Spring has a funny way of changing our routines almost overnight.
The mornings get lighter. The afternoons get warmer. The garden suddenly needs attention. Weekend sport ramps up. We start walking more, exercising more and spending more time outside.
And for many of us, there’s also that moment when we realise summer isn’t very far away…
So the gym shoes come back out.
The running starts again.
The garden gets attacked.
The garage finally gets cleaned.
The kids want to kick a ball outside.
And all those jobs we’ve been putting off over winter suddenly seem like a great idea.
Mentally, you might be ready for spring.
But there’s another question worth asking:
Is your body ready for it?
Because every spring, we tend to see the same pattern in our practice.
People aren’t necessarily doing anything wrong.
They’re simply doing more than they were doing a few weeks ago.
And sometimes their body lets them know about it.
Have you suddenly started doing more?
Think about your own routine over winter.
Were you exercising as much?
Were you walking as often?
Were you spending hours bending, digging and lifting in the garden?
Were you playing weekend sport?
Were you doing outdoor jobs around the house?
Or did winter involve a little more sitting, a little less movement and a lot more time indoors?
There’s nothing unusual about that.
Our activity levels naturally change throughout the year.
The problem can come when the weather improves and our activity levels go from zero to one hundred before our body has had time to adapt.
You might feel motivated enough to do it.
Your muscles, joints and connective tissues, however, may have other ideas.
And that’s often when the little niggles begin.
“But I didn't actually injure myself…”
This is something we hear all the time.
A patient walks into the practice with a sore lower back, neck, hip or shoulder and says:
“I don’t know what I did.”
There wasn’t necessarily a fall.
There wasn’t a big injury.
There wasn’t one obvious moment when something went wrong.
But when we start talking about what they’ve been doing over the previous week or two, things become a little clearer.
Maybe they spent the entire weekend gardening.
Maybe they returned to the gym after three months off.
Maybe their child’s sport started again and they’re suddenly running around more.
Maybe they started walking every morning.
Maybe they cleaned the pool, moved outdoor furniture and pressure-washed the backyard all in one weekend.
None of these activities are inherently bad.
In fact, we want you moving.
The issue can be the sudden change in how much you’re asking your body to do.
Your body adapts to what you regularly ask of it
This is an important concept.
Your body is incredibly adaptable.
If you regularly walk, your body becomes accustomed to walking.
If you regularly lift weights, your body adapts to those loads.
If you regularly garden, bend, squat and lift, those movements become part of what your body expects.
But the opposite can also happen.
After weeks or months of doing less, your tolerance for certain activities may not be exactly where it was previously.
That doesn’t mean your body has suddenly become fragile.
It simply means you may need to build back into those activities progressively.
Think about someone returning to the gym.
Perhaps before winter they were training four times per week.
Winter gets busy.
Training becomes inconsistent.
Eventually they stop altogether.
Three months later, spring arrives and motivation returns.
So what do they do?
They walk back into the gym and try to train at almost the same intensity they were doing three months earlier.
The motivation remembers.
The body may not.
The “weekend warrior” problem
Here’s another scenario we see regularly.
Monday to Friday involves sitting at a desk.
Then Saturday morning arrives.
Suddenly you’re:
Mowing.
Weeding.
Digging.
Lifting bags of soil.
Moving pots.
Trimming hedges.
Bending over garden beds.
Pulling weeds.
Carrying things back and forth.
Three hours later, you finally stand upright and think:
“Oh… my back.”
Sound familiar?
Sometimes it’s not one particular movement that causes the problem.
It’s the accumulation.
Twenty minutes of gardening may feel completely fine.
Three or four hours of repeated bending, twisting, lifting and reaching may be a very different demand.
And because you’re finally enjoying the sunshine, it’s very easy to keep going long after your body has started getting tired.
Spring sport can catch people out too
Spring also means more sport and outdoor activity.
You might be returning to tennis.
Playing golf more regularly.
Running.
Cycling.
Joining a social sports competition.
Taking the kids to the park.
Or simply walking much further than you did during winter.
Again, these are all great things.
But imagine you haven’t run properly in three months.
Your first run feels good, so instead of easing yourself back into it, you run the distance you used to run.
Then you do it again two days later.
And again.
Before long, your knee starts aching.
Your calf becomes tight.
Your hip starts bothering you.
Or your lower back begins to complain.
Your first thought might be:
“Running must be bad for me.”
Not necessarily.
It may simply be that the amount of running exceeded what your body was currently conditioned to tolerate.
That’s an important difference.
Then there's the spring gym rush…
We see another version of this every year.
The weather warms up.
Summer starts appearing on the horizon.
And suddenly everyone remembers the gym membership they’ve been paying for all winter.
😅
If this is you, you’re definitely not alone.
The problem isn’t returning to the gym.
The problem is trying to make up for three months in three weeks.
People increase their weights too quickly.
Train too frequently.
Skip warm-ups.
Copy exercises they’ve seen online without considering whether they’re appropriate for them.
Train the muscles they can see in the mirror while neglecting other areas.
Or push through pain because they assume soreness means the workout is “working”.
There’s a difference between challenging your body and ignoring what it’s telling you.
Your body often whispers before it shouts
This might be one of the most important things you take away from this article.
Pain isn’t always the first sign that something isn’t moving or coping particularly well.
Sometimes the early signs are much quieter.
Maybe you’ve noticed:
- You’re stiffer getting out of bed.
- One shoulder doesn’t move quite as freely as the other.
- Your back feels tight after gardening.
- Your neck gets uncomfortable after sitting at work.
- One hip feels restricted when you’re walking.
- You keep stretching the same area because it always feels tight.
- An old injury has started making itself known again.
