Rowers – danger to career….

Safe and efficient rowing requires the whole body to be in correct alignment. When I have watched international rowers during competitions, I have winced at how badly some of them use their bodies! Whilst this may not affect their immediate performance, it will most certainly cut short their international careers.

For this practitioner, the most important part that needs to be correctly aligned is the back. It needs to stay upright for as long as possible during the stroke – this video explains correct alignment throughout the stroke. Watch this video of Sir Steve Regrave and Matthew Pincent to see how well these Olympians use their back. In addition to preventing back pain, this keeps the chest open, allowing the lungs to expand and provide much needed oxygen to fuel the body and produce the effort. It is not uncommon to find rowers with stress fracture of the ribs caused by undue strain. Getting this diagnosed and treated appropriately is essential.

Other areas to be looked at are the legs and arms – again the correct technique will help to prevent injury.

For Sweepers, the one sided nature of their stroke immediately creates an imbalance in the body; my suggestion to all sportspeople whose sport only uses 1 side is to stretch and use the other side during warm ups; if this is not acceptable or possible, then ensuring the ‘unused’ side is developed alongside the used one in the gym is essential.

To prevent injuries then, rowers should

• Make sure their technique is correct
• Warm up and warm down appropriately
• Do some crosss training to make sure the whole body is balanced
• Have a body work session, including deep tissue massage, pre and post session

Here is a testimonial from Rower – Justin Savage, an ex GB rower who was treated by FiXme for his lower back problems.

If you need help, give me a shout 0n 0118 9261464 or 07878 148 229

Today sees the start of Samsung Cycle week. This is the story of how my client, Chris and I worked together to ensure that he, who had never cycled before, could cycle all the way, injury free, from London to Paris. The time we had to get this done: 3 months! Chris never does anything by halves….

So we set to work. Chris is a very busy executive, at times working up to 90hrs/ week. Thankfully, he also believes in having some recreation time and this was when he was going to train for the bike ride.

Here is the Testimonial from Chris Heath telling the story from his point of view.

My treatment protocol consisted of the following:

• Releasing tightness in his entire body using different massage techniques and stretching. He found this painful to start off with because all those hours he spent sitting in boardrooms, aeroplanes and airport lounges had significantly shortened his hamstrings, which was causing further tightness in his back. He also had a habit of nodding off on planes and on the settee whilst watching TV – hardly surprising after an exhausting 90hr week! So I spent many an hour releasing his neck and shoulder muscles
• Realigning his spine and pelvis – Chris had a rugby injury when young and one of his legs was a good inch shorter than the other as a result. Unfortunately, unbelievable as it sounds, no other practitioner he had consulted in the past, had spotted this or recommended he have a corrective orthotic inserted. I recommended he get one urgently. 30 years of limping had caused serious tightness in one side of his body, which needed to be corrected but without the devices in his shoes to maintain this levelling, it was pointless. So Chris got the required orthotic in his shoe and the effect was fantastic.
• Stretching – I devised some specific stretches for Chris to do on a regular basis, including stretching his neck, shoulders, arms, hands and fingers whilst stationary at traffic lights. His fellow bikers looked on incredulously but he insisted he had to do his ‘Diksha stretches’…
• Mobilising his own healing – whilst practitioners of Western medicine believe they are the ones who ‘cure’ the problem/disease, complimentary practitioners like myself believe firstly, that there is no such thing as ‘cure’, it is all maintenance of health and secondly, the body heals itself if the balance within the body can be restored.

Challenge weekend dawned and off Chris went. Suffice to say I was on tender hooks all weekend because Chris had invested me with his trust and an enormous responsibility and I didn’t want to let him down.

My worrying was pointless: upon his return, Chris told me that he was so ecstatic on having completed this gruelling ride without any injury that he went around the Arc de Triumph one extra time to consolidate his achievement! Well done Chris!

Simple attention to detail, a holistic approach and good quality massage, coupled with realignment treatment, can be very effective in restoring health to the body and once balance is in place, well, anything is possible…and injuries can be kept at bay…

So if you are a competitive cyclist or a fair weather cyclist, make sure you do some stretches to keep yourself flexible and let me know if you need some specific help….

