I just found a great video on the New York Times website (so highbrow) that demonstrates a number of exercises for improving your ankle stability. This is particularly important for anyone who has ever sprained or injured their ankle ligaments, but I recommend these exercises for anyone participating in sports. Having good stability will help in a number of sports such as running, touch football, soccer, netball, aussie rules (go the mighty Swans!) etc etc etc. It may even come in handy when you’re wearing the wobbly boot after three …

My ongoing quest to become a professional sports star took me to the Dunc Gray Velodrome on Saturday. A few old mates of mine hired the Olympic Velodrome (wasn’t even that expensive) and we did a 1 hour session learning to ride around a cycling track. I could not believe how steep that banked curve is – 42degrees!
I was looking good to become a pro when the coach motioned to me to slow down. I assumed it was because he was worried that my bike was going to disintegrate due …

A new study has come out saying that the best treatment for arthritis is exercise. This makes sense and is something I’ve long believed and I may even have posted about it once before with respect to knee arthritis and tai chi.
The pain associated with arthritis comes from things like the muscles tightening up around the joint (to try to stabilise it), the joint losing mobility and there being less fluid in the joint.
It would make sense then, that exercise would help. Exercise increase your flexibility, your balance, promotes blood flow …

Yes, that’s a picture of my Nan and I playing the pokies. I was browsing a bunch of nerdy medical sites the other day trying to make myself seem knowledgeable when I stumbled across an article with the title “Aging process reversed with positive lifestyle changes“. I opened it and had a read and it had merit, so I thought I’d share the contents with you.
There’s these tiny things in your chromosomes called Telomeres, and according to scientists Telomeres control the aging process: “If the telomeres are shortened or damaged, …

At this time of year I see a lot of people with new injuries. When I ask them what they think caused it, they give me a sheepish kind of look, like they know they did something wrong. They then proceed to give me a list of “reasons” as to why they were a bit slack about exercising during winter but now that summer is approaching, they really need to get in shape fast, so they’re trying to fit 6 months of training into 3.

I think the most common times …

Heya, I was recently asked to write an article for the Michelle Bridges 12WBT website. They asked me to write a piece responding to concerns from some of their members about being pushed too hard by personal trainers. The article is about learning when to tell if the pain you are feeling is a sign that you’ve hurt yourself, or if it’s just that deep burn you get from a good workout? Want the answers – Click here…

I know, I really seem to bang on about exercising, don’t I. Just happens to be the case that there have been a lot of studies come out recently showing its benefits, like how it helps you handle stress, and how it can change your DNA so you store less fat. Now a new study has shown that it can help you sleep more, and get better quality sleep. Apparently exercise does it all.
In the study a group of people were asked to do 30 minutes of exercise (stationary bike …

A new study has shown for the first time what happens at a genetic level when we exercise. The findings add a whole new level of support to the idea that regular exercise helps people lose weight. We know that exercising requires your body to burn fats, carbohydrates or protein to obtain fuel, but this study shows there is a lot more going on than just that.
The study followed a group of “slightly overweight” people in their mid 30s who did not have a history of regular exercise. They were …

New research has come out showing in quite amazing detail how regular exercise causes changes at the molecular level in brain tissue, and how these changes can help your ability to cope with stressful situations. In the study mice that were given a treadmill to run on for 6 weeks showed significant changes in brain tissue compared to a group of mice who just sat re-watching Season 3 of Game of Thrones (my God, how good was it!).
A couple of quotes form the study:
“Running produced a large increase in the …

This sounds pretty sweet. I have been a huge fan of Vitamin D for years, and now a new study has found that t can help speed up the recovery of muscle injuries. The link to the full article is here but I wouldn’t suggest you try to read it. No offence, it’s just that they use phrases like  “Vitamin D is a pleiotropic micronutrient that influences health across a range of physiological and pathophysiological conditions in humans”. I mean, come on. Anyway, all you need to know is that after a …