Exercise… What Is It?
Exercise is a form of physical activity that involves the person to move, stretch or exert some type of physical force to expend energy. Exercise is usually used to help increase performance, mobility and flexibility depending on the task at hand. Exercise can also be referred to as training where the main goal is to focus on an area of weakness and slowly improve it overtime for long term change. This may involve things such as cardiovascular health, bodily strength, conditioning, weight loss or even flexibility.
The Melbourne Chiropractors Approach to Exercise!
Exercise is used as a functional tool for us as chiropractors. Depending on what you do throughout the day or add into your lifestyle will allow us to predict things such as why certain injuries are occurring or how you can better improve your ongoing exercise regime by adding other types of skills to enhance your wellbeing.
What Are Signs/Symptoms That Exercise Is Killing Your Gains?
- Tendinitis
- Upper or lower back pains
- Severe soreness after working out
- Inability to perform at your best
- No motivation
- Changes to mood
- Overuse injuries (Tennis Elbow / Golfers Elbow)
- Joint pains
5 Misbeliefs In Exercise
- No Pain No Gain! – Usually ends up being more pain and little gain!
- More Work Is Better! – Unfortunately overtraining is a thing to much can be detrimental to performance gains.
- Training Harder Every Time! – Changing exercises over a period of time is better than continually changing as the body will never adapt
- Sweating It Out! – If you are sick it is never a good idea to train, if anything you will feel allot worse after it
- Copying Training Splits – Everyone is different and starting slow is always a great way of figuring where your physical needs are to be met.
3 Tips To Improve Your Exercises
- Create a support network (Hire a coach, exercise with friends)
- Research exercises that you enjoy and give them a go!
- Don’t push past your limits every session, pace yourself!
4 Simple Ways To Break A Plateau!
- Change the type of exercise you are performing
- Increase the intensity
- Slow down the repetitions or increase the time of the exercise
- Improve your technique or form (Hire a Coach or Watch How To Online)
If you are someone who is suffering from headaches, neck pain or low back pain or may think you are someone suffering from changes due to your exercise! You can always contact us or book online @ https://themelbournechiropractor.com.au/book-now
For more information about your first chiropractic visit, or our team of chiropractors visit the links attached!
*You Can Visit Us At Any Of Our 3 Locations – Broadmeadows – Westmeadows – Fawkner
Have you injured your hamstring? One of the most common injuries in sport is a Hamstring strain. The Hamstrings are three separate muscles of the posterior thigh that help flex the knee and extend the hip!
Injuries occur when the muscles are overstretched and overloaded in activities such as running. These injuries can range from mild strain to a very severe tear! Other injuries that can effect the Hamstrings include tendinopathies & bursitis.
One of the most common mistakes individuals make with rehabilitation of a hamstring injury is that they only focus on the hamstring and not the structures directly above it, such as the gluteal/buttock muscles
The gluteal muscles like the hamstrings are a powerful hip extensor and together have a synergistic role. Weakness in the gluteal muscles can often mean the hamstrings are overloaded and susceptible to injury. This is why gluteal strengthening forms an important part of the rehabilitation process
Here are 4 exercises for the gluteal muscles and hamstrings to speed up your recovery process
Elevated Single Leg Gluteal Bridge
Bulgarian Split Squat
Swiss Ball Leg Curl
Straight Leg Deadlift
Remember to consult a healthcare professional before commencing these exercises 
Shin splints are a common complaint affecting athletes, particularly runners! Shin Splints are a generalised term used to describe pains felt along the tibia [Shin bone]. They are an injury associated with overuse, overtraining and in some cases poor foot & leg mechanics. This ultimately leads to strain and pain in the muscles of the leg
Shin splints are generally diagnosed through a case history and physical examination by your physician. Further scanning can be utilised to rule out other sinister diagnoses’ such as fractures
Initial treatment involves pain and inflammation reduction through decreases in training load, increased rest and use of Ice. Once achieved, the aim is to regain full ROM of the leg and to regain normal foot biomechanics. Once that is completed, muscle strength of the lower limb must be restored, as return to sport and activity will commence
If left untreated, shin splits can can progress into tibial stress fractures which will require further intervention. In rarer cases, muscle compartment syndrome can develop, where surgical intervention may be required
Here are some exercises that may help decrease your pain associated with shin splints