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Flexibility Two – Self Myofascial Release

Mon, 15 Sep 2014 11:39:39 +0100

This feature follows the previous article on the importance of flexibility, which highlighted the necessity of maintaining the body’s range of motion, optimal alignment and length tension relationships through stretching. However, due to the vigour’s of life, be it intense sport or exercise, impact, prolonged and repeated poor posture or faulty movement patterns, our muscles often develop knots and adhesions within the fibers. Once this has happened the fibers ability to extend and slide in their normal channels is reduced, thus compromising flexibility along with fiber recruitment and force production.

If the muscle has entered this knotted state then the stretching approach is unlikely to yield significant results. With the muscle fibers glued down and matted together, the affected areas will be unchanged by the application of stretching, this will simply cause the healthy, un-adhered fibers to extend. So what can you do when a fiber is knotted to return it to its correct length?

Most of us are familiar with the benefits of massage, some of us are experienced in the pain/rewards of a deep tissue sports massage. But are you familiar with Self Myofascial release (SMR)? Massage techniques generally release tension from muscles by techniques such as trigger pointing, which attacks knots, adhesions and scar tissue in the muscle. This unwanted tension can build-up unnoticed and cause the muscles to work inefficiently, cause pain, restrict movement and overload other areas of the body.

SMR uses foam rolls and other tools to attack knotted areas of muscle in order to breakdown the adhesion's and release tension, reduce pain and improve function. Based on proven trigger pointing technique, it can be an extremely effective tool, if a little uncomfortable during the rolling. Just remember though, if you find a tender spot, you really need to do this exercise. Don’t think “it hurts a bit, so I won’t do anymore”! It will get easier and the benefits can be enormous. Besides it will cost you a lot less than a Physio and you control the intensity of the sensation, not someone else! Flexibility can be vastly improved when stretching alone will fail, muscles will function better making you stronger and pain, injury and the potential for these can be reduced.

Although it is beyond the scope of this article to provide in-depth techniques for the application of SMR, some general rules are as follows:

Always ensure you maintain decent posture and alignment when rolling any areas of the body. I say decent as perfect is probably not achievable, especially when try to roll some tricky areas, so decent is acceptable.
When supporting the body on elbows or hand, keep the point of contact with the floor aligned with the shoulder. This will reduce stress on the shoulder, allowing you to hold position for longer and ensure you’re not adding a shoulder injury to your list.
Always ensure you engage your core when performing the rolling. This works in combination with decent posture so you cause yourself any issues while rolling.
The tight and tender spots are where attention should be focused. Once you've pinpointed a tender area hold the pressure on that spot for 10 – 30 seconds, or until the discomfort has reduced by half, then move on to another area.

If you are unsure of the approach for applying SMR to any part of the body or require further advice and assistance, you should speak to a trained fitness professional. There are several techniques that can be applied to SMR and a fitness professional will ensure you use the most appropriate and effective method, target the right areas for rolling and work on strengthening the weak, elongated fibers that you probably also have in opposing muscle groups.

Coconut Oil

Mon, 15 Sep 2014 20:25:20 +0100

Coconut oil has been shown to be a superior choice when it comes to cooking oils. Its medium chain saturated fatty acids are able to be quickly metabolised for energy in the liver. As a saturated fat it is more heat stable than other oils, when used in cooking it produces far less free radicals, which harm the body. It has also been shown to boost metabolism.

The link below has a little more info if you're interested.
http://bit.ly/1cptWwj

The Importance of Flexibility

Mon, 08 Sep 2014 15:50:02 +0100

Flexibility is probably the most overlooked and under rated component of fitness. Without the appropriate levels of flexibility we compromise our movement, making it less efficient and miss out on training vital ranges of motion in our bodies. Restricted flexibility opens us up to compensatory movement patterns and increased risk of injury. If we do not train the body to work through full ranges of movement, what happens when life dictates we go there? Reduced performance and injury.

Injuries aside, the length tension relationships of our muscles affect their ability to generate force and shortened muscles distort posture by pulling our bones and joints out of shape (lordosis anyone?). This can have a knock-on effect on the nervous system (a major control mechanism), further reducing function, proprioception, muscle force development and increasing injury potential.

Therefore, to be as strong, fast and fit as our bodies could be, we must ensure flexibility is addressed and the body is working efficiently. What if you could improve your strength, power and endurance without training at higher intensities and busting your gut, but simply by applying appropriate flexibility training to your programme? The good news is most of us can.

There are many forms of flexibility training including static, dynamic, PNF and ballistic. What works best is specific to the individual, but generally speaking you should stretch the body in positions that resemble those which are restricted, or the movement you want to improve, and include some dynamic work. There is a difference between what our bodies can achieve in a static position and when movement is required.

As long as you are safe in your approach, any flexibility training is better than doing nothing, so chose an approach and exercises you are competent in performing and get stretching. If you require more help to achieve results, visit a fitness professional who can assess limitations, identify the correct areas to be stretched, methods to be applied and teach you how to maintain your own body.

The Tough Mudder Team

Mon, 08 Sep 2014 15:50:24 +0100

A big well done to the Tough Mudder team who took on the challenge on Sunday!

Everyone completed the grueling 12 mile course and its challenging obstacles and even managed to enjoy it.

To see more pictures from the day click the link below:

http://healthandperformance.yolasite.com/picture-gallery

Intensity not Duration

Mon, 08 Sep 2014 15:50:54 +0100

The good news about your training programme is that it really need not be a lengthy affair that requires large chunks of your day and great patience to remain in the gym for extended periods.

Generally speaking, a more important factor in your training than the overall duration is the intensity at which you train. Pushing harder and raising the intensity means you can get the job done in a relatively short period of time.

This approach works for a variety of programme designs covering pretty much any training goal. If you want to improve your aerobic fitness, think about using interval training at a high intensity. This will increase your speed and muscle resistance to fatigue as well as your aerobic endurance, so more bang for your buck! If you are new to this type of training you may prefer to start with longer, aerobic intervals.

If you are focused on weight loss the same approach is more effective than conventional long slow training. You will burn more energy while training and leave your body in a higher gear, burning more calories for many hours (potentially a whole day) after training finishes. Plus you’ll see much better fitness improvements with this method.

Remember, more volume is not necessarily better and can lead to a degradation in training and results. Work hard, go home.

Health & Performance Blog

Mon, 08 Sep 2014 15:34:06 +0100

Welcome to the Health & Performance personal training blog. Here you will find information and tips on a wide range of health and exercise related topics including exercise tips, nutritional advice and programming knowledge.