The Importance of Regular Exercise for Strength and Falls Prevention in the older adults.
Regular exercise is crucial for individuals of all ages, but it becomes even more essential as we grow older. Exercise plays a significant role in maintaining strength, balance, and overall well-being. In this blog post, we will explore the importance of regular exercise for strength and falls prevention.
Maintaining Muscle Strength:
As we age, we naturally lose muscle mass and strength, leading to decreased mobility and increased risk of falls. Regular exercise, particularly strength training, can help counteract this decline by building and maintaining muscle mass. Strength exercises such as lifting weights, resistance training, or using resistance bands can significantly improve muscle strength and overall functional abilities in older adults.
Improving Balance and Stability:
Loss of balance is a common concern among the older adults, often leading to falls and injuries. Regular exercise that includes balance training can improve stability and reduce the risk of falling. Specific balance exercises can enhance muscle control and coordination, preventing falls and injuries.
Bone Health:
Osteoporosis, a condition characterised by reduced bone density and increased susceptibility to fractures, is a significant concern for many older adults. Weight-bearing exercises can help maintain bone density and reduce the risk of fractures. It’s crucial to incorporate weight-bearing exercises into an exercise routine to support bone health.
Conclusion:
Regular exercise is a powerful tool for maintaining strength, balance, and overall well-being in older adults. By incorporating a variety of exercises into their routine, older adults can reduce the risk of falls, improve muscle strength, enhance bone health. It’s important for seniors to consult with healthcare professionals before starting any exercise program and tailor their routine to their individual needs and capabilities. Remember, it’s never too late to start gaining the numerous benefits of regular exercise!
Pregnancy Pilates
Pregnancy is a remarkable journey filled with anticipation, joy, and significant physical changes. As your body adapts to support new life, maintaining your health and well-being becomes essential.
Did you know that Australian health guidelines suggest pregnant women should engage in 2.5 to 5 hours of exercise per week, including cardio, muscle strengthening, and pelvic floor exercises every day? Are you moving your body enough for a healthy pregnancy?
Pilates (studio) offers numerous scientifically-backed benefits and it is a gentle, yet effective method in a safe environment with instructors guiding every step. Pilates exercises can be modified to suit the changing needs and abilities of pregnant women, making it a versatile and adaptable form of exercise tailored to specific trimesters.
Benefits of Pilates for Pregnant Women:
- Increase core strength and stability:
Pilates emphasizes on core strength, which supports the spine, improves posture, alleviates lower back pain, and can also aid in labor and delivery. Strong core muscles also help decrease the progression of abdominal diastasis and can help at the moment of delivery.
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Improve pelvic floor function:
Pilates includes exercises targeting the pelvic floor muscles, supporting the bladder, uterus, and bowels. Strengthening these muscles can reduce the risk of urinary incontinence during and after pregnancy.
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Improve mobility and balance:
Pregnancy hormones loosen ligaments, increasing susceptibility to injury. Pilates exercises promote flexibility whilst improving stability, thus reducing the risk of strains or injuries and managing changes in posture from the growing abdomen.
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Better mental health and breath control:
Engaging in Pilates can have positive effects on psychological well-being by reducing stress, anxiety, and improving mood. It incorporates breathing techniques beneficial during pregnancy and labor, helps managing stress and maintaining oxygen flow to both mother and baby.
While Pilates offers significant benefits, there are important considerations before starting. Particularly if you were sedentary before pregnancy, begin slowly and gradually increase your activity. Consider any risk factors; individual responses to exercise can vary. Consult your healthcare provider before starting any new exercise program, including Pilates. Avoid exercise if you have certain heart or lung diseases, cervical cerclage, placenta previa after 26 weeks, preeclampsia, or severe anemia.
After medical approval for exercise, find a trustworthy instructor and discuss your exercise history, injuries, and any concerns to ensure comfort and safety.
Tips for each Trimester:
First Trimester – Low energy, fatigue, nauseous. Don’t push your limits!
That’s time to educate your movements and breathing techniques, pelvic floor awareness and maintaining your existing fitness levels.
Second Trimester– Most energetic and not many limitations yet.
Your body is changing, but you can still keep your body in movement easily, so it’s time to get stronger! Be aware of balance and alignment as well.
Third Trimester– Tiredness, anxiety and weight gain.
Keep following the current exercise program, but respecting the limitations from the growing belly, tiredness and reduced mobility. Communicate with your instructor about discomforts like back or hip pain.
Postpartum– Follow your health care provider’s advice.
