Why is there a big push towards dynamic stretching before exercise?

shutterstock_461974852Dynamic warm up/stretching mimics movements used in the sport or activity ahead. Dynamic warm up/stretching prepares the body for activity, and means your body is continuously moving even whilst stretching.

There has been a shift from static stretching before exercise, to dynamic stretching before exercise, with static stretching thought to have some negative effects on the exercise/sport to follow, such as reducing muscle strength, reducing muscle power and reducing explosive muscle performance.

So why the shift towards dynamic warm up/ stretching before exercise?

Dynamic warm up/stretching has a number of pre-workout benefits such as:

  • Elevating your heart rate;
  • Increasing your body temperature;
  • And stimulating your nervous system enhancing mind-muscle connection.

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Self remedy tips for plantar fasciitis

shutterstock_117796435Plantar fasciitis or more appropriately termed plantar fasciopathy, is a common condition in the foot causing pain in the arch and/or heel. The plantar fascia is a thick fibrous band of tissue that runs from the heel to the toes and forms the arch of your foot acting as a natural shock absorber for the foot. Due to the nature of this fibrous tissue, it is not very elastic and limited in its capacity to stretch and elongate, thus with too much traction on the plantar fascia microtearing will occur.   Read more

Pain in the ball of your foot – Morton’s neuroma

shutterstock_131393606Morton’s neuroma is a painful condition that affects the ball of your foot, and often feels like there is something in the ball of the foot, or that there is something in the shoe bunched up.

This nueroma is a thickening of the nerve tissue most commonly occurring between the third and fourth matatarsals (long bones in the foot), and occasionally between the second and third metatarsals. Involves a perineural fibrosis, where over time the sheath surrounding the nerve becomes irritated, inflamed and forms a thickened scar tissue around one of the nerves leading to your toes. Read more

Marathon Tips

image006With the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon fast approaching, this is usually around the time we start to see injuries trickle into the clinic, where people are madly ramping up their mileage each week to ensure they are on target with their training plan or catching up for lost time and simply haven’t had the chance to train as planned.

With several other running events across Asia which happen all year round, here are some handy hints for distance running, injury prevention and enhancing performance.

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Common muscle imbalance seen at the hip / pelvis – Tensor Fascia Lata (TFL) dominates Gluteus Medius (Glut Med)

clam-exercise

It is common to observe this muscle imbalance by watching someone walking, running, standing on one leg, single leg squat or walking lunge. Common observations of someone with a tight TFL will be an increased anterior tilt of the pelvis, internally rotated femur leading to medial knee position, dropped opposite side of the pelvis “Trendelenburg” sign. TFL length may be reduced. Glut med strength will commonly be decreased due to inhibition of this muscle with an overactive TFL.

 

 

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Can physiotherapy relieve your headaches?

headacheThe upper neck can play a role in a variety of headaches, both in tension headaches and migraines. Physiotherapists can help identify if your headache is coming from the neck and whether physiotherapy is something that may help relieve the symptoms and prevent future onset. They are also able to refer you onto other practitioners whom may assist with determining where the headaches are coming from, for example, a neurologist, or an eye specialist to have your eyes checked which may be a contributing factor to your headaches.

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