That's Fit

Ah, summer. That means no jam-packed backpacks in my house. No lunches stuffed into packs with all the other gear necessary for school. No bags sent home overflowing with folders and papers and all sorts of things, like library books, we try so hard not to lose. Nope, my kids' backpacks are sitting on a shelf in our laundry room in all of their sedentary glory. Before long, though -- about six weeks here in my city -- school will begin again, which means the backpacks will be out in full force.

Don't pack them until they're heavy, says the U.S. National Safety Council. Loaded backpacks can strain young backs and shoulders, causing pain and injury. Instead, check your child's bag each day and remove any items that aren't needed -- that would be rocks for my guys who like to collect and store them in hidden compartments. Also, make sure your kids use both straps to distribute the load evenly. Not sure you're doing everything the right way? Here are five warning signs your kids' packs are too heavy.

• A difference in posture when wearing the backpack.
• Significant difficulty in putting the backpack on or taking it off.
• Complaints of pain or discomfort when the backpack is on.
• Red marks on the skin from the backpack straps.
• Feelings of numbness or a tingling sensation, especially in the back or shoulders.

Your shoulder joints are among the most mobile you have, and their safety comes from the stability provided by the muscles and ligaments that surround them. That's why an imbalance in these stabilizing muscles can oftentimes result in injury.

In addition to performing rotator-cuff-specific exercises (the area of the shoulder where most injuries occur), it's important to follow a resistance training program that targets more than just your mirror muscles. Be sure that your workout includes an equal amount of pull exercises (pull-ups, rows, etc.) as it does pressing exercises (bench press, push-ups, military press, etc.), as it will create muscle balance and, in doing so, help stave off shoulder injury.

Also, be sure to listen to your body. Pain is never the goal, despite what some meatheads wearing Gold's Gym T-shirts and lycra shorts may tell you. If something feels wrong -- that is, different from the usual burn you have grown accustomed to feeling during a resistance training workout -- you should stop immediately. Failure to do so could take you out o the gym and on the D.L. for several weeks.

For women who exercise, a sports bra is an essential piece of workout gear. For one Colorado state hiker, her sports bra became a lifesaver.

Jessica Bruinsma fell while hiking in the Bavarian Alps. Too injured to leave the place where she fell, she took off her sports bra and tied it to a cable that lumbermen used to transport timber. As luck would have it, the cable was out of service when she fell. When it was repaired, her bra moved down the line until it reached the bottom, alerting workers who then called authorities.

Jessica's quick thinking may have saved her life, but she's not letting this accident slow her down. If she recovers from this injury in time, she plans on training for a marathon.

Has a lower-leg injury kept you out of the race lately? Well, there's a good chance the cause of this injury is actually related to your hips.

Researchers from the University of Calgary found that weak hip muscles are to blame for 92 percent of lower-leg running injuries. Try exercises such as squats and step-ups to target-harden yourself against these sidelining injuries.

For more great running tips like this one, visit the Runner's World magazine website by clicking here. Here, you'll find a surfeit of information on topics ranging from new shoes and gear to races taking place in and around your hometown.

When playing sports as a kid, the same piece of advice was always dished out by coaches if I was hit by a wild pitch, twisted an ankle running for a loose ball, or got the wind knocked out of me after a hard tackle: "Walk it off." The sport didn't matter, the type of injury seemed inconsequential, and the amount of pain involved seemed to not be a factor, either. Walk it off ... the panacea for all childhood sports injuries.

The fact of the matter is, the coaches weren't sure what to do, so Walk it Off became the most accepted piece of worthless advice in all of youth sports. However, this very same advice would have produced much better results if they had instead offered it to guys like Big Larry, the resident scorekeeper at KC Field, who for years tried unsuccessfully to lose weight. For people like Big Larry, Walk it Off is actually sound advice.

And you don't have to go far (not nearly as far as I went with this post to simply make a point about the benefits of walking); start off with a distance you can handle, although it should be far enough to get your heart rate up a bit. You can also perform intervals by walking at different speeds at various point along your journey, just as you can also designate points along the way to perform a set or two of push-ups, body weight squats, pull-ups (tree branches work well for this), and various ab exercises. The pounds may not come off right away, but stick to your workout for long enough and you'll see results soon enough.

