Sports Injury Rehabilitation
Sports Injury & Rehabilitation. Many clients have come to me with painful wrists, knees and elbows. I've helped them strengthen the muscles around these areas which in turn has given them confidence to complete everyday tasks which were once prohibitive. (Click to see Ann's Testimonial) I'll design a programme which will help strengthen the muscles around the affected area carrying tension away from the joint. This means the muscle will now be doing the lifting, not the joint, making you feel great!
Resistance bands and various weight training exercises can be used for rehabilitation work. No matter what the injury there's always a way of training round it and I can always design a programme for you which means we avoid the affected area but can keep burning off the calories!
Your lower back is the most important part of your body to strengthen to help prevent future injuries and discomfort. This is because the weight of your upper body always pivots upon it. So if it is weak or used extensively without being strengthened it will start to ache and injuries could occur. If you are standing up and are bent over all day you may develop back pain and aches in later life. I am sure you or someone you know will have experienced back pain at some time in your or their lives. This is not, however, a large problem, even though it may seem like it is! Here you need to do the opposite of what you may think is the correct course of action and that is to work and exercise this weak area. All we need to do is strengthen the lower back using back extensions or various types of deadlifts. I guarantee if you strengthen this area the majority of your aches will cease and you will feel absolutely amazing! So thats no more troubles with sleeping or aches after long drives!
Strengthening your lower back will also assist with the correct execution of other exercises leading to the development of stronger muscles all over the body. This is because core stability will hold your body in correct form. You want to build solid foundations, i.e. your lower back, and then start to strengthen the rest of your body around this area, just like building a house! Combining lower back work outs with upper back work outs, as it is very important to strengthen the upper back also, will help correct your posture for the ultimate feel good feeling.
The cause of lower back pain may not be the back at all. It is very common for muscles to tighten in the top of your glutes which then trap nerves. These trapped nerves send the feeling of referred pain up your back or down your leg i.e. sciatica. Again, there is a simple solution and again it is the opposite of what you may think. Like I said before the worst thing you can do is do nothing. The best treatment is to move and stretch and not to sit down on the sofa. If you sit down and rest the tight muscles will tighten further and trap the nerves even more. That is why back pain always feels worse when you first get out of bed or when you drive your car or sit for a long time. The quickest and most effective treatment for this 'back' pain is a deep tissue or, otherwise called, sports massage. Here I will push my thumbs into certain trigger points in the affected area to release and relax the muscle. When the muscle relaxes it will lift off the nerve and the pain will stop. This is a very quick solution and I will always do this free of charge for my clients. It is also a great solution as it means you do not need to take any pills or medication, which will only mask the symptoms instead of treating the cause. Medication will only offer short term relief and the pain will still be there when it wears off! Medication, in this instance, will only treat the symptom and not the cause! Sometimes the muscle will have gone into spasm and the best treatment to use here, as when sometimes treating pulled and strained muscles, is hold a bag of frozen veg or ice on the area for 15 minutes, 3 times a day! You will see me push my thumbs into my own hips and glutes all the time, as my muscles tighten sometimes too, as I want the aches to be relieved quickly so that I can get back to training! I guarantee this will help and have had many satisfied and amazed clients!
After the back the second most important part of the body to strengthen to prevent future serious injury and discomfort are the rotator cuff muscles. These are four internal shoulder muscles that stop the shoulder from dislocating. Many people neglect to train these muscles and injuries, such as supraspinatus tendinitis, can occur if they are weak, for example, when bench pressing. It is very important to strengthen these muscles, through internal/external rotation exercises, if you play racket sports, like tennis, golf or box. You will see top professionals completing rotator cuff exercises. If you are already injured in this area I will help you get back to form. I will leave off exercises that aggravate this area, like bench press and any exercises that are completed past 90 degrees, and work the rotator cuffs lightly with dumbbells. I guarantee this will help relieve any shoulder pains especially if you have pain from working long hours on the telephone!
The same deep tissue massage, and various other techniques, can be applied to any muscles around the body that you may pull or that feel tight. I can free them up for you so we can keep training and you go can go about your day pain free. Also, stretching is very useful to relieve tight muscles. I can help you with this too, either at the beginning or at the end of your session, so when you are finished in the shower you will feel like a million dollars!
No matter what your issues are you, will benefit from 1 to 1 training far more than participating in a class. This is because I can design an individualised program based around your specific requirements.