movement

On being a god

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So you want the body of a god. Pick your pantheon. Greek, Roman, Norse. All images are interpreted by artists and storytellers, so what you’re actually wanting is the body that a painter, sculpter or mosaicist created to symbolise their desires. I wanted the body of a god and got Dionysis.

Anyway, god, or goddess, it is.

First, to be like a god, live like one. Perhaps without the destruction and disinterest in the humans, but in other ways, train, sleep, eat like a goddess.

The norse gods would have had fish, grains, meat, washing it down with beer (mead is for celebrations). The greek or romans? Fresh fish, fruits and vegetables, olives, breads, cheeses. What you put in, is what you get out and eventually the body composition will follow the diet.

The one thing none of the diets would had would have been confectionary (other than sweet cakes, ambrosia and dried fruits), and processed foods.

As for training, for the greeks, lots of running, throwing, lifting (think olympic disciplines). The norse, heavier lifts, walking, hunting and rowing. They created their gods from what they knew.

To be like a god, first live like one.

What has any of this got to do with a sports injury clinic?

Firstly, I firmly believe that we forget the basics to follow the latest trend or fad. Secondly, we are what we consume. Thirdly, even the gods needed help and support sometimes and having an expert at your side when you go on the journey is a good thing.

We can offer nutritional reviews, training and planning support and treatment for those injuries sustained in the cause of achieving your goals.

On: Finding the one thing

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Sometimes it takes only one thing to start the rock rolling, the pebble that is stopping the landslide of success.

Sometimes, once you find that one thing, everything else falls into place and it becomes brighter, easier, smoother.

However, finding that one thing is very difficult, as it is different for person, goal, and phase of life.

And sometimes, it doesn’t matter what the thing is, as starting anything can help.

Maybe you want to lose weight for health reasons (there aren’t really any other valid ones). Maybe you feel you need to improve your fitness (there could be a couple of reasons here), perhaps you feel stuck in a relationship (a multitude of reasons in there), or you’re at a fork in the road with regards to career.

Lets take health (we are a health organisation after all) and weight management. There is ostensibly a simple recipe for this. You want to lose weight, burn more calories than you consume, you want to gain wait, eat more. Now, lets take into consideration motivation, working and life paatterns, underlying health status, stress, prior exercise history, gender, nutritional history and current nutritional status and see how we go? Which one thing is going to unlock the magic box of slimmer?

For most people wanting to lose weight, it will simply being aware of what they eat and when. That awareness helps them tune their consumption. For others, who have a reasonably good grasp on it, moving a bit more frequently and with higher intensity could be the key. A more complex case might be the older person with underlying health conditions, who will need more close monitoring, motivation and coaching to ensure they maintain both good nutrition and reduced risk.

To find your one thing, contact us for a consultation. We don’t just do manual therapies, we support weight management journeys, fitness plans, proactive healthcare discussions and personal accountability coaching.

Understanding the Vagus Nerve: Myths vs. Facts

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Stressed? Tired? Anxious? Run down? Digestive issues? Just not feeling the spark in the bedroom? Perhaps your Vagus Nerve needs resetting!

Or so many practitoners will try to persuade you. And of course they will share the secrets of their protocol for only 10 dollars and your email address.

Fact: The vagus nerve is the 10th cranial nerve, and one of the only ones that leave the skull to travel around the body (Vagus – Wanderer – Vagrant). In the case of the vagus nerve, it heads down the neck, outside of the spinal cord, and acts as the parasympathetic highway, adding control to the heart, digestion, major solid organs and even your response to inflammation.

So yes, if you are experiencing a huge variety of issues, then the vagus nerve is likely to be involved, especially if there is a psychological component.

However. A vagus nerve reset isn’t a secret protocol or a mystic trick, and it may not make all those issues go away, especially if you haven’t actually made a start at dealing with the underlying issues leading to them.

Want to reset your vagus nerve? Do anything that relaxes you. Breathing exercises, meditation, gentle rythmic exercise. As long as its not excessively stimulating and you enjoy it, it’ll work.

Some research also shows that there is a relationship between heart rate variability and the vagus nerve, and that asymmetric breathing (short nasal in, long pursed lip breath out), can help this.

When you look at it closely, most of the online information regarding resetting the vagus nerve is actually long term lifestyle management, with a funny hat. Change your diet, control your stress, exercise and train in a manner that supports your health. And most importantly, breathe.

Simple, cheap, effective.

And of course, always consult an expert when considering such things, to make sure that you are solving the correct problem.

The Importance of Proper Breathing for Health and Wellness

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Have you ever felt your breath catch? An awe inspiring view, a new love across the room, a shock from unexpected news? Have you ever felt really short of breath, like there isn’t enough air in the room? Lots of things can make us feel short of breath, some exciting (the new love across the room, the view), some scary (the sound of unknown feet on a dark night, shocking news), exertion and even some diseases.

Therefore a caveat – if you think that your shortness of breath, particularly if linked with a new or persistant cough, could be of pathological origin, go and see your primary medical provider for assessment and treatment.

Breathing is the most fundamental process of life, something we have done since the moment we were born and the last thing we shall do. It is something we never notice until it becomes the only things we can do and is also, uniquely, one of the only autonomic actions that we can control.

