How Can Physiotherapy Help With Sports Injuries?

Posted on May 10, 2012 by Flirting With Fitness

When players have sports injuries, they turn to physiotherapy for rehabilitation. Physiotherapy, also called physical therapy, offers help whether the player is having surgery to correct the damage or not.

One example of the many sports injuries is an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. This is an injury to the knee. It is one of the common sports injuries in people who play sports that challenge their knees, such as hockey, skating, skiing, basketball, and of course, football. It can limit the range of a player’s motion in that leg, and make the leg weak.

Surgery is sometimes done for these sports injuries, but physiotherapy is always a part of the treatment. The three major exercises done to start the healing process of ACL are heel slides, quad sets, and straight leg raises.

Heel slides are exercises for ACL sports injuries that are easy to understand, but may be painful to do at first. One simply lies on the bed or floor with the foot down. Then, one slides the foot slowly towards the buttocks until it hurts a little, and slides it back. This and the other exercises help prepare the knee for surgery or to heal without it.

Another of the sports injuries that physiotherapy is used for is tennis elbow. One might get tennis elbow from playing tennis, certainly, but it can also come about from any activity that involves twisting the wrist.

Sports injuries like tennis elbow are treated with a comprehensive plan of physiotherapy. Exercises are explained and assigned. Another common procedure for sports injuries is the use of ultrasound. Ultrasound is a way of applying heat deep into the muscle for pain relief.

Electrical stimulation can be used to keep pain from being felt through the nervous system. It is used for tennis elbow and many other sports injuries. Massage and manual therapy can also be used for physiotherapy.

Massage is one of the forms of soft tissue manipulation. However, soft tissue manipulation is to muscles what chiropractic is to bones. It deals not only with muscle, but with tendons and connective tissue as well. It is a specialized field of physiotherapy that has been used for people with sports injuries on many occasions.

As many children’s sports teams are becoming ever more competitive, sports injuries among youngsters is increasing. Often, a well-meaning parent will tell the child to shake it off and keep playing. It is even more important for children to get adequate physiotherapy than it is for adults. Children are just developing, and a problem in childhood can lead to lifelong pain.

Some sports injuries happen because something physically traumatic happens to your body. Someone runs into you as you run with the football towards the end zone, for example. Other times, it is simply a matter of the physical demands you put on your body.

Physiotherapy is instrumental in the healing of many sports injuries. Many professional sports teams have physiotherapists on their staffs. In fact, either ACL or tennis elbow can become permanent conditions without the use of physiotherapy procedures.

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How Does Exercise Help Your Blood Pressure?

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Flirting With Fitness

Do you want to take control of your blood pressure? If so, exercise may be the key for you to do just that. Many people may not realize exercise can help you control your blood pressure. Fortunately, it is all rather simple.

As you probably know, you are more prone to high blood pressure as you age. Unfortunately, we all age and this cannot be helped. But controlling your blood pressure can be helped.

By exercising you can possibly prevent risks of high blood pressure which can cause stroke and kidney disease. If you already have high blood pressure, exercising can often help you get it under control.

As you exercise your heart gets stronger. When your heart is stronger it can pump more blood more easily causing less pressure on your arteries. While exercise may not work for everyone you can easily lower your blood pressure by around ten millimeters.

Even if you do not have high blood pressure, you can take these precautions to help prevent getting it. Along with controlling your blood pressure you can lose weight or maintain your desired weight which also affects your blood pressure.

Overweight people are prone to having high blood pressure and an increased risk of stroke or kidney or heart diseases. If this is you, get moving and start exercising! This doesn’t mean you have to overdo yourself, take it slow at first and work your way up. You will start feeling better as you continue a regular routine.

It is suggested to do at least thirty minutes of exercise a day if possible. Thirty minutes can be hard to do for some people, mainly because they can’t find the time. If this is the case, you can do short bursts of exercise. You could exercise for ten minutes at a time throughout the day. At the end of the day you’ve done thirty minutes.

Like with starting any exercise routine, you will want to talk with your doctor first. There are certain things you will have to have your doctor’s okay for. If you are a man over forty or a woman over fifty it s imperative that you talk with your doctor first.

