Following on from the last post I’ve had some questions regarding whether children who weight train hurt themselves. It’s a good news story, with no greater incidence of injury. In fact, active kids involved in sports such as soccer, hockey, skiing or skateboarding sustain many more injuries than for any children who have been involved in weight training. On the other side are children who get no exercise at all. The decline in physical activity in kids is a real concern to all health professionals. Since 1981, there’s been a tripling … Read the rest of this post »
Only two or three weeks to school summer vacation and how will our children spend the summer? I’m often asked by parents what is a suitable type of exercise for their frequently sedentary child and how much exercise should they be doing? This opens up a few themes for discussion and comment. In January of this year the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology released new guidelines for children ages 5 to 17. The recommendations include getting an hour a day of moderate ( think walking, playing outside) to vigorous (think … Read the rest of this post »
I had a trip up to Kelowna this past weekend to participate in a professional seminar on bike fitting. The sport of road cycling continues to grow for various reasons. Always popular in the past, it is now attracting a large group of people who don’t feel inclined to do a lot of running anymore but want to continue to be physically active. Plus, you get to go really fast! With the success of events such as the Grand Fondo, The Ride to Conquer Cancer and increasing membership in cycling clubs throughout … Read the rest of this post »
Split down the Middle? I recently had the opportunity to attend a lecture put on by the renowned Diane Lee on a relatively common yet often undiagnosed problem called Diastasis Rectus Abdominus (DRA). Diane has vast knowledge and experience in dealing with pelvic girdle or sacroiliac pain and dysfunction and is an excellent speaker, so it was a pleasure to hear her talk on this subject. DRA is a condition that involves a separation of the two long abdominal muscles that run vertically down the middle of our abdomen, the … Read the rest of this post »
In early March my colleague Jen Mcpherson and I rolled on down to Seattle to attend an intensive 2 day workshop on bike fitting. Jen is an avid multisport athlete who has completed multiple Ironman competitions and marathons and I’m a keen recreational road cyclist so our interest in learning the process of getting a rider to the best possible position for comfort and power comes from the heart. This was an excellent course with both days full of hands on fitting experience. Thanks to the volunteers who attended and … Read the rest of this post »
I attended the Pacific Dental Conference in Vancouver on March 11 and 12. Many of the sessions were not relevant to physiotherapists but Dr. Mariano Rocabado a well-known physiotherapist from Chile drew me there. He specializes in treating head and neck pain, which is related to the jaw and or neck. He was invited due to his expertise with TMJ (temporomandibular joint or jaw joint) pain and dysfunction. At the Friday session he spoke all day about how the upper neck joints can influence the function of the jaw, including … Read the rest of this post »
This running tip was specifically written for Vancouver Frontrunners and comes from Suzanne Foster, a Physiotherapist with West 4th Physiotherapy(www.west4thphysio.com) whose practice is heavily focused on runners. Thanks Suzanne! Start off on the right foot! Did you know that 50% of runners are injured every year? Even now with all the advanced technology out there dedicated with perfecting the running shoe and the time and money spent on different kinds of treatment, the incidence is still increasing! We all know that whether you are an athlete, runner, or jogger, at … Read the rest of this post »
Something different for the blog this month. West 4th Physio associate Marj Belot brought this to our collective attention. This is an excellent initiative that we hope readers will support. We have included the Health Canada recommended activity guidelines in our online library. Please feel free to download them (or tactfully pass them on to those you think could benefit!). They are available here: http://www.west4thphysio.com/resources/library Help Canadians find credible weight management resources: Support COACH today! The Canadian Obesity Network (CON) is currently working with its partners, members and the public … Read the rest of this post »
This is the time of year when seniors are most at risk of falls. Icy steps and sidewalks, slippery wet leaves, cold weather slowing reaction time and often poor light hiding treacherous outdoor conditions. So far we’ve been lucky in 2011, at least in the lower mainland, with relatively warm, albeit wet, weather and not to much of the dreaded ice about. But seniors 65 and older are the fastest growing segment of the Canadian population and the estimate is that around 1 in 3 will have at least 1 … Read the rest of this post »
Posted in Avoiding Injury, Men's Health, Osteoporosis, Senior's Health
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Tagged balance, exercise, fall prevention, fracture, FRAX, injury, osteopenia, Osteoporosis, senior, strength training
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An interesting article appeared in the Globe a few months ago which asked the question: Is it harder for women to lose weight as compared to men because of the different composition of their muscle mass? The answer is a general yes. It is more of a challenge for women because they, on average, have a lower percentage of their overall body weight composed of lean skeletal muscle. You can think of your skeletal muscle as the body’s engine. The bigger the engine, the more fuel it can burn and … Read the rest of this post »
Posted in Avoiding Injury, Children's Health, Men's Health, Senior's Health, Sports, Women's Health
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Tagged exercise, fitness, injury prevention, muscle mass age, Muscle mass men, muscle mass women, resistance training, skeletal muscle, strength training
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Late in 2010 I came across an interesting article in the Canadian Medical Journal (CMA) in which new guidelines were outlined to help physicians deal with managing and preventing osteoporosis. According to the study’s lead author, Professor Alexandra Papaioannu, the goal is early identification of those most likely to develop full blown osteoporosis later in life. The approach recommended in the guidelines is quite different to that currently taken. Instead of relying on bone mineral density (BMD) testing -read more about BMD and testing here- http://www.west4thphysio.com/archives/530 , and then using … Read the rest of this post »
Posted in Avoiding Injury, Low back, Osteoporosis, Senior's Health, Women's Health
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Tagged calcium, exercise, fall prevention, fracture, FRAX, injury, osteopenia, Osteoporosis, resistance, resistance training, spinal exercise, strength training
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The statistics are in and they aren’t pretty. The CMA (Canadian Medical Association) has updated it’s guidelines for helping physicians deal with osteoporosis and I’ll outline some of the changes of focus in both this and the next post. Today; the prevalence of osteoporosis in men. The stats say one in eight men over the age of 50 has the disease. Physicians and other health professionals know the numbers but apparently the general public doesn’t. There is still, it seems, a prevalent train of thought that osteoporosis is a bone … Read the rest of this post »
