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Sports Injury Clinic

Tue, 18 Jan 2011 22:05:00 +0000

Sports massage is a form of deep tissue massage, developed for treating and preventing sporting injuries. It is also excellent for those who may not be involved in sports, but are suffering occupational injuries or day-to-day aches and pains!

The benefits of sports massage include:

Increased muscle flexibility
Increase in blood flow to muscles to aid healing
Break down of knots, scar tissue and adhesions
Aids improvements in posture
Decreases general muscle aches and pains
Promotes relaxation
Specific to the individual

Sports massage has a reputation for being painful, and yes it can be uncomfortable at times due to the necessity to apply deep sustained pressure to trigger points and other soft tissue problems. However, it should never be so painful that the patient tightens up with pain, as pressure should be directed by the patient and checked regularly throughout the treatment. Massage should not cause the muscles to be significantly painful or bruised following treatment.

A regular sports massage can be a great way of treating and preventing injuries, easing daily aches and pains or improving your sporting performance. For more information on sports massage, visit http://www.sportsinjurynorwich.co.uk/

Welcome to Zumba

Thu, 30 Dec 2010 07:37:00 +0000

What Is Zumba?

Zumba is a popular fitness program inspired by Latin dance. The word "Zumba" comes from a Colombian word that means to move fast and have fun, which is just how people describe the routine. Using upbeat Latin music together with cardiovascular exercise, Zumba is aerobic dancing that is lots of fun and easy to learn.

Is Zumba Good for Weight Loss?

Zumba seems to be an optimal fitness choice, mixing cardio intervals with resistance training. Many experts believe that an interval/resistance combination maximizes caloric output, fat burning, and total body toning. Zumba mixes effective body sculpting movements with easy-to-follow, fun dance steps. People seem to forget about working out during a Zumba session, allowing them to exercise longer, and burn even more calories.

What's a Zumba Class Like?

A typical Zumba session lasts about an hour and incorporates several dance styles, including cumbia, merengue, salsa, reggaeton, mambo, rumba, flamenco, and calypso and Salsaton. The Latin music includes both fast and slow rhythms, allowing for a great cardio workout as well as body sculpting exercises. Depending on the instructor, you may even get a taste of belly dancing or hip-hop dancing, too.

Is Zumba for Me?

If you enjoy high energy, motivating music, and like to try unique moves and combinations, Zumba may be your ticket to fitness. With thousands of Zumba instructors worldwide, locating a Zumba class should be easy.

Classes will be starting soon on Friday Evening so watch this space!

How to achieve the goal of one armed push ups!

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 11:25:00 +0000

There are plenty of people at the gym who can bench press 100Kgs but how many of them can do 20 one armed push-ups? My goal is to be the first!

Here’s a Sample Exercise Progression to One Arm Push Ups

Push Ups Against a Wall: Stand 2-3 feet away from the wall and slowly push your body away from the wall. Once you can do this for 3 sets of 20 reps, you are ready to master the next progressively harder movement.
Push Ups on Your Knees: Get on your knees and do push ups at a slow pace. One second down, slight pause at bottom…then one second up. Master this movement for 3 sets of 20 reps before moving on to the next level of difficulty.
Push Ups With Feet on Floor and Hands on Bench: The higher the bench, the easier this is. A standard bench in the gym works well, or a chair at home. Master this movement for 3 sets of 20 reps before moving on to the next movement.
Full Regular Push Ups: This one is self explanatory. Just focus on good quality push ups, all the way down in a controlled manner. Same deal, move on to next exercise once you can get 3 sets of 20 reps.
Close Grip Push Ups (Hands Touching): I like to make my hands form a diamond shape, like the guy in the first picture. Some people for a triangle. Just make sure your fingers are touching and you will be good. Once you can get 3 sets of 20 reps in perfect form, then move on.
One Arm Assisted Push Ups With Basketball: You can use a medicine ball if you have that available as well. What you are going to do here is put as much weight as possible on the hand that is on the ground and another hand on a basketball. Use the had on the basketball to assist you on the way up and the way down. As you get stronger, place that basketball further out to the side of your body away from the center. The further out the ball gets from your body, the less you can assist that working arm. Once you can do 2 sets of 15 reps per arm with very little assistance, it is time to move on to one arm push ups unassisted.
One Arm Push Ups: Your goal here is to eventually have the ability to do 20 full strict one arm push ups on each arm. If you can do that, you will have triceps as hard as a rock. If you mastered the previous movement correctly, you should be able to do 3-5 reps on each arm. Over a period of months you will work your way up to 20 reps per arm.

Clean up your Nutrition

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 11:23:00 +0000

Here we are half way through 2010, we have set goals that are attainable to reach, we have set ourselves up for winning the goals but what else do we need to know to make this easier?

Cleaning up nutrition, the food we put in our bodies. Learning what to eat and what to leave out without feeling deprived is what is going to make us winners in this goal.

The closer a food is to its natural state, the better it is for you. Fresh fruits and berries are great and will satisfy a craving for sweets. Whole vegetables have lots of vitamins and minerals, so eat more green, orange and yellow vegetables. Steam them to retain the most nutritional value and be careful with sauces, they may be high in calories and fats that aren’t good for you.

Any pasta or baked goods should be made from whole grains. Avoid sugary snacks and pastries as well. An apple is good for you, an apple pie really isn’t.
Shop for lean meats and don’t forget the fish. Baked fish and chicken are healthier than fried.
Stick to water, milk and 100% fruit and vegetable juices as your main beverages and limit sugary soft drinks. If you get tired of plain water, add a slice of lemon or lime to add a touch of flavor.

Unhealthy Foods to Avoid

Battered and deep fried foods
Sugary sodas
Processed lunch meats
Greasy snack chips
White bread and refined pasta
Most canned spaghetti and ravioli
Sugary breakfast cereals
Frozen fried chicken, fish sticks and corn dogs

Healthy Foods to Enjoy

Green and brightly colored vegetables
Dark leafy greens and lettuce
Fresh fruits and berries
Lean turkey and chicken
Nuts, dried fruits and healthy snacks
Whole grain breads and pasta
Healthy cooking oils like canola and olive oils
Grass fed beef and bison
Cold water oily ocean fish
Low fat milk or soy beverages
Nuts, seeds, and legumes

If you are an emotional eater, keep the junk food like potato chips, tortilla chips, ice cream, and candy out of the house. Keep healthy snacks like fruits, crunchy vegetables with dips, or nuts handy.

Simple things like this are what will help you to either move closer to or farther away from your health and fitness goals..so make the right decisions!