Should you consult a doctor before exercising?

[melmel]

Anytime I get an exercise video, it always says that you should consult a doctor before starting any new exercise routine. I don't actually do that. I figure I don't need to check with my doctor before doing a few crunches.

However, taking medication may effect exercise and the body's tolerance for it. Do you think you should check with a doctor before exercising on Alli?

[summer]

I think those warnings are to protect them, so that someone who is terribly unfit and decides to do the video three times in a row doesn't sue them when they have a heart attack. I do think you have to go slow, and do only part of each exercise, and maybe not the whole video, when you start out. I did one once, for a short while, and I divided it in two. I did the warm up and cool down every day, but alternated the first and second half of the video,

[melmel]

That's one of the reasons I prefer videos to classes. If you go to some type of aerobics or fitness class, you can't stop and restart by yourself. When you have a video you can do the routine how ever you want.

[need2lose]

Can't that be a bad thing? At least if you go to a class you are forced to do a proper warmup and cooldown. My doctor told me that almost all the sports injuries he sees come from people not doing a proper warmup. You are supposed to do stretches at the end, he said, during the cooldown, when your muscles are warm. Everybody stretches at the beginning, when their muscles are cold, and that's when they get hurt.

[craigguy]

So, you are not supposed to stretch beforehand? I was always told to stretch before doing any exercise.

[chocolate]

need2lose is right. If you run, for instance, you should wam up by walking and then jogging a bit. If you want to stretch then, it should be OK. If you think about it, most exercises just use muscles more, in the same way you usually use them. Stretching pulls them, and doing that to a cold, more rigid muscle is more likely to hurt.

Exercise videos always have you jog in place and never do stretching moves until about ten minutes in. Why? They know better, and they have lawyers who don't want them getting sued.