Typically, you can resume exercises around 6 weeks after delivery, but your body takes between 6 months to 1 year to get back to normal.
In conclusion, while Pilates can be safe and effective during pregnancy, it’s crucial to approach it cautiously, seek guidance from a qualified instructor, and ensure it meets your specific health needs and pregnancy status.
Strength x Tension
Tight Muscles Might Actually Be Weak Muscles
There is a common belief that when a muscle is tight, that it needs to be stretched and strengthening that muscle may aggravate the issue. Let’s explore why this isn’t the case and what should be done instead.
What Really Causes Muscle Tightness?
People often think tight muscles mean the muscle is too strong and just needs stretching to loosen up. But sometimes, tightness means the muscle is weak and is trying hard to protect itself and nearby parts—like joints and ligaments—from getting hurt. This protective tightening can happen when there’s a risk of injury, or when an injury has already happened, and the muscle is trying to guard against further harm.
The False Belief: More Stretching, Less Strengthening
There is currently an existing belief that “tight muscle = needs to stretch”, which often leads to neglect in strengthening. While stretching does play a role in maintaining flexibility, it does not address the underlying weakness. Strengthening, on the other hand, teaches the muscle to function correctly through its full range of motion and to tolerate load effectively, which can reduce unnecessary tightness.
Why Strengthening Should Not Be Overlooked
Strengthening weak muscles can:
• Improve Muscle Balance: It takes the burden off overly tight muscles, helping them relax naturally.
• Enhance Flexibility and Range of Motion: Strong muscles can handle greater stretches and activity, improving overall functionality.
• Prevent Injury: Strong muscles support joints and protect the body, reducing the risk of strains, sprains, and other injuries.
Exercises to Consider
Here are a few exercises designed to strengthen muscles through their full range of motion. Remember, the goal is controlled movement, focusing on both strength and flexibility:
• Romanian Deadlifts: Excellent for strengthening the entire posterior chain, including hamstrings and lower back.
• Squats: Full-depth squats promote strength and mobility in the hips, knees, and ankles.
• Lunges: These target multiple muscle groups in the legs and improve hip flexibility.
• Dumbbell Shoulder Press: Enhances shoulder stability and range by strengthening through the full movement.
• Push Ups: Great for building upper body strength and core stability while engaging multiple muscle groups.
Always Consult a Physiotherapist or Exercise Physiologist:
Before starting any exercise program, especially if you have pain, past injuries, or specific health conditions, it’s important to speak with a physiotherapist or exercise physiologist. They’ll assess your needs and ensure your exercise plan is safe and tailored to your individual requirements, including disease management if needed. This step helps prevent injuries and maximizes the benefits of exercise for your overall health.
Conclusion
Tight muscles often need more than just stretching; they need to be strengthened as well so that the muscle will get stronger through a larger range of motion. Understanding and addressing muscle weakness can lead to better flexibility, fewer injuries, and improved overall health. Take the first step towards improving your muscle health today by consulting with one of our physiotherapists or exercise physiologist to develop an exercise plan design for your needs.
Football (“soccer”) injuries
Soccer is a contact sport with loads of sprinting and cutting, jumping and explosive movements such as kicking a ball. Each of these can lead to a different type of injury, from an ankle or knee sprain to a muscle injury or a ligament injury. Aside the goal keepers injuries (hand and wrist), the lower limb is the most affected body part. Hamstring and calf strains are the most common type of muscle injury. Groin pains are usually due to an imbalance between inner thigh muscles strength (adductor) and hip mobility and strength, but it can also be a referred pain from a hip injury (i.e. labral tears or cam injuries). The knee is the most common site of pain, coming from the patellar femoral joint (PFP, i.e chondromalacia), patellar tendon, collateral ligaments, or from internal structures in the knee, such as the meniscus or the ligaments ACL/PCL. Ankle injuries are usually from sprains. Treatment will vary on the site location and severity. When acute injuries such as a cork (contusion in the muscle) or a sprain, physiotherapy would focus primarily in reducing pain and inflammation and restoring movement; when pain is not due to an acute injury, like muscle cramps, or knee pain or patellar or achilles tendinopathy, treatment should focus not only on manual therapy techniques but mainly on exercises to build capacity and reduce recurrences. Regardless of the type of injury, we can help. Understanding the biomechanics of the sport and the most common injuries, a preventive exercise program can be implemented to help reduce the risk of injuries, along with understanding your body’s current capacity and how to build it up.
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