Blog Archives

Has your poor posture caused Upper Cross Syndrome? Try this simple test to find out!

29/7/2015

Our tendency to sit a lot these days and our sedentary lifestyle often leads to numerous problems, in particular, postural abnormalities. One of the main outcomes of these postural changes that I see regularly in practice is called Upper Cross Syndrome (UCS).

Upper cross syndrome is characterized by tightness in the chest and the upper back/neck and weakness in the mid back and the front of the neck, hence the ‘cross’ part of the name. This syndrome can cause several different problems in the body and can lead you to be more prone to injuries. Continue reading to find out more about UCS and the simple test you can try at home to see if you have it.

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Find out your "five-year risk" of death and your 'UbbLE age' with this simple test

20/7/2015

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If you are on Facebook you probably would have seen and likely tried those tests that pop up that supposedly tell you what job you are meant to have, what movie character you are like etc etc. If you are like me, you are probably dubious on the accuracy of these. I recently came across this research project from the UK where they created a risk calculator that is designed to predict an individual’s risk of dying in five years. You are probably thinking, how accurate is that going to be? Well if you look at what they did, the science behind it is actually quite good. The draw back to the study is that they looked at people aged 40-70, so the results are limited to this age range. However, it is worth a read. Continue reading to see what they found and follow the link so that you can try the test and see what your "five year risk" is.

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How strong are your child's bones?

12/7/2015

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Good bone growth is dependent on weight bearing activity. You may have heard that as you get older your bones can get weaker if you do not use them. You have probably heard of the term osteoporosis. One way of minimizing this is to do weight bearing activities. What do you think happens to our bones when we spend more and more time in sedentary activities, like watching TV, playing on computers and our mobile phones? This sedentary type behavior is especially prevalent in children these days. A study from Norway suggests that teenage boys who spend too much time in front of a TV or computer could develop weakened bones as they age. Continue reading to see what the study found. There was also an interesting twist to the results of the study.

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10 exercises that could hurt you

6/7/2015

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We are always told exercise is good and we need to do it regularly, and I agree with this. However, an important consideration is that the exercises need to be done with the correct technique in order to avoid injury and get the best results. CNN published an article where they interviewed several top physical therapists in America and got them to talk about what exercises are most likely to cause injury. They then discussed the top 10 (you can read the original article here). I have summarized the results and added a few things. It is important to note that some of these exercises can actually be very beneficial if they are done properly. It is also important to realise that just about any exercise done poorly could cause injury. Technique is key. Continue reading to find out what exercises may hurt you.

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