Leg strength, trunk control and endurance for the snow, winter sports and running seasons. Work on your postural awareness and control while using your legs.

For this exercise, find a wall and weights if you have them.

1. Stand with your feet hip width apart and approximately 30-40 cm from the wall.

2. As you stand with your back against the wall and with tall waists, notice the feeling of your tail bone flat on the wall, the neutral concave curve of your lumbar spine and the flatness of your upper back on the wall. This is your correct spinal and pelvic alignment and you should strive for this in your squatted sit and twist also.

3. Breathe in deeply to prepare and as you exhale, gently lift your pelvic floor and deepen your navel, then slide down the wall into a seated position.

4. Take care of your knees with their alignment directly over the ankles and knee caps in line with your second toe.

5. Take your arms (with or without weight) up to the front, bringing them together at the middle at shoulder height. Be mindful of your relaxed tall neck and wide, soft shoulders.

6. As you breathe in, turn your upper trunk (with arms out in front) to the right no more than 45 degrees and as you exhale turn back to the centre. Repeat to the left.

Do this 4-6 times each side and in time with your deep breathing.

7. Try to focus on the following:

- keep your pelvis stable with flat heavy tailbone on the wall and no twisting trough the hips

- turn your trunk with long waists

- keep your shoulders open and soft

- maintain a gentle pelvic floor and deep abdominal activation throughout the set.

8. You will really feel this in the thighs and across the trunk. It will build endurance in your large leg muscles, oblique abdominal and deep postural core muscles.

9. Try this for 2-3 sets and follow with quads stretches and the wall twist or table stretch.

Healthy neuro-dynamics for your upper trunk and arm nerve pathways. 

Reduce arm tightness, aches and neck tension while building your spinal and postural muscle endurance.

Scoop sand while sitting at your desk.

1. Sitting supported in your chair, ‘grow tall’ through your waists and gently lift your breastbone.

2. Lengthen gently through the back of your neck, lifting the base of your skull away from your shoulders.

3. Now imaging a full bucket of sand by your hip. Scoop deeply into your bucket for a handful of sand, bringing it up to your shoulder and then pushing it away from you to your side.

4. Move slowly, working on your tall posture. Keep your shoulders soft and down.

5. Return to your bucket for another scoop and repeat 5 times on each side.

6. Visualise your nerve pathways gliding and sliding up and down in your arm.

Meandering around your muscles and joints all the way up into your neck where they originate. Your nerves are quite cream in colour and in your arm, about the thickness on a piece of twine. The nerves are actually coated by a tube of protective proteins called the neural tube and there are many branches breaking away from each other like a river and its tributaries.

7. For those of you who are interested, why not google ‘brachial plexus’ for some images of your upper limb nerve pathways.

8. Don’t be afraid of your nerves! They are lovely and stretchy and adore being gently mobilised.

A proper warm up can increase the blood flow to the working muscle which results in decreased muscle stiffness, less risk of injury and improved performance.

Additional benefits of warming up include physiological and psychological preparation. Recently there has been a shift in thinking and scientific evidence from the ‘traditional’ warm up consisting of a light jog and then 10-15minutes of static ‘long hold ‘stretching after.

Research work by McNair (2000) [1] and Knudson (2001) [2] suggests that the use of dynamic stretches - slow controlled movements through the full range of motion - are the most appropriate exercises for the warm up, and by contrast, static stretches are more appropriate for the cool down.

Here are some ideas on how to warm up before your run or game:

1. Gradually increasing the intensity of your specific sport is always a good start. If about to play soccer, rugby or go for a run, begin with a light jog and then add a few faster paced run throughs. Focus on smooth controlled movements with ‘drive’ and not necessarily at full flat out pace.

2. Movements that are specific to your sport. These could include step lunges or running low and zigzag for netball, soccer and rugby. Short 5-10 meter sprints while changing direction, or swinging/pumping movements of the arms while skipping to warm up the upper body. Sprints and dropping down to touch the sidelines. Use your imagination here. Think of all the drills you may practice at training and use them as your ‘calisthenic-like’ warm up to prepare your muscles for your sport.

3. The ‘Skip with a Twist’ exercise. A simple warm up exercise for the muscles of the core, upper body and legs.

Read more at http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/sampleworkouts/qt/SkipTwist.htm

Cooling down after your game should consist of a light 5 minutes jog or walk to decrease body temperature and remove waste products from the working muscles such as lactic acid. Follow this up with 5 to 10 minutes static stretching exercises. Static stretches are more appropriate to the cool down as they help muscles to relax, realign muscle fibres and re-establish their normal range of movement.

These stretches should be held for approximately 10 - 30 seconds. Stretching after your game not only has benefits in the physiological state of your muscles and joints, but it also just feels great!

1.MCNAIR, P.J. et al. (2000) Stretching at the ankle joint: viscoelastic responses to holds and continuous passive motion. Medicine & Science in Sport and Exercise, 33 (3), p. 354-358

2.KNUDSON, D et al. (2001) Acute Effects of Stretching Are Not Evident in the Kinematics of the Vertical Jump, Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 15 (1), p. 98-101

As we spend so much of our time sitting at our desk mostly staring at a computer screen it is very easy to become stiff and sore. Here are 5 easy ways to exercise while at work to reduce your stiffness and pain:

1. Seated Twisting: Move forward so you are sitting on the edge of your chair and sit up tall. Reach around towards the back of the chair with your right hand and place your left hand on the back of your right knee. Staying up tall, hold here for 20 seconds to feel a stretch around the middle of your back. Repeat to the left side.

