Category Archives: General Lifestyle

Tight Hamstrings?

General Lifestyle, Healthy Living, Injury Prevention, Treatment, ,

Tight or stiff hamstrings is a common injury I find in my day to day work. Anyone with tight hamstrings can try stretching on a daily basis, but they will find that this has no effect.

The usual way people determine their hamstring flexibility is whether they can bend from the hips and touch their toes. Most professionals will use this in their assessment to get a picture of how the body moves. For those that think that bending by the hips and touching their toes helps the hamstrings, they will find out later in this blog that this isn’t a true representation of hamstring flexibility. This is because far more muscle groups are involved than most think to accomplish this task.

The reason it is beneficial for a professional to observe you touch your toes, is so that they can see exactly how your anterior and posterior chain functions. Simply put, to see how free your spine and hip interact; with this information you can see if the hamstrings relax to a reasonable length.

After we assess the movements of the hip and spine we can then look into the diaphragm, pelvic floor and intercostal muscle, as these too have the ability to impact your toe-touch motion. If there is good motion in the hips, but not much thought the spine, then we expand the assessment to other areas of the body that help forward flexion. It is quite normal to feel very quick changes as a result, which is perceived as hamstring flexibility but actually could be an improvement in the muscles within the posterior chain. Through this, we then begin to see the full range of motion in the hamstring as previous muscles that can inhibit the hamstring flexibility are removed.

If the Spinal movement is good and we can see the hamstring and hip movement is restricted, we will then move onto posterior knee stability.

Posterior knee stability

When you walk or run your hamstrings are used along with your gastrocnemius to stabilise the knee through an isometric contraction. This is to prevent the knee from bending as our foot hits the ground through initial contact. The stiffness in the hamstring is needed to help you absorb the force when the foot hits the ground and ensures the power you are generating in your hips is not wasted, and so, generates forward motion.

If there is no stiffness in the hamstrings and gastrocnemius, then these two muscle groups start to work harder than they need to during low impact work and this then starts to create a feeling of constant tension, with a feeling that it always needs to be stretched.

So, if this is occurring in your hamstrings and you’re trying to stretch, but no matter how long and how many times you do it you feel nothing is working, then most likely it is not your hamstrings at fault. If you treat the symptoms and not the cause, it will be harder for you to reach your desired results.

What is Sport Therapy?

General Lifestyle, Injury Prevention, Injury Recovery, Sports Injury, Sports Therapy, Treatment, , , ,

 

(This is a blog I really should of started with)

Sports Therapy is an aspect of health care that is specifically concerned with injury prevention and rehabilitation of your injury. It helps to get you back to full fitness, regardless of functionality, occupation or fitness concerns, whilst keeping in mind your age and ability.

The principles used incorporate sports science and exercises, in addition to physiological and pathological processes and manual therapy to prepare you for training, competition or daily lifestyle.

Some of the benefits of sport massage:

• Increases muscle flexibility and range of movement

• Prevents injuries

• Re-energises and strengthens your body’s own healing

• Speeds up recovery and improves performance

• Stress relief and relaxation

• Relieves muscle tension and soreness

Who is suitable for Sports therapy?

This is the easiest place to say “ITS NOT JUST FOR SPORTS PEOPLE”. Its for everyone.

Sports therapy, although could be named better, is solely based on improving movement and reducing discomfort, so anyone can benefit from it.

You can be of any age engaged in any type of activity. Some of my clients are people in desk type work. So seated for long periods of time. So if you are active or sedentary, I’m here to help!

Fitness and injury prevention

After effects of training, general soreness, the niggle, stiff muscles are all common and are all easily ignored. However, if these feelings are ignored and you continue training, you are likely to cause minor damage which will eventually stop you from training and hinder your physical development. You can also suffer mental effects from this too. This will in turn change your focus on training i.e. you will train what doesn’t hurt and end up either causing another injury or worsening a current injury by creating an imbalance.

Sport massage is an effective way of maintaining muscle flexibility and muscle condition, which prevents muscle strains. It can also help those minor niggles before they grow into an injury.

Also, with a further look into movement patterns identify what area your body needs to be improved to stop injury in its tracks.

Is your Achilles in pain

General Lifestyle, Healthy Living, Injury Recovery, Sports Injury

Almost all sports will have you walking, running or jumping; if it’s not in the activity itself then it’s included in the warm up. This has the potential to turn into an achilles injury. It is not uncommon for people to think that they have an issue with the achilles tendon. However, it could in fact be a result of a different tissue in the area causing the problem such as a toe flexor or another muscle/tendon in the lower leg such as the tibialis posterior, both of which sit just in front of the achilles.

