LOWER BACK PAIN

You do not need to suffer with lower back pain.

The truth is, unless you are actively working on getting it better - it never will.

Much of a modern day lifestyle involves sitting. Its regrettable, but often unavoidable. This can take its toll, and requires a conscious effort in order for it not to have a negative impact.

A lot of our face to face work involves fixing these common problems. Where there is a will, there is a way!

We pride ourselves on being great personal trainers by focusing on these tiny details that improve the quality of our clients lives. Don’t be left out and be sure not to endure pain for no reason!

ROLLING

This technique is used to maintain/improve connective tissue that sits just below the skin, wraps and connects the muscles, bones, nerves and blood vessels of the body. This gives the feeling of reduces tension in a muscle and free up its movement.

Normally you will place your muscle on top of a roller or ball, whether your on your back, sitting, on your front or on your side. This allows you to get adequate pressure on the roller. You should be able to control and adjust the pressure that you apply on the roller. 

You are looking for areas of acute discomfort. If 1 is comfortable and 10 is unbearable, you are looking for about a 7. Once you have found the targeted area, position the roller exactly on top of the hotspot and start really small movements backwards and forwards, rolling over the hotspot. It's normal for this to feel uncomfortable but try and stick with it, adjusting the pressure as needed. Repeat on that target area until the discomfort starts to subside.  Once you feel the it subside (it won't go completely) you should then flush the muscle to help speed the process of improving the connective tissue. This means long rolling movements across the entire muscle. Spend approx 1-2 minutes on a given muscle.

The aim is to feel comfortable rolling any major muscle group. In order to achieve this aim, you are best rolling little and often. The best times include

• Before Training

• After Training

• Before Bed

• Rest Days

YOU CAN PURCHASE A GOOD FOAM ROLLER HERE

DYNAMIC STRETCHING

Dynamic stretching is a method of increasing a range of motion through movement and engaging your muscles so that they are prepared to work. Typically you wont hold a given position for any longer than 5 seconds before moving into a new position or adjusting the intensity of the stretch. This allows dynamic mobility work to be ideal right before a workout without taking any power away from the muscle.

STATIC STRETCHING

Static stretching is basically holding a stretch position and working on increasing that stretch over time. You can increase your stretch by taking a deep breath and working on slowly increasing the range as you exhale. 

The idea of a static stretch is to get comfortable in uncomfortable positions and familiarise yourself with that position so that it becomes easy. Don't see it as making your muscles longer (this isn't the case) but more like you are increasing your pain threshold, only instead of pain, its the feeling of the stretch. Typically speaking, static stretches are best performed little (30-120 seconds) and often. Avoid static stretching an hour or so before training, as this can inhibit a muscles ability to contract to its full potential and could result in less power during your workout.

OVERVIEW

Mobility is the key to increasing your strength potential whilst reducing your risk of injury.
If you move better, you will be more efficient and not suffer from aches and pains in the future as you reduce the likelihood of putting yourself in compromising postures.

Unfortunately, mobility is probably the most under appreciated element of health and fitness. People think about lifting weights, going out for a run or playing a particular sport than stretching and mobilising. 

People also don't know enough about mobility. You need a knowledge of movement and anatomy that can be difficult to acquire - Thats where we come in.We read your movement through the screening process in the initiation and assign you a tailored mobility drill to strengthen the positions you can get into.

A mobility drill is simply a collection of movements/stretches that aim to achieve at least one of the following factors.

• Increased range of motion in a given joint.

• Switching on a given muscle/group of muscles so that they are ready for exercise.

• Improving your control of your body so that it moves better.

All of these elements combine into creating better movement and a stronger you, making it vital in achieving not only more efficient results, but better results.