Healthy Flexible Hamstrings
March 29, 2012
In my practice, I have noticed a lot of clients with tight Hamstrings. Many clients that I train have had this issue and it does affect training progress as it boils down to proper technique.
The cause of this could be many and varied depending on the person so many questions need to be asked in order to determine the cause. Fixing the problem at this stage is not nearly as good as going to the source of the problem and that is changing habits and lifestyle.
Posture could affect the tightness of the hamys. A posterior tilt of the pelvis will contract the gluteus and the hamys causing a flat back. This unstable posture if loaded will without a doubt cause an injury. Certain work and lifestyles could cause a tightening of these muscles which in turn could affect how a person moves and exercises.
As manly as it would seem, stretching muscles in your body is no longer perceived as a wussy thing to do, alas it is a necessity to ensure the elastic health of your muscles. An athlete or regular exerciser who does not stretch will miss out on numerous benefits of stretching including speedier recovery from workouts, improved muscle fiber alignment, improved performance and also reduced D.O.M.S.
Knowing the anatomy of the hamstrings is vital in performing a highly effective stretch. The hamstrings are made up of three different muscles, the biceps femoris, semi membranous and the semi tendinosus. All three originate from the ishial tuberosity and attach into the tibia and fibula. The ishial tuberosities are the sit bones you sit on.
Place your foot on the bench. Next you want to bend your knees slightly. I find that this tends to stretch the belly of the hamstrings better than having legs straight.
Anterior tilting your pelvis will increase the distance from the origins and insertions and initiate the stretch of this group.
Lift your ribs up keep your spine upright, do not bend or forward flex the trunk, engage transverse abdominals and shift the trunk and pelvis forward a little more. This action will increase the torque on the anterior tilt and more of the stretch. By now you should be feeling a really violent stretch.
The next step, if you would like to apply even more of a stretch is to gently place pressure on the femur close to the knee cap. Be sure to not exert force on the knee cap itself as it could cause you pain and discomfort. You could also do a P.N.F. Sequence at this point.
Always remember to hold your stretches for a minimum of 8 seconds to get the most of your stretches. Any less than that and you may not be getting any benefits of the stretch at all.
Pedometers and Your Weight
April 10, 2011
A pedometer will measure the number of steps that you take in a day. It is a small gadget that you can clip on to your pants or slip into your pocket and measures the movements or vibrations from the steps that you take.
Ideally they should sit around the side of your hip where the vibrations are felt the most. When you look at just 1 step, the average around 50cm or less, 10,000 will mean walking about 5km.
The Queensland Government has started a steps movement of 10,000 Steps
The idea is to get everyone to take 10000 steps in a day. Now for many of us that can be very difficult if you are seated at the computer and expected to stay there. If you do move around, then you will be seen as not working or being unproductive.
Here are some tips to help get you moving a little further than usual so that you can hit your 10000 steps:
- Build up to the volume gradually. Pushing 10k steps tomorrow if you have not done any volume like this for a while is silly.
- Park a little further away. Choose a carpark that is further away, it will probably be cheaper and you may be able to clock a couple of hundred steps here.
- Park your car at the top of the carpark. Use the stairs to get down. This would add at least a hundred more steps and possibly work a bit more sweat.
- Find a toilet that is on another level in your building and utilise those toilet breaks to get at least >20 steps.
- Walk at a relatively fast pace, do strolls or wondering. Really get your body moving.
- Do not take large steps. take smaller, faster steps, engage all your muscles in your lower legs when walking.
- Lump sum steps can be done in about 30-60 minutes if do not manage any during the day.
Is it really enough? Can you be healthy at 10,000 steps or 5km? Chances are you will be struggling to hit 10k steps a day, but it is about all the little excuses you can give yourself to make yourself walk just a little further each and every day.
A habitual change is always difficult, but it is really about the conditioning for that new change which would make it all worthwhile in the end.
Pedometers are very cheap to purchase. Make sure though that it does measure the exact number of steps as there are dodgy ones that could register more steps that you are actually taking.
Get yourself a pedometer and get walking!
What is Fitness Training?
June 22, 2010
Fitness Training should be a joy and your getaway time from the grind of the day. It is a sacred time for you to focus solely on yourself. Bodily fitness is being able to deal with and handle the daily stresses of life, good physical and mental health, especially when maintained by proper diet, exercise, and habits.
