CategoriesNeck Pain

6 Steps To Get Rid Of A Stiff & Sore Neck

All of us have experienced that awful stiff neck at some point in our life and know just how draining it can be to our bodies, not just physically but mentally and emotionally. Imagine being like that every day? With the use of computers becoming so much more prominent each year and the introduction of lap tops, IPADS and smartphones, the rise of chronic back pain along with neck and shoulder pain injuries is substantial. If the problem is left unattended, and you just put up with the pain, it can lead to severe injuries that are very difficult to treat and lead to other more serious problems. Disc bulges in the neck are becoming very common, and not just limited to old people. The first thing people normally do is take some anti inflammatory pills, perhaps get a massage and maybe do some stretches and hope it goes away. And while all this gives some relief, it is just a short term remedy. It is really just using a band-aid approach to treating a much bigger cut or bleed. In this article, I will provide you with the knowledge on how neck problems are created in the first place, so you can treat the “real problem”, prevent the onset of chronic pain and get rid of it for good.

CategoriesMaster Functional Movement Patterns Strength Training Tips

Do You Need To Perform 3-4 Exercises For Every Muscle Group To Develop Strength?

For many years I have completed online Zoom consultations with people from all over the world to help them create a training program that caters to their specific needs. Often these programs are designed with the intention of restoring function to a faulty movement or correcting muscle imbalances causing chronic pain. People were often surprised when the corrective program did not include an exercise for every muscle group, and I was regularly asked the question, “Do I need more exercises so I can develop strength into other muscles?” I have seen a big shift in the last 10-15 years towards functional training, which is a good thing, however, there is still a lack of understanding as to what these movements do. In this article I will explain why you do not need an exercise for each muscle group and to focus your training on improving movement patterns.

CategoriesMachine Strength Training Master Functional Movement Patterns

Why Machine Strength Training Creates An Illusion Of Strength Improvement

Most people new to gym or exercise in general have no idea of how to move efficiently or build strength correctly and this lack of knowledge and skills makes strength training very awkward and difficult, if not dangerous. This is where machine strength training is introduced to solve this problem but it is also where bigger problems are created and the real problems are ignored. On the surface it sounds like a great idea to use machine strength training to allow people to safely and confidently begin a resistance-training program with little instruction and a feeling of security. Machines focus mainly on isolated, large muscle movements but do not encourage stabilizing muscles and nervous system interaction to execute the movement. The result is muscle imbalance, restricted range of motion, poor stabilizer strength and endurance, connective tissue that is not prepared to support the new muscle size and strength. Ultimately there is no influence on neural control of multi- directional movement, which limits the transfer of strength into functional movement. It is for this reason that machine strength training is not a good choice, for people learn that they do not need to develop their stability or nervous system interaction to lift loads and develop strength. They feel they do not need to EARN THE RIGHT to use loads and instead bypass this process entirely. You must understand the reason people develop injuries or weaknesses in the first place often are due to poor stability of joints and a poor understanding of how to move. Skipping this process is neglecting the very thing they need to know.

CategoriesBreathing

7 Breathing Methods to Improve Respiratory Function, Reduce Anxiety & Strengthen Your Core

Learning to breathe correctly for daily living and for exercise is one of the most important things you can ever do to improve your health. I have spoken in great detail about this in numerous articles about breathing before, explaining how poor breathing mechanics can disrupt everything from PH balance, emotions and gut health, to posture, core function, and even how well we metabolize our food. Unfortunately, many people remain completely ignorant to learning good breathing techniques and do not even know what good breathing is, yet alone be able to execute it. What is the best technique? Well, just like everything to do with health and fitness there is no one way, or “only” way to do this. There are many different methods and philosophies of how to do this. Some are harder to learn than others, and many have a specific objective or population in mind for teaching the breathing method a particular way. However, the one thing that they all share in common is that you need to significantly slow your breathing rate down and keep your mouth closed. In this article, I will look at several different breathing methods and allow you to decide which version is best suited to you.

