Energize Sports Massage, Wirral sports massage

Beginners. v Experts.

I recently came across this graph and was really  taken with how accurately it depicted our evolution of knowledge and expertise. This has become more and more relevant with social media allowing everyone to have an opinion and to self proclaim expertise. ⠀When we first start out, we have a period where we rapidly progress from feeling like we know nothing to feel like we know everything.  Maybe it’s false self confidence or maybe it is just ego, but it’s quite common.  You then often proclaim expertise.  Some people get stuck here.  Others soon realize that what they thought was true, may not be true!  The humble people among us will progress and start to realize there is so much to learn!  I think its invaluable to have a mentor to help you realize how much you still need to learn. I belong to a group that meets on Zoom every month { even pre-pandemic ] and its proven to be a valuable learning tool and a place not just to learn from my mentor host but from other therapists.

Embrace the obvious.

I often get asked advice either from clients during a treatment session or at social gatherings because of my background as a former bodybuilding champion, weightlifting coach and gym instructor/ personal trainer.This post may seem a little off topic as a Sports Massage Therapist but I believe it applies to all areas of life. It’s obvious, yes but that does not make it any less valuable

.Runners run

Throwers throw.

Hurdlers hurdle

.Swimmers swim

.You get the point. I often add this.

To get stronger, lift weights,

For recovery sleep.

For hydration drink water.

Oddly this makes people laugh. I laugh too, because it’s well obvious.Learn to embrace this. When faced with a problem, a simple way to begin is this: What is the obvious solution.No matter what sport, game, occupation or journey you embark upon, focusing on the obvious will help. Certainly you will need to deal with the smaller details, but master the obvious first.

Its also important to be honest with yourself. Often people already know the answer to the problem. I good way to evaluate this is to look back first.When I am am working with an athlete or client I want to know a bit about them. Certainly, we’ll do a physical assessment and highlight past injuries, surgeries, and illness, but its important to know the path each new client has taken to get to you. Forty plus years of filling yourself with soft drinks and extra desserts while steadfastly battling back any urge to exercise might be something we want to take into consideration.

Runners are often very good at running, but when the topic of strength training comes up, many runners, well, run away from it, mostly because they believe it will make them heavier and therefore more prone to injury.

This is however, is thankfully a complete myth, in fact quite the opposite is true. Supplementing running with strength training exercises will not only help you prevent injury, but it will also make you a stronger, faster, and a more efficient runner.

One of the major reasons that runners get injured is because their bodies are unprepared to handle the physical demands of the activity. Tissue overload then occurs, either because of a sudden introduction to the sport, or a relatively sudden change or increase in training mileage or intensity (like hill repeats).

When it comes to building an injury-resistant body, this analogy is useful, “Don’t let your engine outpace your chassis”, meaning don’t let your aerobic fitness (endurance built up by running) outpace your structural fitness (bones, tendons, ligaments and muscles).

If you do, you’re setting yourself up for injury.

In fact, runners need weight training even more than you may realise. Strength work accomplishes three big goals for runners:

1. Prevent injuries by strengthening muscles and connective tissues, to better handle the loads while running.
2. Run faster by improving neuromuscular (nerve-muscle) coordination and power.
3. Improve running economy by encouraging coordination and stride efficiency. Improving your upper-body strength can also boost your running efficiency. With a stronger core, you’ll be able to maintain a stable upper body, minimising side-to-side movement – and better hold your form at the end of a run when you begin to tire. And by developing strength in your arms, you’ll improve your arm drive so you can inject more power into your stride, especially uphill.

A good strength training programme combined with regular soft tissue maintenance work will go a long way in keeping you injury free.

Here at Energize Sports Massage, Wirral I also use the SFMA {Selective Functional Movement Assessment) to optimism movement patterns and find and help correct any deficits. 

You can find lots of information and tips on preventing running on my facebook business page.https://www.facebook.com/pages/?category=your_pages&ref=bookmarks

Posture Matters! Here’s Why…

We’ve probably all been told to “stand up straight” or to “stop slouching”, at some point in our lives.

What most of us may not realise however, is how damaging a bad posture can be not only to our physical health but in many other aspects of our mental health and wellbeing, and even more so as we age.

It’s also a habit we tend to fall into at an early age, which makes it even more important to remedy as quickly as possible. That said, it’s never too late to start!

Unfortunately, modern lifestyles are becoming increasingly sedentary, whether that’s through the use of transport instead of walking, or sitting at desks or computers for long periods of time, or binging for hours on Netflix, or gaming and social media, or most likely, all of the above to some degree.