- You feel fine during activity but sore afterwards.
- You’re avoiding certain movements without really thinking about it.
- You need longer to recover after exercise than you used to.
It’s easy to dismiss these things.
“It’s only a little tight.”
“It’ll probably settle.”
“I’m just getting older.”
And sometimes it does settle.
But if the same issue keeps returning every time you increase your activity, it may be worth asking a different question:
Why does this particular area keep struggling when I ask more from my body?
Where you feel the problem isn't always where the problem begins
This is something we talk about regularly with our patients.
We don’t just ask:
“Where does it hurt?”
We also want to understand why that particular area may be taking more load in the first place.
For example, if someone’s shoulder becomes uncomfortable every time they return to the gym, we don’t necessarily want to look only at the shoulder.
How is their upper back moving?
What is happening through their neck?
How is the shoulder blade moving?
Is there adequate mobility?
Are certain muscles working harder than others?
How is their exercise technique?
Likewise, if someone’s lower back becomes sore every time they spend a weekend gardening, simply focusing on the painful spot doesn’t necessarily tell us the whole story.
We may also want to look at movement through the hips, pelvis and surrounding areas, along with the way they’re bending, lifting and loading their body.
The site of discomfort and the reason that area is being overloaded aren’t always the same thing.
That’s why assessment matters.
Are you already recognising yourself?
Maybe you’re reading this because something has already started bothering you.
Perhaps your back has become tight since you’ve been gardening again.
Your shoulder is complaining after returning to the gym.
Your neck feels worse now that you’ve started exercising more.
An old injury that you thought was gone has suddenly reappeared.
Or perhaps nothing actually hurts yet…
…but you can tell something isn’t moving quite as comfortably as it normally does.
This is where we’d encourage you to pay attention.
You don’t necessarily need to panic every time something feels tight.
But you also don’t need to wait until you’re struggling to move before doing something about it.
Sometimes those early warning signs are useful information.
How can you make the transition into spring easier on your body?
The answer isn’t to stop moving.
Quite the opposite.
Movement is something we want to encourage.
The goal is to give your body enough time to adapt to the increased demand you’re placing on it.
If you’ve been less active over winter, gradually build your activity back up rather than trying to return immediately to where you left off.
If you’re returning to the gym, consider reducing your weights or volume initially.
If you’re gardening, break a four-hour job into smaller blocks.
Change positions regularly rather than spending long periods bent over.
Warm up before sport.
Give yourself adequate recovery between harder training sessions.
Don’t suddenly increase your running distance and frequency at the same time.
And if a particular movement repeatedly causes discomfort, don’t simply keep forcing your way through it.
Ask why.
“Should I get this checked?”
Not every ache means you need an appointment.
Sometimes you’ve simply done more than usual and your body needs some recovery.
But there are situations where an assessment may be worth considering.
Particularly if you’ve noticed that:
The same problem keeps returning.
You settle it down, return to activity and it comes straight back.
You’re changing how you move because of it.
Maybe you’re avoiding bending, lifting, reaching or turning because you’re worried it’ll hurt.
Your movement feels restricted.
You can physically tell one side isn’t moving like the other.
An old injury has resurfaced.
You haven’t thought about that knee, shoulder, back or neck for months — until your activity increased again.
The problem is gradually getting worse rather than better.
What started as occasional stiffness is becoming more noticeable or more frequent.
Or perhaps you’re simply thinking:
“Something doesn’t feel right and I’d rather get on top of it now.”
That’s reasonable too.
And of course, severe or rapidly worsening pain, significant weakness or numbness, fever or unexplained illness, major trauma, or changes to bladder or bowel function warrant prompt medical assessment rather than simply trying to exercise through the problem.
What would we actually look at?
When you come in to see us, the goal isn’t simply to find the sore spot and treat it.
We want to understand you.
What changed?
What activities have you recently started doing?
What makes the problem better?
What makes it worse?
Has this happened before?
What does your work involve?
What does your exercise routine look like?
Are there old injuries that may be relevant?
And importantly:
How is your body actually moving?
Depending on your presentation, we may assess areas such as your spinal and joint movement, muscle tension, posture, mobility and the way different parts of your body are working together.
Because sometimes the area asking for attention is the area that’s been compensating for something else.
Once we understand what appears to be contributing to the problem, we can discuss the options that may be appropriate for you.
Don't let your enthusiasm outrun your body
Spring should be the time you’re getting outside and enjoying yourself.
Get back into the garden.
Go walking.
Return to the gym.
Play sport.
Take the kids outside.
Work on the house.
Enjoy the longer days.
We absolutely want you doing those things.
Just remember that if your activity level has changed significantly, your body may need a little time to catch up.
And if it has already started sending you those little warning signs, perhaps don’t ignore them for the next three months hoping they’ll disappear.
Ask yourself:
Have I suddenly started doing more?
Is there an area that keeps tightening up or becoming uncomfortable?
Has an old problem returned since my activity increased?
Am I avoiding certain movements because they don’t feel right?
Am I constantly stretching or massaging the same spot without really solving the problem?
And finally…
Would it make sense to find out why?
If you’re reading those questions and thinking,
“Actually… that’s me,”
then perhaps it’s worth having it assessed.
🌿 Get your body ready for your spring plans.
If an ache, restriction or recurring niggle is already starting to interfere with what you want to do this spring, our team is here to help.
Rather than waiting until the problem becomes the reason you stop gardening, training, walking or doing the things you enjoy, consider getting it checked while it’s still something you’re noticing rather than something that’s controlling what you can do.
👉 Book an appointment with our team and let’s work out what’s going on — so you can spend more of spring doing the things you actually want to be doing.