CategoriesPosture

Improve Your POSTURE Using This Strength Training Workout

We all know that good posture not only looks good, but also allows the body to move with great efficiency free of pain and compensation. Modern living and technology advancement has made many changes to our lifestyle that makes things much easier, unfortunately, it has also come at a cost to our health and in particular our posture. The introduction of computers and jobs requiring us to sit for long periods and more recently IPAD’s and smart phones that people stare at all day in a flexed and hunched position has seen a rapid rise in postural related injuries. We cannot change this evolution to our lifestyle, but we can begin using exercise as a way to counter the damage created from these daily habits. The exercises to use can vary a lot from person to person as we are all unique in our own way and our postures might differ slightly, but generally there is a common theme to all exercises that promote good posture. And that is – they encourage EXTENSION. In this article, I give you some ideas of what to use and an example of a strength workout you could use to improve your posture and prevent the onset of injury and pain.

CategoriesBeginner Strength Training Workout Strength Training Tips

How To Create A Strength Training Program For A Beginner

A question I am sometimes asked is how do you know where to start with a beginner to strength training. With a beginner you want to assess their current level of movement efficiency to determine where to start. Do you need to help them learn how to move better or are they already moving well and need load to strengthen their body? As you can imagine it is near impossible to have a template that will apply to every person for there are so many variables to consider such as previous injuries, current injuries, what job or sport do they play, health considerations, age etc. What I like to do is use a relatively simple functional movement as the “ideal exercise” for each of the 7 fundamental movement patterns and then either work backwards to a regression if it is too hard or work forwards with a progression if it is too easy.

CategoriesOvertraining Strength Training Methods Strength Training Tips

How Often Should You Change Your Strength Training Workout?

This is a question I am regularly asked, and like many things to do with health and fitness there is no definitive answer that works for everyone. Some people will do better changing workouts regularly, whereas others will see poor results from continual change and need to stick to the same program for a longer period of time. It all depends on the person’s goals, the objective of the workout, and the ability and skill of the person working out. Beginners will often benefit from sticking to the same program for a while and remaining consistent with the same exercises so they can learn from their mistakes. Whereas, more advanced trainers will see better results with more constant change to avoid falling into a plateau. Too much, or too little change can have a negative effect on the training results, so trying to find the perfect balance is important. In this article, I will try to explain how I know when to change the workout and some little tricks to add subtle changes to your workout without changing the whole program.

CategoriesCore Strengthening Infant Development

How To Use Infant Development Exercises With Adults To Strengthen The Core

To truly develop Core Strength and Stability requires a lot more than holding a plank for a few minutes and few thousand crunches. The abdominal wall require a great deal of exercise variation, because they occupy such a large area of your body and are needed in almost every movement you do. In order to get full use you must address upper abs, lower abs, and obliques, and each requires a different type of exercise. The best type of abdominal training you can do, is by using exercises utilizing what is known as the slings of the body which are completed in a standing position that integrate arms and legs together in one simultaneous action. This is where stabilizers and movement based muscles work together in a sequence to produce optimal movement. The problem with this is that sometimes it is too difficult when you have too much pain or weakness so you need to find an easier version. The good news is that there is and the first time you ever learned how to do this was when you were a baby. Before you had strength in your arms and legs to get around you were able to wiggle, roll and crawl which all came from your trunk, or what most people refer to as the core. This is where adults can use infant development exercise to reboot the computer and learn how to use their core again.

CategoriesFalls Prevention Gait Cycle

A Simple Gait Assessment to Use to Identify Risk of a Fall

Without a doubt the most difficult movement to help someone improve is WALKING. The two main problems associated with loss of stability in the gait cycle are smaller stride lengths and a loss of speed. A slowing of neural firing speed, (the brains message to the nerves within muscles for movement) from lack of exercise produces a slower response time for the initiation of movement. To make up for the body’s lost reaction it compensates by slowing everything down and shortening our stride to overcome our lost reflexes and reaction times. In theory this sounds like a good thing, but in reality this sets people up for disastrous accidents. In this article, I will show you some simple tests to use for identifying exactly where your loss of stability is that is affecting how you walk, and how these tests can then become a great exercise for significantly improving your walking ability.

CategoriesNutrition

Amazing Health Benefits From Eating Salmon

Salmon is one of the most nutritious and healthiest foods that we should include in our diet and it is no great surprise that salmon is rated by many as one of the big super-foods. The reason it is rated so highly is that it is loaded with nutrients like Omega 3 that are important for reducing risk factors with several diseases. But it is not just its health benefits that attracts many people, it is also a very tasty fish, easy to cook, and versatile in that it can be enjoyed for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.