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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Lucie’s Tips: Safe exercises for pregnant women

Safe exercises for pregnant women1. Sitting Glut Stretch

Key benefits: It’s a great stretch to loosen up the hips and lower back.
1. Sit on a chair and cross one leg over the other.
2. Keep your back straight and lean forward at the hips.
3. Try to hold for 30 seconds and repeat on the other side.
4. This can be done as often as you would like.
This might prove more difficult later on when the bump gets bigger and in the way.

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Q&A with Physio: Women’s Health Physiotherapy

Q: I am a regular runner and for years, every time I run I leak some urine – this never happens otherwise. Can this be treated?
Lucie: Yes. This is much more common than you think. It happens to many women when they jog, do heavy weights, during cross-fit or even when pushing their pram up a hill. It can occur in BOTH women who have and those who haven’t had children. It is usually due to a weakness or a confusion of the bladder. I can help in diagnosing the cause of this and effectively plan how to resolve the issue.

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Pregnancy Exercise and Physiotherapy – some key benefits (Part 1)

shutterstock_405029551So many soon to be mums are unsure about exercising in pregnancy and what they can do safely in pregnancy.

Pregnancy can cause havoc on the body with extra weight that the muscles and joints have to handle, the associated hormones which have an affect on ligaments becoming more flexible and more pressure on joints due to the loss of ligament support, plus changes to our centre of gravity, just to name a few!

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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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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