(Article continued below)

No Pain, No Gain is not the greatest messaging: sure, you want to push yourself in an effort to get stronger, but push too far and you run the risk of injury. So what do you do if you get hit with DOMS? Here are some ideas:

• Get moving, sooner rather than later. Don’t go heavy handed into another workout but do something light: a brisk walk, a light jog, some easy stretching– anything that can help your body open up and get your circulation going.
• Hydrate: keep drinking water. Get more fluid into your system. Your body thrives on water. And no, coffee and soda don’t count.
• Try a nice hot bath bath with a cup of Epsom salts. The salts are great for soothing tired muscles.
• Find a great anti-inflammatory cream, particularly one with Arnica, an herbal anti-inflammatory. Traumeel makes a great cream and it’s always easy to keep a tube in your medicine cabinet.
• If you must, pop an ibuprofen tablet but follow the directions and don’t swallow them by the handfull. Honestly, it will wreck your stomach.
• Splurge every so often on a massage. If you are going to spend a lot of time challenging your body, make the investments in healing it as well. You will be able to work out better longer for it.

If you think you’ve injured yourself– if the area is swollen, discolored and/or sensitive to the touch– you may be suffering from a strain or a sprain. Check with your doctor. They can diagnose a strain (the over stretching or tearing of a muscle), a sprain (the over stretching or tear of a tendon) or even a stress fracture in the bone. If the doctor finds a strain or a sprain, they will probably suggest that you use RICE to help heal.

• R : Rest. Yes, my brave New Yorker, you must rest the injured area. That doesn’t mean skipping hills when you go for your run, that means skipping the run. Short term smarts on your part will lead to a much faster recovery. Note that if you avoid resting a strained tendon, the recovery could take longer than if you’d broken a bone. I know, I know….I’m such a dark cloud.
• I : Ice. Ice the injured area. At times, I think it’s easier to get New Yorkers to root for the Red Sox than to ice an injury. Take an ice pack, or even a bag of frozen vegetables, wrap it in a light cloth and apply it to the injury for 10-20 minutes. Do this three or four times a day and it will do wonders in terms of getting rid of the inflammation and allowing nutrient-rich circulation back to the area.
• C : Compression. Wrap the area in a bandage– not so tight as to cut off circulation, but just enough to feel the compression.
• E : Elevation. Elevate the injured area for 10-20 minutes several times a day. This means that if you have injured your leg or ankle, lie down on the sofa and put you legs up. This, like the ice, will do wonders toward helping to alleviate the swelling.

Be smart: follow the RICE plan for a few days and you will be up and at it again. If you find you keep injuring the same area, take a good long look at how you are training that particular area and maybe, just maybe, make a few changes.

If you have any thoughts about injuries or any questions about exercise or fitness, shoot me an email at michael@fitnessgurunyc.com.

Rock on!!

For those of you with less of an attention span, the action begins at 1:15.

I agree with Jennifer Galardi, give Kim a break. Are you dumb enough to think Kim Kardashian actually came up with all this on her own? Not that I’m taking anything away from her, but like Jennifer said, Kim is a marketing tool. Come on man, lighten up.

No Wes. You are the marketing tool. Kim is a very nice, well spoken young woman who has no business being the face of an exercise video. And my problem, young Wes, doesn’t stem from the fact that I can’t “lighten up.” It comes from the fact that, in a tough economy, people are going to spend their hard earned money to watch Kim exercise. If it ain’t about the money, then let her make it part of her TV show and people can get it for free. But the fact is that its all about the Benjamins. Jennifer and Patrick keep her together. Don’t believe me? Check her out on the View (best to fast forward to the 5 minute mark):

She is a lovely young woman but obviously has NO IDEA how communicate in fitness terms. Oh, she looks nice. And folks will want to look like her. But that’s the Emperor’s New Clothes, little Wes. And that is what has me all up in arms. Though I appreciate you taking the time to share your insight.

Meanwhile, not that it’s “pile on Kimmie” time, but I’m not the only one who had an issue with the View. Check this out from our friends at Fit Celeb.

Jennifer Galardi

I continue to take issue with many points raised by Ms. Galardi including the fact that Kim was hired because she “sells” and that “by no means do the DVD’s imply that Kim is the one who created these routines or tries to teach them.” Unfortunately, that is exactly the implication, given the packaging and the marketing campaign. And, even though Kim is one of the “hardest working clients” she has ever trained and Kim “is really committed to this and now makes fitness a part of her life”, that is by no means any sort of qualification for what is gimmick marketing, pure and simple.
However, as insulting as I find Kim’s video to be, attention must be paid to Ms. Galardi and Patrick Goudeau, the other professional hired to whip Ms. Kardashian into shape. Here are two pros who have spent their careers improving their craft and dedicating themselves to helping others. The fact that they need to work on projects like this is simply business.
BUT both instructors have their own video lines and I strongly urge you to check them out the next time you are shopping for videos. Let’s put our consumer dollars toward people who have worked hard and deserve the support.
Here is Jennifer
and here is Patrick
Enjoy!!

WHY THE HELL DOES KIM KARDASHIAN HAVE AN EXERCISE VIDEO?!? Why would I seek out advice about my body from this woman? What’s next? Tax advice from Paris Hilton? I am a proud member of my profession. I believe that, when people entrust you to take care of their bodies, you better damn well know what you’re doing! What are her credentials?

There are people out there who will say, “Come on, Michael. At least she is inspiring some people to exercise. That’s better than just sitting around doing nothing. Right?” Wrong. She inspiring people to part with THEIR MONEY! Oh sure, the video might be genius. What are the odds? Someone said “Hey Kim, instead of porn, let’s make a video that we can market on Amazon.” And they film it, slap a dominatrix photo on the cover and BAM all over Walmart. And every 17- to 34- year old seeking Kim K.’s………what? What on earth are they seeking?…….plops down $24.95 for a copy that will probably sit on top of the TV for the next 14 months until it is sold for 35 cents at a garage sale.

I’m not against videos. Check out Petra Kolber. Check out Chris Feitag, Check out Minna Leissig. Hell, check out Richard Simmons. These are people who have devoted their lives to the human body in all its fitness wonders. They are not spoiled celebutantes looking for the next media fix.

There. I feel better now.