This week is Men’s Health Week as well as Fathers’ Day so I thought I’d write about something that is common to both: Back Pain:

Back pain is an unspoken epidemic – 80% of the population will at some point in time experience it. It has become such a common occurrence like the common cold, that people have accepted it as being part of their normal life. I treat as many men as women with back pain but what I find is men tend to be reluctant to get it sorted: their machismo kicks in and they suffer in silence. Finally, their wives/partners will give them ultimatums, evening making the appointment with their GP! The doctor will prescribe painkillers of increasing strength. When it worsens, she/he will send them for physiotherapy, then x-ray, then more painkillers (even steroids!) and more physiotherapy until their life gets seriously affected by it, by which time they are told only surgery will do or they must just learn to live with the pain. This is what I was told: http://ow.ly/bzqpJ

BUT it doesn’t need to be this way. There are other options:

Mattress: if Man complains of back ache first thing in the morning, it is worth suggesting he check the mattress – a replacement mattress is called for if his is more than 10yrs old; a decent memory foam pillow will also aid a restful night’s sleep

Car: If he drives long distances, his car seat must be set up correctly or his back will definitely suffer: check these out for some information – http://ow.ly/bzrQ5 and http://ow.ly/bzrYT

Computer work: If Man spends long hours in front of a computer at the office, suggest that he has a workstation assessment (known as DSE Assessment) carried out and a decent Ergonomic chair if his current one is not supportive enough. Check this out for all information relating to safe computer use: http://ow.ly/bzs1Q

Recreational activities: if Man likes golf/running/cycling/gardening on the weekend then he has to ensure his:

• equipment is suitable, be those clubs, irons, bike seat or running shoes
• technique is correct – get help from a pro if needed
• body is prepared for the sport by doing some stretches and warm ups

Finally: STRESS is a big factor in everyone’s life so make sure Man gets a monthly, de-stressing deep tissue massage from a reputed therapist.

Why don’t you gift him one from FiXme? He will NOT be disappointed!

Happy Fathers’ Day!

This week is Men’s Health Week as well as Fathers’ Day so I thought I’d write about something that is common to both: Back Pain:

Back pain is an unspoken epidemic – 80% of the population will at some point in time experience it. It has become such a common occurrence like the common cold, that people have accepted it as being part of their normal life. I treat as many men as women with back pain but what I find is men tend to be reluctant to get it sorted: their machismo kicks in and they suffer in silence. Finally, their wives/partners will give them ultimatums, evening making the appointment with their GP! The doctor will prescribe painkillers of increasing strength. When it worsens, she/he will send them for physiotherapy, then x-ray, then more painkillers (even steroids!) and more physiotherapy until their life gets seriously affected by it, by which time they are told only surgery will do or they must just learn to live with the pain. This is what I was told: http://ow.ly/bzqpJ

BUT it doesn’t need to be this way. There are other options:

Mattress: if Man complains of back ache first thing in the morning, it is worth suggesting he check the mattress – a replacement mattress is called for if his is more than 10yrs old; a decent memory foam pillow will also aid a restful night’s sleep

Car: If he drives long distances, his car seat must be set up correctly or his back will definitely suffer: check these out for some information – http://ow.ly/bzrQ5 and http://ow.ly/bzrYT

Computer work: If Man spends long hours in front of a computer at the office, suggest that he has a workstation assessment (known as DSE Assessment) carried out and a decent Ergonomic chair if his current one is not supportive enough. Check this out for all information relating to safe computer use: http://ow.ly/bzs1Q

Recreational activities: if Man likes golf/running/cycling/gardening on the weekend then he has to ensure his:

• equipment is suitable, be those clubs, irons, bike seat or running shoes
• technique is correct – get help from a pro if needed
• body is prepared for the sport by doing some stretches and warm ups

Finally: STRESS is a big factor in everyone’s life so make sure Man gets a monthly, de-stressing deep tissue massage from a reputed therapist.

Why don’t you gift him one from FiXme? He will NOT be disappointed!

Happy Fathers’ Day!