Smoking increases blood pressure as well as makes it hard for some people to exercise. Being overweight has an effect on everything and you definitely want to consult your doctor before starting an exercise program.

Having a chronic health condition or high cholesterol and even high blood pressure can put you at risk when exercising. Be sure to talk to your doctor first. If you do not visit the doctor regularly, do so now. It is better to know exactly what health you are in before doing any strenuous activity or even exercising.

Always warm up before starting an exercise routine. Begin slowly so you can slowly build the intensity. Be sure to breathe continuously throughout your routine. Holding your breath can cause your blood pressure to increase.

If you experience any discomfort or pain while exercising notify your doctor immediately. It is better to take full precaution even if it ends up being something little. Once you start your exercise program, you want to track your progress.

A great way to do this between regular visits to your doctor is to purchase a home blood pressure monitoring device. You want to check your pressure before you begin and when you are finished. You want to make sure it’s working and how much it’s working.

By exercising you usually lower your chances of getting high blood pressure and if you already have it, you may well be helping to control it. This would mean you are lessening your risk of strokes or heart diseases. It is never too late to start working out, no matter your age, gender, or ethnicity. Talk with your doctor today about the level and types of exercise it’s safe for you to participate in, then have a certified personal trainer plan out an exercise program for you within those guidelines. Your body will thank you in the end.

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Are There Easy Ways To Diet Successfully?

Posted on February 5, 2012 by Flirting With Fitness

Dieting is alays a hot topic on fitness and weight loss forums and sites online, and everyone is looking for the easiest ways to diet… But ARE there any easy ways to burn fat and achieve your weight-loss goals?

Dieting to lose weight has never been easy, but it can be made easier for you if you follow a few simple rules and take some advice.

Develop The Ability To Gauge Calorie Levels

Most people who calorie-count do it religiously. They will add up everything they eat to the nearest calorie but they may really be missing the point. It is better to develop the skill of looking at food and understanding it and knowing intrinsically how many calories it contains – i.e. how much energy it is going to give you and how long it will last. When you can do this, you will gain a greater appreciation for food and it will help you to stop over-eating beyond what your body needs. It will also help you to maintain that calorie deficit that is necessary for consistent weight loss.

What you should do is to first start by counting calories. Look up the calorie content of everything that you eat. If there is no packaging to refer to then look it up on the Internet as there are several good web sites where you can do so. When doing this, you want to relate this to how much a normal, healthy person should eat (as a general rule, start with a target of 12x your desired weight for each day’s calories. For a target of 125 pounds, for example, it would be 125 x 12 = 1,500 calories daily. Other factors can weigh in, but that formula gives you a rough idea).

After about a month, you won’t need to look anything up anymore. You will pretty much know how many calories the food that you regularly eat contains. You will also develop an ability to look at most types of food and gauge how many calories are in it. You will have a new appreciation for food and how it provides our bodies with energy instead of viewing it as something that is there to give you a good, tasty experience. You will be much less likely to eat too much and will find it much easier to eat a ‘restricted’ diet.

Knowing What Feeling ‘Full’ Really Means

Many of us feel full after we eat. Our bellies get bigger and we may even need to expand the belt a notch or two to accommodate that extra girth.

When you feel full after a meal it is really your body crying out to you and telling you that you have eaten way too much already and that you probably won’t need to eat much, if anything at all, for the rest of the day. Certainly, you should stop eating immediately.

Letting yourself get really hungry is a mistake, and it can add to your weight problems if it becomes your habit. Fitness experts, almost without exception, ‘graze’ all day instead. Instead of the standard three big meals a day, they eat 5 or 6 smaller low-calorie meals each day, designed to total up to their daily caloric total.

Not only does this stop them from getting hungry & binging, but it keeps their digestive system burning calories all day to burn off even more energy – energy that could otherwise be stored as more fat.

And THAT is the trick to eating for fuel instead of simply pouring in calories – truly successful dieting. Never feeling overly full while never feeling very hungry is a major step toward burning fat and achieving your weight-loss goals!

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Involve Your Kids In The Fitness Lifestyle Early…

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Flirting With Fitness

Getting your kids involved in the fitness lifestyle early in life can go a long way to helping them stay fit throughout their lives. Beyond simply involving them in sports, let them see and experience the strong & vibrant community of fit people of all ages.