Hold your breath. Just stop. No in, no out, just pause. If you are relaxing and have no known underlying issues, you should be able to last 20 – 30 seconds before the desire to breath kicks in. Physiologically, this desire is driven by the change in Carbon Dioxide, not the drop in Oxygen.

The ability to control your breathing, and your response to it, is a wonderful gift, that can help relieve headaches, reduce your perception of stress, control anxiety, increase athletic performance and even change your mood.

And, if your breathing is restricted mechanically, there is research based evidence that manual therapies can also help improve this, increasing your functional effective volume and respiratory mechanics, also helping with the above issues.

At the Clinic, we have spent years working with specialists and carrying out research ourselves on best ways to treat, unlock and improve breathing, from relaxation exercises to breath control systems, and manual therapies to address underlying function issues.

Book today online and talk to us to experience the benefits.

On: Suffering

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Suffering – to undergo pain or hardship.

Suffering is a subjective experience. Experiencing is objective. The difference is critical, and multifaceted, but is essentially context and control.

A person has a respiratory virus. They experience all the symptoms of congestion, headache, sneezing, fatigue. They only suffer with a cold if it makes them miserable as well. And if it does, thats allowed. Being ill is awful.

People in conflict zones undergo extraordinary hardships, as destruction and the potential for death surround them, with little opportunity to escape. And yet, so many of them are far more resilient than those of us who fall apart if Disney+ cancels season 2 of our favourite show. Somedays, especially with loss, grief and pain, I am sure they are suffering enormously.

The same goes for many other areas. People experience a life changing injury. They only suffer if they don’t get the support, medical care and rehabilitation that they need to allow them to return to independence and a fulfilling role in society, AND, they choose the path of misery and suffering, with the adjacent loss of control.

That choice is hard. Incredibly so. It is a choice they make every day. To suffer, or to experience, to live with or in spite of?

From having spent many years with these people, I admire them all, and especially the ones who choose to lean in to it.

From them, and from conversations with many of them, as well as reflections of my own, I offer the following thought.

It is.

Today it is hurting. Today is is raining, Today I have a cold. Today I have a back pain and didn’t sleep well, the children are playing up and I have worries about the council tax bill.

But.

I am still me, I am still a parent, I am still loved, I am still interested in art, science, reading, steam engines of the mid 20th Century, whatever forms part of your self identity.

It is, I have, not I am.

Labels are for shopping, or nasty little lists. Don’t take a label.

I am, it is.

On: Tendons and Ligaments

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Tendons tether muscle, ligaments link bone.

But both can be damaged, become weakened, or scarred.

So how can we, both as practitioners and people, prevent this, or at least minimise its impact?

Prevention is always better than a cure, and therefore ensuring the tendons (when reading tendons, assume ligaments as well, although there are differences in all sorts of subtle ways) remain strong is vital.

Note – If you are currently taking medications, especially certain antibiotics, check with the pharmacy regarding soft tissue effects. For example, Fluoroquinolone antibiotics have a rare side effect with regards to soft tissue, so if you are prescribed those, it may be sensible to reduce training load during and after the treatment.

Tendons can be trained, like any other tissue, and research indicates that they respond best to cycles of isometric tension, of approx 10 – 30 seconds, with 30 – 50 seconds rest. Initially, it doesn’t even matter what joint position you are in, as long as the tendon is under tension, and pain free. Over time, you can increase the load and the number of cycles you carry out, to ensure continued development.

There is also some evidence that longditudinal supplementation with collagen (preferably from biologically similar connective tissue) is beneficial, especially when consumed with vitamin C.

Once you have a stable, platform, you can work on repairing any scarring or weaknesses in the tissue by using long duration concentric / isometric / eccentric training movements, through the pain free range of motion. For example, a squat under light load, with all three phases taking 10 seconds, although this time is individual.

Finally, there is also some evidence that early, and safe return to loading after injury can help reduce the time to competition, since the stimulus causes the scar tissue to form beneficially, rather than scattered.

TLDR: tendons can be strengthed, healthy tendons can increase your overall performance, isometric exercises are beneficial to tendon health.

On: failure

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If you try to do too much in one go, you’ll fail.

You’ll fail because change requires effort and energy to sustain and you only have so much of it to go around.

Getting up earlier requires going to be earlier. But you can’t do that if you have commitments that keep you busy.

Cleaning up your diet requires knowledge, planning, effort.

Going to the gym is bullshit. I love gyms, they’re generally my safe place, but they are not the panacea sold by fitness grifters. Gyms are a place of effort, learning, painful self reflection. Go when you are ready for the lesson and can take humility in your kitbag.

Meditation and mindfulness are not solutions, they’re tools. If you can’t accept the dancing monkeys in your head, you’re not going to want to spend any time with them.

And after all that negativity?

Get rid of something. Less is far easier to manage than more.

Stop drinking. Stop smoking. Stop scrolling. If you can’t, accept you might have an addition issue and ask for support.

Walk more, drive less.

Throw out something from your house. It’s almost certainly clutter and there’s a probability someone else could benefit.

