Has this age old question finally been answered............

Does stretching before running prevent injuries?  Now there's a contentious issue if ever there was one!

Personally I don't enjoy stretching and yet I love yoga?  A contradiction right?  Well not really.  You see a study published in August -  the foundation for this article in the New York Times has found that static stretching [a stretch held for up to 20 seconds] "before a workout not only does not prevent overuse injuries but also may actually hinder athletic performance".

The hindering of performance can be explained thus "“There is a very important neurological effect of stretching,” said Ross Tucker, Ph.D., a physiologist in South Africa and co-author of the Web site The Science of Sport. “There is a reflex that prevents the muscle from being stretching too much,” which is activated by static stretching, inducing the muscle to become, in effect, tighter in self-protection. Past studies have found that athletes’ vertical jump is lower after a bout of static stretching than with no stretching at all. They can’t generate as much power.

So, my thinking goes that doing a dedicated stretching session or yoga class, which requires no athletic performance afterwards, will increase flexibility, tone muscles and aid recovery. 

Simply put -  it feels great!

Photo courtesy of:  Creative Commons Flickr - lululemon athletica

Core stability - why it's important

I have a very vivid memory of my Gran telling me to pull my stomach in. Even in the 60's it was common knowledge that pulling your tummy in was good for you - made you look slimmer and also improved your posture.

Now of course, with all the advances in sports medicine and research we know that even back then the idea had solid reasons behind it. Now the equivalent of "pulling in your stomach" is called "improving core stability".

Core stability is an essential determinant of success for all sports people, be they cyclists, runners or swimmers, football or rugby players, golfers or rowers. That’s because the body's core muscles are the foundation for all other movement. You don't have to be sporty to benefit from a strong core. A strong core is ESSENTIAL for good posture.

Are you sitting and reading this? Don't do anything now except take your attention to your belly - what is it doing? Are your stomach muscles relaxed? Tense them and see what immediately happens. You can no longer slouch so much right? As you tense your stomach muscles your shoulders have to rise and move backwards. This is an over-simplification of what your core does but it's a pretty powerful example.

The muscles of the torso stabilise the spine and provide a solid foundation for movement in the extremities. These core muscles lie deep within the torso. They generally attach to the spine, pelvis and muscles that support the scapula. When these muscles contract, we stabilise the spine, pelvis and shoulders and create a solid base of support. We are then able to generate powerful movements of the extremities.

The biggest benefit of core training is to develop functional fitness - that is, fitness that is essential to both daily living and regular activities.

To learn more about your core and to see all the different muscles involved click here.

Pilates and Yoga are great for strengthening the core - along with these exercises which you can do at home.

Which Yoga Type Are You?

Hardly a day goes by when I don't sing the praises of yoga to my clients.

It's great for relieving stress in both body and mind and very importantly helps correct kyphotic [rounded shoulder] posture. Many of my clients seek treatment for upper back muscle tension and pain caused by a forward hunched posture. By the age of 30 or 40 this posture is often firmly entrenched in the spinal verterbrae and shoulder girdle and unfortunately there's no quick fix to rectify the condition. So yoga is a long term solution, which requires patience, time and dedication to yield excellent and amazing results.

Put you off yet? You don't have to be bendy and flexible or get into eye-watering pretzel positions I promise you.

This article on UK MSN gives a really good overview of the most popular yoga styles.

Give it a go - you'll wish you'd started in your twenties once you do - but better late than never!

Free Workout Podcasts

Can't be bothered going to the gym or joining a gym, or going to the gym you already joined? Then this might be for you.

Now you can have a "virtual" personal trainer and do a workout at home or on the road. I've found two workout podcast sites that offer free video downloads.

YOGAamazing brings the class to you. Download the sessions and watch them on your computer or video MP3 player. Each 15 - 20 minute workout has a specific focus, like relaxation, balancing, poses for the shoulders etc.

Podcastgo offers both yoga and strengthening and toning workouts.

Finding excuses not to exercise are getting harder and harder. Now...... if only motivation could be downloaded!

Research shows yoga reduces anxiety and depression

I've been doing yoga for 10 years and could bore you silly about how much I love it, how good it is for you, blah... blah.... blah..... instead, I'll let this article I came across on healthypages.com explain that yoga doesn't just make you more flexible and keep your muscles and joints healthy, it's equally as good for the brain!

"It has recently been discovered that the practice of yoga can increase the levels of gamma amino butyric acid (GABA) which is a principle inhibitory neurotransmitter of the brain. Low GABA levels are associated with anxiety and depression disorders and increasing these levels has up until now been achieved by the use of pharmaceutical preparations.

A team of researchers at McLean Hospital and the Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) conducted a test with 8 people who practiced yoga for one hour and 11 people who read for one hour but did no yoga.
Both before and after the test the subjects were tested with magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging. The yoga practitioners showed a 27 percent increase in GABA levels whereas the control group did not register any change in their levels. The technique was developed by Professor J. Eric Jensen, PhD who assists in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and another physicist from McLean Hospital

One of the authors of the report, Chris Streeter, MD, said: "Our findings clearly demonstrate that in experienced yoga practitioners, brain GABA levels increase after a session of yoga." A senior author of the report, Perry Renshaw, MD, PhD was enthusiastic about the health benefits to the public that would result from something as readily available and cheap to practice as yoga for dealing with the symptoms that arise from disorders connected to a low GABA rate".

Excerpt from Healthypages.com

Yoga For Blokes

Who said yoga has to be serious?

Yogaforfellas