If you have not figured it out yet, fitness training and personal fitness is the key to longevity. It will keep your body in high performance and it will guard against any preventative diseases that are large killers of society today.
Of course the only way to start with your personal fitness, one needs to start moving and exercising more. Yes this will mean a little bit of sweat and effort, but hey we as a human race were born to move and never to sit down and push buttons.
Your personal fitness is more than just being aware, it is about implementation into life and getting out there doing it instead of knowing about it. Plan it, put it into your planner and make it happen.
Fitness training is everywhere now. There are many large gyms with all the glitz and glamor and there are also the small private gyms that are more results focused. And then there are the community halls with group classes. No matter how you are going to do it, there is no real answer of what works best except for what works for you instead.
The message is simple. Get out there and keep moving. Your body will love you for it. Rekindle your love affair with your own body.
Team Exfx
The Effects of Exercise
May 23, 2010
What can Exercise do for you? Well, get your pop corn and get ready for a long 3 hour epic. I won’t bore you with all the details, but because I am so passionate about it, I will scratch the surface a little bit for you.
Depending on your current situation, exercise will
- Reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, arthritis.
- Improves your cardiovascular fitness.
- Improves metabolism which will reduce your risk of being overweight.
- Increases endorphin release.
- Improve your productivity
This simple activity is becoming more and more scarce with the way our society is changing. We were designed to move, hunt and gather. Today we mostly sit, push buttons and walk to the supermarkets for our foods.
All the diseases mentioned in the first point are classed as diseases that can be prevented if we only changed our lifestyles. Sedentary-ness, malnutrition, lifestyle and sometimes genetics are possible factors of how we develop these dangerous and deadly diseases that are claiming many lives by the hour. All of which can be fixed with a little bit of a lifestyle adjustment and a bit of exercise.
The Department of Health has a Find Thirty Everyday campaign that recommends for a 30 minute activity everyday. In an attempt to get the public moving and more active again. The message is clear. We are not moving or getting active enough. But is it really enough to get us losing the weight? Probably not. But it is a good start.
Metabolism is a fantastic thing. It is the amount of energy needed to keep your body running or you alive. There are many factors that can affect your metabolism. Learn how to maximise your energy burning potential by raising your basal metabolic rate. I will cover this in another blog post later on down the track.
As a fitness professional, we have probably heard of the many excuses or barriers put up by folk who do not want to exercise. These may be because exercise is too hard to do, hurts too much, do not have time for it, it costs too much, the trainers yell too much, the exercises they make me do are too difficult and the best of the lot, just could not be bothered. These are all lame excuses. They do not work anymore and the only person you are kidding is yourself. Sedentary folk need to understand that there is a problem, realize that there is and take the appropriate action.
Everyone needs to exercise. No matter where you come from, what sort of lifestyle you may have, cut the ridiculous and get exercising.
Are You Fit?
January 23, 2010
Fitness refers to ability of the body to function with vigor and alertness. But do we know if we are really fit? How do we tell?
You might want to look at your exercise habits, if there are any. If there aren’t any exercise routines to examine, no fitness. Everyone, no matter what their age, benefits from exercise. It keeps our bodies conditioned, our mental sharpness working at top speed, and thanks to the physical aspect, we get a boost to our cardio health, extra calorie burn, and more oxygen to those cells!
Fitness requires us to examine more than just our exercise routine. The mere definition of fitness refers to the body’s ability to meet physical stresses. That includes coping with our day to day life, getting from the beginning of the day to the end, without being worn completely out. In order to be truly fit, we find ways to rid ourselves of built up stress, the kind that begins to affect our muscles, muscle tone, and composition.
Everyone should aim at performing exercises that are the optimal for improving your level of fitness and increasing your functional strength effectively. Some popular activities that increase cardiovascular fitness include running, swimming, jogging, dancing, cycling, and very brisk walking. Of the examples provided, walking seems to be the most popular Australian activity although; its intensity is nowhere near enough to raise your basic metabolic rate significantly over a longer term.
Functional Strength is the strength to perform daily tasks that incorporate a select range of muscles including pulling, pushing and lifting. Functional strength requires specific functional training with weights that will improve the balance and harmony of your muscles and allow you to move a weight more efficiently.
If you were given a checklist to mark off the definitions above, do you have all the boxes marked off? If you have not, then it should be your goal to sharpen every aspect of your physical capabilities.
Maximize your true potential.