Positive deeds are loops. One feeds another. Make space for positive things.

We can offer some of this support.

An exercise review. A safe space to work through basic coaching issues, treatment to give your body space in itself to heal. A motivating kick and gentle reminder that being human takes effort but is worth it.

But make space. Do less, just do less better.

Be kind, be curious.

On: You’re wrong about the gym

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A new gym opens, the marketing tells you that if you join, you can finally tone up, lose weight and get fitter.

Possibly.

But only if you know what you’re doing with the rest of your life.

Otherwise, its just a kind of fun place to hang out and move.

The gym should be a place of education (in ancient Greece, the gynasium was a place of practical learning, and its still grammar school in Germany). It should be a place where you find new boundaries, develop skills and work on yourself. It should be a structured, functional representation of the rest of life.

But. If you were to get a modern gym goer to take off their huge headphones, stop posing for IG reels and ask them why they’re there, it will more likely be that they want to get toned, or lose weight. Or both. If you managed to ask a teen boy, they’ll probably tell you they want to build muscle. The ironic thing being that a healthy teen is so awash with growth potential, almost any resistance training will create that effect. Less so a man over 30 but the potential is still there.

None of those will happen unless you have the rest of your life squared away. If you’re too stressed, if you’re not sleeping great, if you leave the gym and walk straight into Costa for a triple syrup latte with added cake, if you don’t get your protein intake dialed in, if you don’t allow yourself space to rest, then its going to be so much harder to achieve any of your desired outcomes.

Even if you have defined them well enough. But thats a subject for another day.

Go to the gym. take advice from a professional, not just an influencer. but get the rest of your life sorted as well.

On: Fitness

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A colleague had started going to the gym “to get fitter”. While admirable and absolutely to be celebrated, I did wonder how they would know when they had achieved that goal.

After some reflection, and a walk, I developed the thought that fitness can be broken down into 2 main components. A duration / distance one, and a strength / durability one.

Duration / distance is comparatively simple. Can the person go further, for longer, or faster. These are goals that can be defined, measured and checked. Walk for a mile, walk for an hour, finish a 5k event, run a marathon, cycle for 3 hours, push the wheelchair to the shops.

The other component is harder to measure. Yes, strength can be measured by increasing the amount you can move against resistance and for how long. But that doesn’t tend to serve an end purpose. I would posit that the role of strength for the vast majority of people, athletes included, is to help them carry out a defined task with more capacity, to be more durable and to recover faster. In Crossfit this may be to complete the prescribed workout faster, or with less fatigue. For others, it may be to be able to carry a child, lift down a suitcase or spend longer with their family before tiring. And for all, it should help reduce the risk of injury.

By redefining our initial goal of fitness, we can review the strength component in this capacity and then prescribe the correct stimulus to get the desired response.

Instead of saying you want to get fitter, define a goal, and a measurable, meaningful outcome. Then tune the exercise to that.

On: Rituals and routines

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It seems like every influencer has their own special ritual and routine that helps them optimise their productivity, create more wealth and still manage to find time for their side hustle / thruple / vanlife trip around the pacific north west. And you can learn the secret if you listen to their podcast / buy their e-book / subscribe to their youtube channel.

And if thats true then I’m pleased for them, they’ve achieved some sense of balance and awareness in their lives.

For the rest of us, those who don’t speak fluent Aspiranto (the common language of the Antisocial media personality), some of the ideas can still offer us a benefit, especially if we draw our attention to them.

First though, definitions.

A routine is a sequence of actions that are repeated regularly, often without much thought. They can be simple, like brushing your teeth before bed, or more complex, like going to the gym regularly. As well as saving time and energy, they can also provide us with a sense of structure and predictability.

Rituals are also a series of repeated actions, but they are typically more intentional and meaningful than routines. Rituals can be religious, spiritual, or secular. Often performed less frequently, they can be performed to mark important life events, to connect with others, or simply to find peace and calm.

However, it is important to note that the distinction between routines and rituals is not always clear-cut. For example, a morning routine of yoga and meditation could be considered both a routine and a ritual, depending on the individual’s intention.

And herein lie the key differences: Intention, Attention, Focus.

To turn a routine into a ritual, we have to be fully present in the process. We have to understand the why , not just the what, and allow that awareness to be part of the process. And, we can often use symbols and anchors to help us trigger those patterns more effectively.

If, for example, you were brought up in the Western Christian Catholic tradition, then the smells and the bells would automatically allow you to access the full script for the ritual taking place, whereas it could seem confusing and overwhelming if you had never experienced it before.

These symbols and anchors can all be used to create a sense of belonging in those who have been initiated, and may create a barrier to those who are outside.

So, to improve an aspect of our lives, we can create a routine to support it. Want to drink more water, put in place a structure that encourages this with the use of triggers and anchor points. Feel that a 5 minute mobility routine would offer some benefit to your overall health? Make it simple to carry out. Look at what is currently stopping you and remove those barriers.

And, to make the mobility a meditation, or to use the water break as a gratitude practice (both of which are backed by real science to offer benefit), then choose your focus in the moment to be on your breath, on the process, on reflection, rather than carrying out the motions.