2. Neck rotations: Your neck joints like to be moved to try and avoid stiffness. Sitting up tall turn your head to the left, like you are looking over your shoulder hold for 1 second then look to the right. Repeat 5 times to each side.

3. Wrist stretching: Straightening your right arm out in front of you towards your screen with your palm facing the ceiling. Gently let your fingers fall towards your desk and pull towards you with your left hand to give an extra stretch. Hold for 20 seconds and repeat on the left. This can help stretch the wrists especially if you are using the mouse for long periods of time.

4. Hamstring stretch: Standing up beside your chair. Place your right foot on the chair, making sure your hips and your left foot are facing the chair. Hold your body up tall and fold at your hips bringing your chest towards your knee. If you have your body tall you will not need to bend forward as much before feeling the stretch in the back of the thigh. Keep both legs straight and try not to reach for your toes. Hold for 20 seconds and repeat on the left. There is a high correlation with tight hamstrings and back pain so it is always great for your body to do hamstring stretches.

5. Move: Moving every hour is the best exercise you can do for your body at work. Go and get a drink or put your printer further away so you can walk and move for a few minutes every hour. Our bodies were not designed to sit for 8 hours straight.

Melanie Platt

B.App.Sc(Sports Studies), M.Phty

Principal Physiotherapist for The Fix Program.

Here are the term dates for your diaries for next year.

Term 1

Monday 30th January - Thursday 5th April (10 weeks)

Term 2

Monday 23rd April - Friday 29th June (10 weeks)

Anzac Holiday 26th April

Term 3

Monday 16th July - Friday 21st September (10 weeks)

Term 4

Monday 8th October - Friday 21st December (11 weeks)

As some of you are aware, an invaluable tool in muscle and “brain” (motor control) retraining now available to physiotherapists is the RTUS. Our colleagues at Castlereagh Physiotherapy Clinic have one on site and most of you would find a session with it most helpful. From the beginnings of your rehabilitation to checking your progress,  the RTUS has great benefit. 

It provides us with capability similar to ultrasound machines used for diagnosis and viewing foetal pictures during pregnancy. The Castlereagh physios have been trained on using this machine to show you in real time (i.e. during the actual exercise) which muscles you are contracting.  By watching the muscles move relative to each other, you can fine control your contraction to involve those deep abdominals, pelvic floor and buttock muscles and know you are doing it correctly.  Once you’re certain you’ve got it right,your confidence that you are doing it right in fix classes will grow.

Research has shown that the core muscles (deep abdominals and pelvic floor muscles), loose their postural tone after lower back pain and this contributes to recurrent exacerbations.  Returning these muscles to their original strength and control greatly enhances your full recovery.

Patients with poor core stability may also suffer hip, knee, ankle or neck pain and so your physio may suggest some RTUS for your treatment program.

Sessions with the Castlereagh Clinic for RTUS cost $90 and can be claimed as an “Initial assessment” with your private health cover. Call them on 9264 7974 for an appointment.

As most of you will be aware, Katrina will be heading off at the end of January to have another baby. This has meant a re-shuffle of the physio staff to cover all classes. There will be minimal change to the term timetable and classes offered. The changes include:

• Alla will teach 2 full days from her usual 1, and will now instruct Mondays and Wednesdays;
• Sue will increase her hours and teach Tuesday lunch and all Thursday lunch and evening classes; 
• Christine will increase her hours teaching to include Tuesday evening and Friday lunch classes. 

Melanie who now teaches on a Monday will be sadly leaving us as she heads off on her own entrenpreneurial pursuits. She is opening her own private physiotherapy practice, which will offer physiotherapy, dietetics and The Fix Program! So, although we may lose her at the CBD branch, we will still have her in the Fix Program family. We all wish her all the good luck and fortune.

There will again be 8 terms on offer in 2011. All terms listed below will be 10 weeks except where indicated other wise.

The fix term dates are as follows:

Term 1  Monday 31st January - Friday 8th April

Term 2  Monday 7th March - Friday 13th May (midterm start)

Term 3  Monday 26th April - Friday 1st July

Term 4  Monday 30th May - Friday 5th August (midterm start)

Term 5  Monday 18th July - Friday 23rd September

Term 6  Monday 22nd August - Friday 28th October (midterm start)

Term 7  Monday 10th October - Friday 23rd December (11 weeks)

Term 8  Monday 7th November - Friday 23rd December ( 7 weeks) (midterm start)

Enrolments for term 1 2011 have begun, so speak with your physio at class.

Enrolments are being taken for summer school classes. Classes will run for 3 weeks from Monday the 10th January. All classes on offer will be of an Intermediate/Advanced level. Classes on offer are:

Mondays 5.15pm and 6.15pm with Alla
Tuesdays 11.30am, 12.30pm and 1.30pm with Katrina.

The summer school term of 3 weeks will cost $87 and can be claimed through your private health insurer.

To reserve your space, simply place your name and email adress/contact number within a class on the list which has gone up in the studio. Alternatively, call the office on 9264 0077 or email at sydneycbd@fixprogram.com to reserve your space.