Feeling battered today.... :( any tips?

AH2013

Hi
I've been working out quite hard lately doing 6-700 cals (roughly 45-50 mins) on cross trainer. I do 4 days, have a day off, 4 days, have a day off....etc etc. As I've been increasingly doing more I'm feeling my body, especially my upper body starting to ache. I stretch my legs okay and they are pretty much fine, but I don't really have any great stretches for my arms and shoulders.
On top of this I have Hypermobility (my joints over extend) so my limbs don't always move like others do. It's a shot in the dark, but does anyone have any good stretches I can do, or any tips to relieve my aching muscles? I would be most appreciative

Thanks

alecta337

I have hypermobility too!!

I had a horrible injury in my shoulder about 6 months ago. It wasn't exercise induced, just purely from contracting my muscles when I am on my computer. It was so bad I couldn't move my arm at all.

My physical therapist said that the best thing for people with hypermobility is to build up the muscles around the joints, to give the joints more structure.

The stretches I do for my shoulders is windmills, then cross arms infront of your chest and try to go back as far as you can, you can try to reach your hands together behind your back (both ways) and then cross one arm across your body then use your other arm to pull it against your chest and stretch the back of your shoulder.

These are all the shoulder stretches I know... hope it helps =]


Also, I like to get in a warm bath and then once my muscles warm up then do some stretching in the bathtub. This really helps when I am sore. You can also massage the muscles while you're in the bath.

SunshineKisses_2012

I don't have that issue, but have you considered yoga? Hulu is free and they have TONS of great yoga workouts available. Also youtube is a great source for exercise/stretching videos. I hope you feel better soon!

AH2013

Thank you for the stretching exercises, I'm going to try them at my desk now. My old personal trainer used to stretch me and thought it was hilarious that my arms didn't do what others do and kept telling me my elbows were in the wrong place, funny but it took us a while to get the stretches right.

Thanks for the yoga tip, but unfortunately yoga is a big no-no for hypermobility. The joints over-extend more than enough as it is and yoga makes the problem so much worse. It's a shame because I would love to try it.

Thank you both

Azdak

It sounds as though your issues are more related to overused of the cross trainer, not necessarily stretching related. I would suggest that you vary your workouts a little on the cross trainer and also work in some other modalities for your cardio.