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Live a healthy life

I was having dinner with my Bachan (grandma in Japanese) and she gave me some advice for living a long, healthy life:

1)   Walk at least 15 minutes every day

2)   Eat reasonably healthily

3)   Surround yourself with friends and family

4)   Remember to laugh

I couldn’t agree with her more but it got me to thinking what advice would I give to my patients to encourage them to live a healthy life.  Although it partly comes down to genes, whatever genes you inherited, living a healthy life starts now.  The best advice is look after your body now – this can be achieved in 3 simple steps:

Don’t overdo it

Too many injuries come from patients deciding to start something they have never done before and go at it full blast eg run a marathon, take up zumba or even begin knitting.  It doesn’t mean you can’t do these things, it just means when you decide to change your activity do so gradually, pacing yourself rather than go at it like a bull to a china store.

Manage your problem areas

Everyone has one, whether it is dodgy knees, a back injury or sore shoulders.  It is important to continue to maintain your aches and pains and injured areas.  Just like you get a haircut, equally your joints and muscles need maintenance.  It doesn’t take long- only a few easy exercises every day and you’re on your way.  And every once in a while you may require a physio appointment or massage…go on reward yourself.

Remember the simple things

It doesn’t all have to be hard work.  A lot of injuries, aches and pains can be avoided by remembering the simple things.  So think about the way you lift something heavy next time.  Remember to warm up before sprinting onto the soccer field, maintain good sitting and standing posture and stretch after a run.

Tips on maintaining good posture

I recently had the opportunity to write an article for Weight Watchers Magazine.  It is fantastic that physiotherapists can offer advice to the general public through such a medium.  With so many patients complaining of back and neck pain from the way they stand and sit it is great to be able to offer insight into ways to combat poor posture.  To expand on the article here is more advice on adopting good posture:

What is the number one thing most people are doing wrong when it comes to their posture?

The number one thing people do wrong when correcting their posture is to overcorrect.  Straightening up does not involve forcing a straight position which can result in muscles overworking and eventually resulting in pain.  Good posture involves drawing up tall using your core muscles.

What are some great preventative tips, to ensure your posture is up to scratch?

It’s not too late to change your posture just follow these simple tips to ensure your posture is up to scratch:

1) Bring your feet parallel, not turned out, and about hip width apart with weight evenly distributed.

2) Reach up through the top of your head, feeling your spine lengthen, getting tall.  Remember not to overcorrect.

3) Bring your pelvis into a neutral position.  This means making sure its level, not sloping to one side and there is a slight natural curve in the small of your back (make sure you haven’t resulted in a “sway back”) and your tummy muscles are gently drawn inwards

4) Draw your shoulders back and relax them down.

5) Level your chin, keeping your head directly over the spot between your shoulders, not forward or back.

Lastly it is important to repetitively evaluate your position to continue to remind yourself of good posture.

What’s something about posture that most people don’t realise?

Posture should be effortless.  It involves your core muscles (the deep tummy muscles, the small spine muscles and the deep neck flexors) working at only 25-30% effort all day.  If you are working hard to stay up straight chances are you are using the big moving muscles to hold you straight.  This results in these muscles overworking and is one of the reasons why people complain of lower back pain and shoulder/neck pain.

Physiotherapy and Pilates at Physio On Miller in Cammeray

It’s been an exciting start to Physio On Miller with plenty of interest in the new practice and Pilates classes.  It was great fun designing and fitting out the practice especially the treatment rooms and Pilates studio.  All along it was important to create a practice that was modern and provided clients with privacy and comfort.  We feel that we have achieved this and are so happy with the response so far.

If you are injured and requiring a physiotherapy appointment or want to join in our Pilates classes to prevent any injuries please contact us or feel free to pop in and have a look around.