Man, I hope Big Larry's out there reading this.

Have you ever had shin splints? If so, you know just what a pain they can be. Luckily, there are steps you can take to avoid getting shin splints.

Have fitness questions? Fitz has your answer. Our ThatsFit.com fitness expert -- and now your own virtual personal trainer -- will help you get fit, increase your overall health and do it in a fun way. Drop your questions here in the Comments section below and we'll choose two per week to publish on That's Fit! Learn more about Fitz here.

Q. Hi Fitz, I am a person with T-12 incomplete Paraplegia. I'm interested in learning about some decent ab workouts (including obliques) that I could do at the gym or at home. Just to provide you with a little more information, my T-12 vertebrae are connected by rods. I'd really appreciate some guidance. Thanks! Jon

A. Hello Jon, What a wonderful question! I really feel there's a gaping hole in the fitness industry which needs to address fitness training for people dealing with injuries and/or disabilities. You are the perfect example of that. A guy who's had a spinal injury, but still strives for better fitness beyond rehab facilities. I love it. I also love the spinal cord, and appreciate the sensitivity of it. Long ago, while I was earning my Master's Degree in Exercise and Sports Sciences at the University of Florida, I took a magnificent course on the spine from a brilliant woman, Dr. Christine Stopka, Professor of Adapted Physical Activity & Medical Terminology. She taught me to respect the spine first, and then went on from there. A major aspect of the course focused on educating her students about the things people with disabilities could do. She spent far more time on the could dos than the can't dos. That's one of the most important things I took away with me. I thought your question deserved the most expert advice, so I passed it on to her.

There are few feelings that can compare with walking barefoot through the grass on a warm, summer day. I don't know about you, but as a kid I shunned shoes as much as possible -- as a matter of fact, I'm still barefoot a good deal of the time.

While it's fun to go around barefoot, it can also be dangerous. The American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons has released a series of barefoot safety tips that any sandal shunner should take the time to read. Check out our gallery for all the tips (and explanations, so you can sound wicked smart when you tell your barefoot friends what to do!).

I dare you to read this story without getting choked up.

Throughout their high school and college careers, student-athletes are told over and over again that sportsmanship is important. That's why, in many sports, the athletes and coaches shake hands before and after each game. However, what happened at a Central Washington University softball game is the greatest display of sportsmanship I've ever heard.

The game, versus Western Oregon, would decide whether Central would keep their Division II playoff hopes alive -- it was the second game of a double header, the first of which Western had already won. In the second inning, 5'2" senior right fielder Sara Tucholsky stepped up to bat with two runners on, and did something she'd never done before, not even in practice -- she hit a home run.

Elated, she sprinted to first base and rounded it, but as she did so, she realized she hadn't actually made contact with the bag. She turned to go back and felt an enormous pain as her knee gave out, and she collapsed right there on the base path.

Resistance training, when done properly, will strengthen bones, muscles, and joints. When done incorrectly, however, a host of potential problems arise. This is certainly the case with shoulder exercises, as it is this part of the body that many lifters injure (the author of this post notwithstanding).

The shoulders are made up of the deltoids (anterior, middle, and posterior) and rotator cuffs (supraspinatus, subscapularis, teres minor, infraspinatus, and teres major). Any of these regions are susceptible to injury if strict form is not adhered to, or if attempts at lifting too much weight are made. Sticking to a weight you can handle, and not continuing past the point of technical failure, will help ensure that your shoulders remain injury-free.

This is not to say that muscle soreness of any kind will not occur. In fact, delayed-onset soreness is how your muscles are supposed to feel after a strenuous workout. This is nothing to worry about. But, if you're experiencing more of a shooting or dull pain, you may want to see an orthopedic surgeon. Signs of serious shoulder injury include a stiffness and a lack of normal rotation, if you lack the strength to complete normal day-to-day activities, or if your shoulder feels as though it may pop or slide out of its socket.

