Category: Uncategorized

It is not always obvious but the older you are, the more you can benefit from physical activity. Experts agree that any physical activity counts toward better health – even
just a few minutes a day!
Being active will help you feel better, move better and sleep better. It’s never too late to start.
Stamina, strength, balance and flexibility can be improved and maintained the older you get.

Regular physical activity helps:
• Reduce your risk of falling or having a fall-related injury
• Helps you stay independent
• Keeps your brain healthy by reducing your risk of developing dementia/Alzheimer’s and helps improve your thinking
• Lowers your risk of developing new chronic health problems (such as diabetes, high blood
pressure or heart disease) and reduces their risk of getting worse; and
• Decreases your risk of getting several types of cancer and helps prevent them from coming back.

Aerobic Activity
Aerobic activity improves your stamina and heart health. During aerobic activity your heart rate and breathing get faster. Build up to doing 150 minutes/week of moderate-intensity activity, 75 minutes/week of vigorous activity or a combination.

Remember: Walking, biking, dancing and water exercises are great. How about active yard work or house chores? Fit in 5 or 10 minutes here and there. Or go for 20-30 minutes. Be active however and wherever you can. Every minute adds up!

To stay safe and injury free:
• Be as active as your abilities allow.
• Start slowly – with light to medium effort.
• Gradually increase your pace and time spent being active.
• Warm up gently and cool down at an easy pace before and after exercise.

Strength Training
Strength training, for example, working with weights or resistance bands, makes you stronger and helps your overall health. Plus, strength training can make daily activities like lifting laundry baskets or yard-work easier and safer.

Remember: Avoid straining or holding your breath when lifting.
What?
Hand weights,
resistance bands,
weight machines or
your own body (for
example, wall
push-ups or chair sit-to standing up.

Balance
Balance activities improve your ability to resist forces that could cause you to fall. They also lower your risk of injury if a fall does happen. Simply getting stronger will help too, especially in your legs, stomach and back. Train in an uncluttered area and use a chair or wall for support if needed. I can guide you safely through balance training. Don’t do these by yourself!

If you want more information or help with any aspect of the information above, please contact me directly.

Denis

MycClinic365.com

Normally at this time of year I see a lot of sports injuries in my Clinic, which occurred either on the field of play or in the gym setting. The time directly after injury is crucial in the race to get back to normal movement.

The traditional approach of RICE and POLICE focus on the acute management of a soft tissue injury, PEACE and LOVE encompasses the full range of soft tissue injury management from immediate care to the subsequent management and rehabilitation.

These management acronyms suggested by Dubois and Esculier in the British Journal of Sports Medicine Blog in 2019 and again in an editorial in 2020 highlights the importance of patient education and addressing psychosocial factors as the treatment of clients with soft tissue injuries.

The PEACE acronym and approach helps to addresses the immediate care following an injury:

P for Protection,
E for Elevation,
A for Avoid anti-inflammatory modalities,
C for Compress and
E for Educate.

The LOVE acronym and approach addresses the subsequent management and rehabilitation:
L for Load,
O for Optimism,
V for Vascularisation and
E for Exercise.

Many of us know and are aware of the evidence supporting these approaches, but isn’t it sometimes easier to fall back on our familiar ways or the ways that we have been taught and just reach for the ice pack when treating an acute ankle sprain or hamstring injury? A full knowledge of the mechanism of the injury as well as any underlying issues will help with diagnosis and a quicker return to activities. Speak to me directly and I will guide you on the best path to recovery.

Please click here for more: https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/54/2/72

Denis is also a certified Strength & Conditioning Coach, has completed a Masters in S&C and is currently completing a DProf – Professional Doctorate in Sports Science and Coaching.

Denis has also been employed by Munster Rugby as a Physical Therapist to their various squads, in Rehabilitation and Strength & Conditioning as well as Rugby Development work.

He also teaches Level 1 & 2 Pilates in Classes and individually.

How can Denis help you improve in the many components of strength and conditioning that make you perform to the best of your ability, in a personal or sporting context..?

Mobility & Flexibility

Both flexibility and mobility should be given equal prominence in any Rehab program. Throughout your joint’s range of motion you have the ability to generate force.  If you’re missing some movement in that hip because of a tight hip flexor well then you are putting your Glutes under pressure, for example, to do their job. 

Strength and Power

Strength is you ability to do work – to lift a box, carry your body up the stairs and get you through your daily routine, not just sporting.   For countless reasons our muscles become a little lazy or get forgotten as we get on with our lives.  Problems can arise after time.  The knee becomes a little sore, the shoulder aches when you lift a kettle. 

Power, however, concerns how you use the strength you have, how you generate force.  Power concerns how fast you can push those muscles, launch forth across the pitch or running track.  To train power you must move the right way, with the right load and with the right form.  Power training is essential for all athletes across countless sports.  It is also complex to do well.  Contact Denis for more information.

Core and Postural Control

Core strength is popular, misunderstood and considered complex. The core is considered the centre of all things sporting and it’s important but it’s only one part of the link.

Unfortunately over the past number of years across the relevant fields it has become muddled in thought and practice.  One should understand what they’re training before they start training it.  One should not train this in isolation but bring it to everything they do.

With a strong core or “postural control” your spine is the core, the scaffold and the foundation and you should support it as such.  If you can’t organise it you can’t effectively move and you put your joints under much more strain.  

Movement Training

In all you do, you should move well.  This is the difference between success and failure and we have really been poor at it in this country.  Movement technique is critical to keeping your body healthy and performing well.  This type of training has been lacking in many training programs

Metabolic Conditioning

Fitness training, the dreaded laps, shuttle runs, sprints and ladders.  Many players have heard these terms and suffered their wrath but have you ever wondered what you are doing them for?  The answer – to get fit.  But that’s frankly rubbish.  Different sports have different requirements and should be treated as such.

The key here is being specific.  A conditioning programme from us will incorporate the energy systems your sport needs, monitor the load it has on your body to prevent fatigue and ensure that when your heart is under pressure during the final minutes you will still move and flow accordingly.  Please don’t run for the sake of running.  Reason it, plan it and improve it.  We can help with that.

Rehabilitation & Prehabilitation

This is not just for athletes.  Performance, is relative it is personal and it matters no matter what you do.  Here at the clinic we believe wholeheartedly that when you’re injured we have a responsibility to educate you on how to get better.  As we guide you on the path to getting better the end goal is never about getting you back on the pitch.  The end goal is about getting you to perform better than you ever have before.  We will strive to do this and would love to help you along the way.

Performance Testing

Unless you have measured it, we believe it didn’t happen.  When you measure it’s undeniable proof of your hard work and a testament to your commitment.  Let us show you the strategies to do the same.  It doesn’t matter about the budget we can work with very little.

Injury Prevention – See All Above