body: spine, hips, arms and muscles. When all these parts work together, it’s not only easy on the body but results in a better golf game. It all starts with proper spinal alignment: poor alignment results in poor performance, results and increased chance of injury. Regular chiropractic treatments can reduce pain, lessen a golfer’s reliance on over-the-counter medications, and significantly increase your mobility and your skills on the green. There are many excellent golf courses around the Black Hills region. Golf is great activity for almost anyone, but an especially enjoyable pastime among friends. If you’ve been missing your old buddies over this past year, book a golf session together to hit the links, catch up and have some outdoor fun!
Gardening
What better way to enjoy the great outdoors than to spend time cultivating your garden? Whether you’re looking to grow flowers, fruits and vegetables or herbs, gardening is excellent use of outdoor time in developing an active lifestyle. But any gardening or lawn tending can become strenuous. Mowing the lawn, lifting bags of dirt, leaning over to water your growing plants – these activities directly impact our musculoskeletal system. Make sure that you warm up properly with a good all-body stretch, apply sunscreen and wear a hat for shade, and use both proper posture and the right tools for the job. You’ll enjoy that beautiful (or delicious) new garden even more when you feel your best.
Gaming
Looking for something a bit more social or interactive? Lawn games are great outdoor activities for family, friends and neighbors. Some popular outdoor games include Spikeball, Yard Yahtzee, Bocce, Horseshoes and Croquet, Ring Toss and the ever-popular Corn Hole. Best thing about lawn games is that you can adjust them for all ages. There are even adult versions that often involve alcohol – just be careful of mixing sun and booze. A beer or cold cider over a friendly game of bocce ball is great until – well, it’s not. Be sure to apply plenty of sunscreen (especially to the kids) for any outdoor gaming activity and stay hydrated (with water, we mean)!
It’s a great time to enjoy the outdoors and to get some exercise while you soak up that Vitamin D. We encourage you to schedule a chiropractic adjustment before you swing into your favorite outdoor activity. And if you play a little too hard this season, there’s always a massage to help you recover!