A while back, the physician that has been caring for my lower back injury suggested I go do Pilate's to help strengthen and stretch the muscles that are stuck in a chronic spasm. Now, I've been teaching fitness for 18 years and have been exposed to almost every type of training and equipment under the sun. I'm embedded in it. Strangely though, Pilate's and Yoga are things that have never interested me. I understand the benefit to doing those things, and have recommended them to others. I've just never wanted to pursue them myself. I'm a fighter; literally. If you don't believe me click here. I like to move fast, go hard, sweat, grunt, and pant like a lunatic. I like to GO, GO, GO! The one time I took yoga, I wanted to slit my wrists. The few times I used the Pilate's Reformer, I thought it was interesting....but not anything I'd want to pursue.

So last week I show up at the Gainesville Health and Fitness Center, and the advanced Pilate's mat class was just about to start. Feeling guilty for not following up on my doctor's advice from months ago, I half-heartedly asked the perky front desk chic if there was any room in the class. Yep. There was. And she handed me a little butterfly thing with a number on it to hold my place.

If every person who joined your local gym actually went, it would be near impossible to get in and out of the place in less than three hours. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it), research shows that around 60 percent of people who start an exercise program throw in the towel within the first six weeks. While there are many reasons for this precipitious rate of attrition, one stands out as the most widely reported: Pain.

Be it soreness or injury, many people discontinue their workout program soon after starting because they experience physical discomfort. Normal delayed-onset muscle soreness is what you feel the day (or the day after that) following a day of intense exercise. Your muscles are not accustomed to such stress, so they feel very taxed by the new workload. This is, as stated before, normal. Does it being normal make it suck any less? Not really, but if it makes you feel better, this is a sign that your muscles are becoming stronger.

What's not normal is pain caused by injury. Unlike delayed-onset sorness, injury can be felt almost immediately or within a few hours. And, unlike muscle soreness, it does not always go away within a few days. What's more, exercising while injured will almost invariably exacerbate the problem, whereas soreness can be dealt with with rest and light exercise.

On its own, joint pain isn't usually something that warrants a visit to the doctor's office. It's more of a nuisance--something to make note of and mention the next time you go in for a physical. But sometimes, joint pain can be a sign of something more serious, as Everyday Health points out. When does joint pain warrant medical attention? When ...

• ... its accompanied by a fever, rash, fatigue, headache, or weight loss
• ... its a result of joint trauma or injury
• ... the pain is severe
• ... there are neurological symptoms too, like numbness in the hands or pain in the neck or back.
  

Not to freak you out or anything, but joint pain can be a symptom of autoimmune diseases, infections and even cancer, so make sure to pay attention to those aches and pains.

I have no problem pushing myself to try a new sport -- I might be nervous, or even scared, but usually when I set my mind to something, I just do it. However, there are a lot of sports I've never tried and probably never will because I feel like my fear is justified -- I don't want to surf Pipe, I don't want to try extreme mountain biking, and I'm quite sure I'm not going to go skydiving anytime soon.

Am I missing out on something? I came across this blog that initially reinforced my feelings, but as I read on, I began to question my resistance to trying some "dangerous" activities. Zandria, the blogger, included thoughts from quite a few people who had tried something really scary, ranging from trying a really challenging cardio class to mountain biking (in actual mountains) in below-freezing conditions. Even though these women were certainly frightened (or in pain) at some point, they still found joy and beauty in what they accomplished.

It doesn't make me want to try ski jumping, but it might make me rethink downhill skiing (which I've never tried -- I might break my leg!). And, I still don't think all sports are for everyone, but I do think that if you have some interest in something like mountain biking, you shouldn't let fear get in your way. Just think -- if it's something you truly want to try, will the pain of an injury you might sustain be worse than the anger or disappointment you will feel if you don't give it a shot?

I took up running a while back, and one of the major challenges for me has been my knees. I've always had problems with them, and running makes them worse. But I've been doing exercises to strengthen my knees and they've paid off -- I'm usually pain-free when I run, and I'm loving it. If you have the problems with your knees but are aching to be a runner, consider these knee-friendly tips from Fitsugar:

• Lose weight to reduce the pressure on your knees.
  
• Start slowly, and get in good physical condition overall before beginning to run.
  
• Always stretch before and after running.
  
• Wear supportive braces if needed.
  
• Practice good form, running with your knees bent and leaning forward slightly.
  
• Watch where you run -- surface matters!

What have you done to reduce knee pain when running?