Everywhere you look these days, our kids are exposed to poor physical role models. Yes, they see sports players and some actors in great shape, but that can’t possibly outweigh their day-to-day environment in the schools, on the street and in the media. And the constant bombardment of advertising for fast-food joints is so over the top it’s almost surprising that only 60% of Americans are overweight or obese…

Our son Devon, pictured above, is a prime example. He grew up around fitness models due in part to our fitness photography business, but also from coming along to events like the one pictured above and from seeing his mom & dad working out regularly in our home gym. From live events like the Fitness And Modeling Expos (FAME) to strolling along South Beach, Florida, Devon has been keenly aware of the fitness lifestyle as far back as he can remember.

Is it any wonder then that now, at 23 he’s strong, lean & weightlifting with us every week? He already knows this isn’t about getting fit or staying in shape – it’s a lifestyle. The fitness lifestyle. And throughout his life he’ll be happier, healthier, stronger, better looking and much more energentic because of it. And isn’t that exactly what we ALL want for our kids?

No matter how young or old your kids are today, start involving them in the fitness community today. Whether they appreciate the fitness lifestyle right now or not isn’t the issue – you will, and the time will come when they thank you for it and for the better life you’ve helped them expect & achieve!

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Low Carb Diets – Low Carb Dieting The Atkins Way

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Flirting With Fitness

The Atkins diet (TM) is the best known form of low carb dieting. First published by Dr Robert Atkins in the 1970s, it is neither the newest nor the first low carb dieting plan, but it is very well established. Because of this, you can find a wide range of recipe books based on the plan as well as plenty of free recipes online. There have also been plenty of studies about the Atkins diet and it is better accepted by health professionals than many newer diets.

If you are thinking of following the Atkins diet you will need a copy of ‘Dr Atkins’ New Diet Revolution’. This is the revised version of his diet which includes more vegetables and is generally felt to be a healthier diet to follow than his first plan, so be sure to buy the book that includes the word ‘New’ in the title.

Atkins and other low carb dieting plans work by keeping your carbohydrate consumption low enough that you enter ‘ketosis’ or ‘lipolysis’. This is a natural condition of the body designed to deal with times when carbohydrate foods are scarce.

Many body functions require glucose for energy, and normally this is taken from the carbohydrate foods that we consume. But if the body is not getting enough of these, it can switch to using fat for energy. In this state it will use both the fat that we consume and the fat that is stored in the body, so we lose weight.

Unlike some other low carb dieting plans, the Atkins diet does not restrict fat consumption. This is because the switch to lipolysis depends on the body having plenty of fat in the diet as well as using stored fat. Also, fat is a substance that makes us feel full for a long time after eating. In fact, Dr Atkins included a rule that says you must not go more than 6 hours between meals, simply because his first patients found they were not hungry, and were not eating enough.

So what are the rules of the Atkins way of low carb dieting? Well, there are three stages. The first and best known is induction, in which you are restricted to a maximum of 20 grams of carbohydrate.

Some people assume that this means that you can have 20 grams of pasta a day, but that is not the case at all. Almost all foods contain carbohydrate, except for meat, fish and oils. So if you are counting the carbs in your food, you need to do it by using an online diet tracking program such as fitday.com.

For those who do not want to weigh and record everything that they eat, Dr Atkins gives you a list of foods that you can eat freely (e.g. meat, fish, oils) plus foods of which you can eat a certain amount each day (e.g. milk and dairy products, avocado). In addition you get to eat up to 3 cups of vegetables a day, which you take from certain lists. These do not include starchy vegetables like carrots and potatoes, which are not allowed on induction.

If this sounds restrictive, do not worry. You only follow induction for 2 weeks to kick start your weight loss. Then in phase 2 you will gradually increase your carbohydrate intake and at the same time, reintroduce some of the foods that were not allowed during induction. This means more vegetables, including some beans and starchy vegetables in small quantities; more dairy products; nuts, fruits, whole grains and even alcohol.

Phase 3 of the Atkins low carb dieting plan is maintenance for when you have achieved or almost achieved your desired weight loss.

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