By Angel Choi Injury prevention • Sport performance • Sports injuries 0 Comments

The No.1 Injury Prevention Strategy – Mechanical stress: Friend or Foe?

It is around this time of year – approx. 6 to 8 weeks after implementing our New Year’s resolution to “get fit” – that injury is often experienced.  “I was exercising so well, why did I get injured?” is a question often asked when clients come in to see us at InTouch Physiotherapy. The answer is encompassed in your exercise LOAD and why it can be your best friend or worst enemy.

LOAD = MECHANICAL STRESS + physiological stress (I will talk about physiological stress in another post)

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By Angel Choi Exercise • Injury prevention • Knee Injuries • Muscles • Physiotherapy tips • Ski • Sport performance • Sports injuries 0 Comments

What exercises are good for skiing?

Exercise good for ski

Prepare your body for skiing and snowboarding

This exercise routine should be effective if done regularly. We usually recommend three times a week. Don’t hesitate to come in if you are not sure about what to do to get fit for skiing and general advice on how to prevent skiing injuries.

Watch out the exercise demos by our physiotherapist – Paul:
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By Angel Choi Exercise • Hip • Injury prevention • Muscles • Physiotherapy tips • Sport performance • Sports injuries • Yoga 0 Comments

Hip opening sequence for pain-free yoga practice

Do you ever experience pain in your back while doing back bending poses (eg. upward dog, wheel)? Or knee pain while doing a lotus pose?

It may not be your back or your knees that give you the sharp pain, but instead one of the common causes is due to the tightness in your hip and buttock muscles (gluteus, piriformis, tensor fascia latae). The reason is that when you are doing a back bending with tight glutes, the mobility of the pelvis and the lower back decrease leading to a “blocking” in the lower back. On the other hand, if you try to get into a lotus pose with tight glutes, you may tend to rotate from your knees instead of from your hips, which may cause a twist or sprain in your knees. Read more

By Angel Choi Back pain • Exercise • Muscles • Physiotherapy tips • Short and long-term pain • Sport performance • Sports injuries • Yoga 0 Comments

Is it normal to have pain in yoga?

Is it Normal To Have Pain In Yoga?While some hold the belief of “No pain no gain”, when experiencing discomfort, it is important for yogis to be able to differentiate between the good and bad pain. Good pain includes the feeling of tightness while stretching and muscle soreness which usually presents 24 to 72 hours after practising yoga. Good pain is usually short-lived and will gradually disappear. On the other hand, bad pain includes sharp pain or a feeling of numbness. It may indicate an underlying injury, for instance, muscles strain, ligaments sprain or other structural damage. A bad pain signals you to stop putting yourself in danger. However, it does not means that you need to stop practising yoga at all. Read more

By In Touch Physiotherapy Back pain • Exercise • Knee Injuries • Muscles • Physiotherapy tips • Short and long-term pain • Shoulder • Sport performance • Sports injuries • tendon • wrist injuries 0 Comments

To CrossFit or not to CrossFit?

That is the question that regularly pops up during our Physiotherapy sessions from clients.

CrossFit (CF) is a workout methodology created by former gymnast Greg Glassman in 2001. It consists of a variety of exercises such as Olympic-like lifts, cardio training and multi-joint movements (like box jumps, pull-ups and jumping rope). This method of training and community has exploded worldwide over the last ten years and definitely in the last 5 in Singapore. This can be reflected by the amounts of CF ‘boxes’ which have propped up in Singapore and a number of people we encounter in the clinic who are now doing CF. Read more

By In Touch Physiotherapy Exercise • Injury prevention • Muscles • Sport performance • Sports injuries 0 Comments

Calf Strains

The soleus and gastrocnemius muscles make up the calf complex or ‘baby cow’ as it’s sometimes called. Calf strains are quite a common injury that we see in the clinic. These can occur during sprinting (such as running after a loose ball in soccer), during a strong push or drive movement (such as scrumming in Rugby), and also due to jumping and landing (such as in netball or basketball). Small grade 1 strains take 10-21 days to settle down, grade 2 injuries about 3-5 weeks and bigger grade 3 with muscle retraction (common) can take closer to 8 weeks to recover.

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