Have you considered Sports and Remedial Massage?

If you’re like most people, you’ve had a sore neck or back after sitting too long at a desk, or you’ve had slight knee pain after a long run or cycle.  Perhaps you’ve noticed a decrease in your range of movement or that it seems to take you longer to recover from a training session. This is where sport and remedial massage therapy comes in.

During a treatment we work to identify the specific muscles and muscle groups that cause your day to day discomfort or impede your athletic performance.  I use manual therapy techniques to release tension in muscles and restore balance – not only where you feel pain but also in areas of tension that contribute to your problem.  The techniques we use include myofascial release, muscle energy techniques and soft tissue and trigger pointing. These techniques work deep into your muscles and soft tissue easing out those areas of tension effectively reducing those aches and pains.

In each session I will work with you with the aim to help you understand the factors influencing your discomfort.  Not only do I want to remedy the problem but also help you understand ways to help prevent its reoccurrence. Most sessions include advice on stretching, posture, or an activity you can do that will help your specific issue.

Sports and remedial massage therapy focuses on soft tissue aspects of problems, such as muscle and connective tissue.  This means that if your problem has an additional, non-soft-tissue related element, you may need to see someone else in addition to or instead of us, such as your GP, a physiotherapist, osteopath, or other health professional.  You can rest assured that if I’m not seeing the progress I  would expect I will suggest you see someone else as appropriate, and I’m happy to provide updates and progress reports to or coordinate treatments with other practitioners.

If you are interested or would like more information please ask at the leisure reception for Zoe our Sports Therapist.

What is Tabata Training?

So many people ask, how can I get in shape quick? Or how can I drop weight quick? It seems the quicker the better in many cases and there is a one word answer, Tabata!
so next question, what is tabata training? It was researched and developed by Dr. Izumi Tabata and his colleagues at the National Institute of Health and Nutrition. The training developed was based around very high energy and intense burst of activity with short recovery and then repeating, such as interval training, except the key with tabata training is you choose a training method which rope in as many muscles as you can and requires maximum effort, then you give it all you’ve for the twenty seconds, it has to be relentless and without pause. The training works well with such things as sprints, rowing, swimming  or heavy punch bag work, you can even expand to compound lifts such as heavy bag work, where you not only lift with speed and power, you also slam the heavy bag back down to earth and repeat.
through tabata training it was found that athletes tested has an increased' VO2 max (the point at which they get winded)  14% in six weeks. According to the journal of Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 6 to 8 very hard 20 second intervals with 10 second rest periods may be one of the best possible training protocols.

Your resting metabolism is higher in the few hours immediately after exercise as your body adapts to the stresses of the workout. Tabata routines burn more calories than a longer, easier, session. As your resting metabolism burns predominantly fat, this means you get fitter and leaner with less training, that’s good news to many!

The basics of Tabata training is 20 seconds flat out, 10 seconds easy and repeat.

The routine

Warm up Ten minutes easy shadow boxing or jogging on the spot.

Work period  squat down until your thighs are level with the floor, then explode upwards, leaping as high as you can then land controlled and lightly. Repeat for 20 seconds.

Recovery period jog for 10 seconds.

Repeat eight times this method isn’t for the faint of heart, but its simple in principle and yields great results, so if time is of the essence and you want those gains fast then follow the wisdom of  Dr. Izumi Tabata.

Good luck.


Karl O’Sullivan

 

Why choose studio classes?

More and more people are turning to studio based fitness classes to achieve their goals. Whether it’s Yoga or Pilates to Circuits and Body Pump, at your local gym or village hall these classes are a hit!

They provide extra motivation, more variety and a sense of belonging compared to training on your own. Class attendees feel they belong to something and provide a great base to socialize and meet new people.

Instructors have the ability to be more creative and show off their talents and expertise to large groups whilst watching their class achieve fantastic results.

 All in all group fitness is a winner and here at Breadsall Priory Leisure Club we offer a fantastic variety of studio, outdoor and pool based classes to meet everyone’s needs and tastes. Our instructors are highly trained and experienced to deliver not only a great class but also a great service. There is a great buzz at the club between our members and instructors with fantastic results from our members who loyalty attend our classes.

 We deliver over 10 different types of class over 6 days a week culminating in over 40 classes a week so get yourself booked in now and find out what your missing out on.

Simon Tranter

Why I believe a cool down and stretching is so important

A cool down is very important for a number of reasons, it is a way to lower the pulse, it is stretching the muscles in the body and it also prevents blood pooling.

Blood pooling

Firstly blood pooling is something you want to avoid. It is something that occurs if you stop exercise too suddenly and the heart is still beating rapidly without the legs moving. It is the lack of pressure in the veins and the need for muscle contraction that make a cool down essential at the end of a session. For example you could be doing a few sets on legs raises and suddenly stop without cooling down. This could cause blood pooling. Your heart would still be beating without your legs moving. The collecting of blood in the legs can lead to dizziness or in worst cases even fainting as venous return does not match cardiac output. I would always encourage people to cool down after exercise it will leave you with a better recovery for your next session. Cool down exercises include going on the stepper, bike at low levels etc.

Pulse lowering

The reason pulse lowering is advised after exercising is to gradually reduce the heart rate. Going on a step bike at a low speed would be a good choice and every minute maybe go down a level or 2 on the intensity. This gives the blood vessels time to return to the normal width. It will maintain your cardiac output; remove metabolic waste products of exercise from the muscles and in my eyes most importantly return heart rate back to resting heart rate gradually. An example of this would be driving a car at 70 mph and doing an emergency stop every time you slow down, this wouldn’t be good for car breaks whereas slowing down gradually and pressing the breaks pads lightly is much better for the cars breaks.

Benefits of stretching

Stretching is important before and after exercise. Stretching will promote and increase flexibility and will also help to avoid muscular imbalance. Maintenance stretching and developmental stretching are slightly different. Maintenance Stretching is where you hold a stretch for 10-15 seconds. This type of stretching helps to achieve a healthy functional range of movement for everyday life. It should stop you feeling so stiff and tight the day after you train a certain muscle group. Developmental stretching is where you target a certain muscle which is tight or around a certain joint where a greater range of movement is desired. This type of stretch is held for 30 seconds at least. It is all about finding a comfortable position and focusing on the muscle relaxing. It is vital that the muscle is stretched to the point of tension but not pain. The muscles that will generally be used for this type of stretch are the gastrocnemius, hamstring, adductors, hip flexors and pectorals.

My conclusion to this is you should not work out without a cool down and without stretching. It will prevent injury and help the body to be much more mobile.

Corey Hodgkinson