Achilles tendinopathy comes in two different types: mid portion tendinopathy or insertional tendinopathy. The difference between the two are simple. The mid portion tendinopathy sits above the attachment of the tendon. The Insertional tendinopathy sits at the calcaneus.

Tendinopathy can be caused by a number of different factors.

  • Corticosteroids    
  • Hyperthermia
  • Mechanical Stress

If we look at the causes of both types of an achilles injuries from a mechanical stress point of view, we get slightly different results. The research shows that mid portion tendinopathy is related to repetitive loading – the weight being applied to the tendon is too much and causes tissue damage. Insertional tendinopathy is related to the compression of the tendon against the Calcaneus – the compression occurs when the foot moves into dorsiflexion.  

There are 3 basic stages of tendinopathy, which are:

  • Reactive
  • Tendon disrepair
  • Degenerative

The movement through these stages is not necessarily straightforward. It can move from reactive to degenerative and back again dependant on the loading placed on the tendon.

In the reactive stage, we see a thickening and stiffening of the tendon in a response to the load in an attempt to cope with it and reduce the stress. In this stage the load has often been increased too quickly for the tendon to deal with. However, with rest and a reduction in the load, healing will allow occur.

The degenerative stage happens with chronic overloading and is usually more common in the older athlete. In this stage we see further breakdown in the structure of the tendon and this is accompanied by cell death. In this state if it is left unresolved, it can result in tendon rupture.
When it comes to managing and treating this type of injury, in all stages it comes down to managing the load placed on the tendon. In the reactive and early disrepair stages we simply want to reduce the stress that is causing the issue, by catching it fast enough and simply allowing it time to calm down.

Are you Magnesium deficient?

General Lifestyle, Healthy Living, , , , ,

 

 

 

Now, before I start explaining to you about magnesium, with all its good points and why it’s a crucial part of your diet, I first want to first cast your mind back to 500 years ago.Now, as you all know, animals have evolved and changed to what we see today and the same can be said for fruit and veg. What we see, feel and taste is the result of human ingenuity of around 10000 years of genetic modification and selective breeding. We have created the fruit and veg that you see today. For those sceptics who don’t believe that this is possible, take one of the most famous genetic modifications in plants. In 1066 the “The battle of Hastings” or “War of the roses” commenced and in was the red rose Verses the white rose and at the end to show a symbol of peace the roses were combined to show the red and white rose.

Why do you think we altered the fruit and veg? The answer is simple, we wanted crops that were consistent, productive, resistant to pests, gave a good size and a better taste to match their productivity. However, in all these improvements you find that the microelements within our fruit has been changed, so we receive less of the nutrients we need in exchange for fructose.


How does this apply to me?

Magnesium has major elements that can affect every part of our natural lifestyle, from our emotional state to our physical body.

Some examples of the benefits of magnesium is that it allows us to assimilate calcium into our bones, all the while playing a role in activating vitamin D in the kidneys.


Recent studies have shown that high levels of magnesium in the body as a direct effect on insulin sensitivity, so good news for people with diabetes.

Other benefits include:

For the physical wellbeing

  • Reduces headaches
  • Reduces muscle spasms and cramps
  • Decreases Fibromyalgia

Neurological wellbeing

  • Anxiety
  • DepressionAutism and ADD
  • Restless leg syndrome (RLS)
  • Insomnia
  • Tics

More benefits

  • Psoriasis, acne and eczema
  • Blood pressure
  • Osteoporosis

So, if you suffer from any of these conditions and you are unsure of the reason you are feeling this way, just try magnesium and see if your condition improves.

What kills magnesium?

Magnesium in the body turns out to be a very sensitive element. There are 4 substances that actively deplete the amount you consume before it can work any benefits to the body. These are:

  • Caffeine
  • Sugar
  • Tobacco
  • Stress

For every City gower/Hard worker you start to see a pattern in your lifestyle and your dietary needs. I am pretty confident that most people have high levels of one of these four killers. So if you do have  any of the signs and symptoms previously listed and you want to make a change, to understand that it could be related to your environment is your first step.      

 

Foods high in magnesium

Hopefully by now I’ve peaked your interest to try this super ingredient and to improve your lifestyle.

The foods that are high in magnesium are:

Dark leafy greens: i.e spinach

Nuts

Seeds

FishBeans

Whole grain

Avocado

Bananas

Dried fruit

Dark chocolate

Conclusion


I don’t make money or receive any endorsements for writing these articles. I only want to make a change in people’s lives to help them improve and prevent any further discomfort, especially when it can be easily resolved. I have written this because I have heard many stories and seen many people who are suffering. I’m sure that if you search online, you will find people that have come through hard times in themselves, just because they have improved their diet for the better. If you do know or see anyone that has any of the symptoms and have high levels of the killers, then suggest to them to change what they eat. Many studies in diet conduct their tests for a month to see if it makes a difference. It is hard to start off with, but it should become much easier after week 3 if you stick to it.