But all these factors, mean that our postural muscles are being used less and less, which means they tire more easily when they are used. That in turn makes it harder to maintain a good posture when you are standing or sitting, so you slump, slouch more or lean on walls, tables or bus stops when standing.

Think about it when next catch yourself standing around.

The relationship you have with your postural muscles may have flickered out over time but the end result is that poor posture puts your body at risk for spinal wear and tear and chronic pain.

Not only that, having poor posture can affect your health in many ways, some of which may surprise you. While the obvious consequences are the deterioration of your neck and spine and associated ligaments, muscles and tendons, the less obvious consequences are headaches, decreased flexibility, loss of mobility, nerve entrapment, poor balance (potentially leading to falls), bad digestion, difficulty breathing, reduced energy levels, and even negative self-esteem.

It’s surprising how widely the impact of poor posture can stretch.

The good news is that bad posture is just a habit we’ve got into, and as we know, habits can be broken.

Musculoskeletal practitioners like physical therapists, osteopaths, chiropractors and massage therapists can all help by giving you specific exercises to help you strengthen weak muscles and stretch tight ones, thereby improving your posture.

Getting that perfect spine isn’t always achievable or a quick fix, but small changes to daily routine, becoming more body conscious and performing exercises a couple of days a week will go a long way to helping improve your posture, reduce the risk of injury and prevent pain.

We’ve put together a range of resources to help you firstly identify what type of posture you’re likely to have, and then some stretching and strengthening exercises that will help you to start to correct that posture.

There are also some additional advice leaflets and infographics giving guidance on the correct set up of your workstation and how to reduce your risk of getting into poor postural habits.

You can access these resources at the following link https://bit.ly/3c1Vj2M

As usual, if you have any concerns or questions, please feel free to get in contact with us. We’re here to help.

3 things I have learned in 2019

As the year draws to a close I like to reflect on the things I have learned over the last 12 months.

Assessment is more important than treatment.

If we aren’t reassessing are clients limitations how do we know what’s working and what isn’t? I also feel it’s important to assess alignment before assessing movement. If you don’t have a system to check alignment first then checking movement is limited and sometimes inaccurate.

I have used and adapted many systems from many different people and schools of thought as everybody is different and not every system is a fit for us all.

Focus on the quality of movement not the quantity of movement.

If you focus on generally increasing mobility many times the body takes the path of least resistance and you just make the loose areas looser and neglect the real problem. I have come across clients who have overstretched an area like the back or shoulder to gain mobility and simply getting them th stop helps. It’s addition by subtraction.

Live life at the right tempo.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of of equating being busy, productive and improving personal finances as corrilating to happiness. I have been trying to reduce my stress and workload by being more organised but found I was just filling in the space I had created by taking on more workload, my pace and tempo never changed. Don’t get my wrong you have to get ahead by out working others and always constantly improving skills and learning. The thing is don’t forget the things that are really important. Take time to meet with friends, visit the places you always wanted to see or simply read a book that has nothing to do with your work.

So that’s what I learned in 2019. I am looking forward to learning ever more in 2020.

Game On: Avoiding Injury in Football

From the die-hard fans to the devoted players and little dreamers in backyards everywhere – it’s unlikely that you’ll manage to escape the craze that comes with the start of the football season.

Even if you’re not normally a football fan, you’ll likely find yourself drawn to the excitement. After all, this is a game that has the power to bring together people from all walks of life.

Just like the Olympic games, football transcends race, religion, culture, and nationality to unite us in a singular interest. It has become an international language with a staggering 270 million people playing in games across the globe.

It’s a sport that inspires the kind of collective joy that can only come from sharing a truly remarkable experience. And that alone is worth celebrating.

Alas, the game we love does not come without consequence. Unfortunately, football injuries are all too common.

Muscle injuries are a frequent occurrence among football players. This type of injury is associated with a burst of acceleration or sprinting, sudden stopping, lunging, sliding or a high kick.  

Ankle and knee injuries are also very common. This injury occurs when ligaments are strained, during cutting, twisting, jumping, changing direction or contact/tackling.

Groin pain, in particular, is a widespread occurrence, with 1 in 5 players experiencing an injury in a season.

Surprisingly, nearly half of all football injuries can be avoided.

It’s true, preventing injury is possible. In most cases, injuries are caused by an underlying weakness or imbalance in the muscles of the leg, core, and pelvis.

