I cannot tell you how many people I have met over the past 20 years who have come to see me for help with a chronic hip or shoulder problem that had evolved into a much bigger problem that it should have. These were mainly due to treatments that focused on pain relief instead of correcting the underlying cause. In almost every one of these cases the treatment consisted of cortisone injections into the injured area followed by rest. Some were told to see a physio for some treatment but many were told that they will need a few injections over the coming months to get rid of the inflammation and the hip or shoulder would be “fixed”. I am astounded that with all the advancements in modern technology and science, and the ability to access information that can provide great insights into what causes injuries that this is the most consistent course of action. Very rarely does this work and if anything all it is likely to achieve is make the injury worse! In this article, I will explain why this approach to shoulder and hip pain is flawed and what approach is more effective in the long term.
Why It Is Vital You Devote Time To Strengthening Lower Trapezius
One of the most neglected muscles in many strength workouts is the lower trapezius. If you have neck pain or shoulder pain this can be a real problem, as weakness with this muscle greatly contributes to ongoing pain and dysfunction for the important role it plays in providing stability to the scapula and shoulder joint. Most people believe that many of the compound strength exercises will automatically improve its strength and function so they don’t devote any time to strengthening it with specific exercises. I know I used to think this way, and it may be true for someone with no injury or dysfunction in the shoulder, however anyone with postural problems, shoulder, or neck pain these compound exercises may not work very well, if at all. This leads to several questions such as how do you know if you have lower trapezius weakness? And if you do what are the best exercises to target this muscle to restore it back to its full function? In this article, I will discuss how to test and assess your lower trapezius strength and the best ways to improve it back to full capacity.
Are You Sabotaging Your Health By Eating Too Fast?
One of the most overlooked parts of improving health and fitness is how we eat our food. We place a huge focus on the type of foods and even when to eat, but something we pay little attention to how we eat. The process of chewing our food correctly is of vital importance in providing numerous benefits to our health. When you eat slowly, you digestion improves and your body can easily extract the essential vitamins and minerals from the food to allow it to function at its optimal capacity. You feel more satisfied with each meal allowing for better energy throughout the day and this also prevents over-eating helping you to maintain a healthy weight. However, if you eat too quickly your digestion suffers in a big way and this can cause havoc to not just your waistline, but can cause headaches, joint pain, skin problems, and even disease! Meals end up becoming stressful to your body as opposed to being a time for it to refuel and recharge. Add on top of this is how you feel sluggish and bloated and unable to stop over-eating and sabotaging your exercise efforts. Your food choices might be perfect but the fact you are eating too fast is your problem. For many people this becomes a bad habit and they do not even know they are doing it. In this article we are going to explain exactly what happens when you eat too quickly and some simple strategies you can use to prevent this bad habit from ruining your health goals.
3 Simple Fitness Tests to Measure Your Heart Health & VO2 Max
The best way to improve your heart and lung health is via exercise in combination with healthy eating and keeping your stress levels in check. However, before you start pounding the pavement it is wise to have a baseline measurement of your current fitness levels. This is critical to do before you get started with any exercise program as it achieves two things. Firstly it will also give you a way to measure your improvement as you progress with your program, but more importantly it helps you to understand the different exercise intensities to find what level is best for you. Exercising too intensely too soon can cause more harm than good and having a clear understanding of what intensity is right for you will help to keep your exercise efforts safe, but effective. In this article I show you three different tests I use that vary in difficulty so I can pick the best test for people of different ages and needs.
How Good Is Backwards Walking For Treating Knee Pain?
One question I am regularly asked about knee pain is, how good is walking backwards for strengthening your knees? In recent years this type of exercise has grown in popularity on the internet and also among many therapists as an exercise to prescribe their patients with for strengthening of the knees. I can see how it appeals to so many people with knee pain as it requires no equipment, minimal skill, and can be done almost anywhere. The big question is how effective is it really when it comes to strengthening the knees to get rid of pain? While there are some positive benefits to using this, there are several problems I believe are overlooked that would be better resolved with other exercises. In this article, I explore this exercise in more detail and challenge my bias to see if it is something that I may be underestimating.
25 Best Agility Drills to Enhance Movement for Sports & Daily Life
Welcome to part 2 of our series of articles about agility training. In part one I discussed in great detail how valuable agility training is to different age groups and why it is more than just a series of drills for sporting athletes. While it certainly has incredible benefits to the sporting athlete it is a highly under-rated form of training that can significantly improve how people move in daily life. You do not need to be a sporting person to reap the benefits of these unique drills. In this article I am going to share with you what my favourite agility drills are, starting with the easiest versions and progressing to the seriously challenging and complex drills. To help you understand what drill is best for you to use I will label each of the various exercises with “best for” so you can stick to the ones most relevant to your needs. However, if you are confident and you feel you have mastered the simple drills, by all means challenge yourself and try the various progressions towards the end of the article. As long as you keep things safe and workout in an area that has good stable footing you should be fine.