Good Luck!!!

Your Core Muscle

General Lifestyle

Core training has become increasingly popular, especially since a connection has been made between the alleviation of lower back pain and the strength of your core. Even after all the developments I still favour the “old school” approach on improving your core strength.

In my experience, excessive sit-ups can lead to a lot of lower back problems, and can even lead to herniated discs. Many hail Plank as the best way to attain that herculean core, however, there is a limit to how much you can improve from this. And naturally there is only so much one exercise can do to relieve the multifaceted strain your core is subjected to on a daily basis.

What is your Core

Often people are of the belief that core strength and powerful abs are synonymous with one another. This is a fallacy. The Core is not just your 6 pack (otherwise known as your Rectus Abdominals) or, in my case, the keg lovingly pats gut. It is also your obliques (side abs); gluteal muscles (butt); deeper lying abdominal muscle groups; and multifidus (back muscles). All of these work together to perform these functions.

  • Protect and stabilise the spine
  • Control position and movement of trunk
  • To create the optimum production to transfer force to arms and legs

As mentioned earlier, your core straddles an array of dimensions that facilitate movement. These movements are:

  • Flexion and extension of the spine
  • Side flexion
  • Rotation

From improving these movement patterns by way of increasing core strength, you will find your body will have a more stable foundation from which to train your body, and have a higher resilience against sports injuries, becoming a stronger athlete.

What a hint to achieve an all round stronger core? Here’s a start!

Exercise Reps Sets
Ab Wheel Roll Outs 10 3
Dead Lifts 10 3
Side Plank
Off-set Walk Lunges 12 3
Pallof Press 10 3
Supermans 12 3
Hip Thrusts 12 3

Have Fun!!!

Happy New Year

General Lifestyle

Time to think about those resolutions

It’s the start to the new year. Which means… it’s that cliché time when you decide to improve your health. Whether it is to lose weight, gain mass or get stronger.

Now, what do you need to consider?  First is, how are you going to improve your fitness the way you want to. Here are a few choices to think about to get you started:
  • Simple and free – cycle, walk or run to work.
  • Free – start running or cycling for fun
  • Commitment – Join a gym
  • Social – Join a sports group

The list could go on!

Get the Balance right

But when you start your regime if you rush it or push too hard too soon you are most likely to get a strain or a sprain but don’t despair there are simple ways to get around it.

Warm up properly make sure your heart rate is slightly higher and your breathing a little faster and dynamic stretches to mobilise your joints. Ease yourself into the workout.

If you balance your program properly you can avoid injuries such as tendonitis or the dreaded shin splints.

Keeping up the Motivation

Of course, once an injury sets in, it’s much harder to keep going. So why does this happen so much?

I think one reason is that people tend to overlook the full picture. They evaluate how to achieve certain goals,such as losing weight or gaining muscle, considering how to do it; how much weight they need to press; how many reps and sets they need to do; how far they need to run; and for how long. Short term results can be measured with a quick step onto the bathroom scales.

Nothing wrong with that. But it misses the value of having an all-round program. This means that mistakes are made – and one of the most common is that when time gets pressured, people decide to save time by removing or ignoring adequate stretching. This is most likely because the primary objective is to achieve your set goal – and the exercises will help you achieve your goal, while the stretches won’t, per se.

The Importance of Maintenance

The motto for 2016, then: stretching, stretching and more stretching. Here, in sports terms, we’re talking about ‘maintenance’ rather than ‘conditioning.’ You wouldn’t expect a car to just keep on going if you only put petrol in it. It needs some TLC, some oil, maybe, to stop the engine from ceasing. The body is exactly the same.

So how does maintenance (in this instance stretching) work as far as the body is concerned? Put simply, every time you physically exert yourself, it forces muscles to change and, as they do so, this causes micro tears. When the muscles heal, they heal in a haphazard state that, in turn, forces the muscle to contract resulting in a shorter range of motion that creates pain and restricts movement over a increasing periods of time.

The Benefits of Stretching

Like oil in a car, stretching can help maintain your normal range of motion as well as help you keep smooth fluid movement in the joints and muscles.

This is why professional athletes take their maintenance training very seriously indeed. They are trying to prevent any “scar tissue.” For instance, in any event a contraction through scar tissue can make you that 100th of a second slower and this could mean the difference between first and second.

Good luck

So if you are doing something new or have a new years resolution to improve yourself allow me to suggest you with one thing. Don’t just think about your goal, consider it a lifestyle change that always makes time for maintenance training. You could even try classes or exercises specifically aimed at stretching, or look for certain types of massage.

Good luck and don’t forget I am so proud of you for improving yourself and your lifestyle and am with you all the way.

Happy new year!!!