Specialized exercises and training programmes designed to address the areas that are most vulnerable to injury during a game can dramatically reduce your risk of getting injured.

Your physical fitness is the single most important factor in preventing football injuries.

For instance, studies have found that –

• Strength training can reduce the incidence     of injury by nearly half (47%) compared to players who did no specific     strength training.
• 51% of hamstring injuries can be avoided     with good proprioceptive programmes.
• Among players who participated in     pre-season proprioceptive training 3x a week, there were 7x fewer ACL     injuries and an 87% decrease in the risk of ankle sprain.
• Neuromuscular training for the knee can     reduce the incidents of serious knee injury by 3.5x.

Here at Energize Sports Massage, Wirral I find many amateur players, especially junior and Academy players suffer imbalances of the hip which lead to further injury including low back and hamstring and adductor pain. Whether you are an avid player or prefer to play part-time as a pastime, injuries can be bad news. But a little knowledge and preparation can go a long way.

I use a variety of manual therapy techniques such as myofascial release, trigger point therapy and muscle energy stretches combined with corrective exercises to address these problems.

That’s why we’ve put together printable/downloadable fact sheets on the 6 most common football injuries, and how to both prevent and treat them.  

Our free fact sheets include prevention and treatment techniques for:

• ACL Injury
• Hamstring Strains
• Ankle Sprains
• Meniscus Injury
• Groin Strains
• Contusion Injury

Our informative fact sheets are perfect for anyone who is interested in preventing injuries, treating injuries, and minimizing the risk of re-injury.

You can download them here [http://bit.ly/2oacOds).

If you want to understand more about any of these aspects, get in touch with us. A good preventative programme incorporating both strength and neuromuscular/proprioceptive training can help keep you in the game.

If you’ve already suffered from a football injury or your kids, family or friends have suffered from one, download our informative fact sheets for treatment techniques {http://bit.ly/2oacOds].

And be sure to check out our Facebook page, Energize Sports Massage Wirral, where we’re posting a whole range of fascinating football facts packed with fun and informative tips and tricks to help you stay safe on the football pitch.

Rugby Hurts: How to Prevent Injuries Becoming a Long-Term Problem

 As we head towards the Rugby World Cup, we’ve put together some resources on the topic of rugby injuries.

 Did you know?

 The hooker (No.2) is the most injured player on the field, accounting for 26% of all injuries

·         The No. 1 shirt suffers more shoulder injuries than any other players

·         The No. 3 shirt ranks highest in the ankle injury charts

·         The No. 10 shirt suffers the most concussions

 Rugby is a fast-moving, high-intensity team sport. It’s played by both men and women at all levels and the benefits of participation are many, ranging not only from a wide variety of fitness and health benefits, but also social and well being benefits.

However, as a sport, it also boasts a high injury rate, with as many as 1 in 4 players being injured during a rugby season. The injury rates of rugby are three times higher than those of football/soccer.

 On average a player will perform 20-40 tackles per match and as 60% of all injuries are to the tackler, this puts a lot of people out of action during the rugby season.

 The two age groups that experience the most injuries are the 10-18 age year group and the 24-34 year ago group. In the younger age group, this is probably down to differences in developmental stages, some mature early, while others take a little longer to catch up. In the older age group, it could be down to the intensity of training and match play, although there’s no hard, fast evidence for this.

 The highest number of injuries are muscle strains and muscle bruises, also known as contusions, which account for more than 40% of injuries. They are closely followed by sprains to ligaments, which account for 30% of injuries, and then by dislocations, fractures, lacerations and overuse injuries.

 We have a range of free advice leaflets as well as exercise handouts on all the most common rugby injuries, including advice on how to prevent as well as treat them. You can download the leaflets at the following link ( http://bit.ly/2Uog8go)

 Between 5-25% of rugby injuries are head injuries, of which 44% are concussions. This is a subject we’ll be covering in more detail in a future blog post, as management of this condition is vital to successful recovery and reducing the risk of long-term complications, which can impact a player’s ability to work or perform at school.

It is particularly important that injuries to younger players are managed well in order to prevent the problems becoming more serious. Injuries in the young athlete can be trivialized, with the athlete being told to ‘toughen up’ and ‘play through the pain’. This is very rarely in the interests of the young player.

Sports massage Level 5 certificate in the bag
https://www.instagram.com/p/B1zHTSEDRN3/?igshid=1o8ena3eqyfr4

Some key facts about shoulder impingement. I treat shoulder impingement on a regular basis at my clinic, 

Soccer Injuries Vinfographic