Swimming while Pregnant

I have been researching swimming whilst pregnant and came across this article which is a good short read: http://www.sportcentric.com/vsite/vfile/page/fileurl/0,,4716-1-1-84574-0-file,00.pdf The main thrust of the advise seems to be that swimming is good, particularly to counterbalance any postural changes that may occur by strengthening your chest and back muscles. This is important because the body’s centre of gravity changes dramatically as you gain weight and rather than let your muscles just adjust in an unbalanced posture you need to keep them healthy and strong by exercising. For someone carrying a baby the main benefit of swimming has to be getting into … Continue reading

Shin Splints

Having seen some interesting theories on Shin Splints and what to do about them in recent days, I thought I might write a little about them. There are actually 3 different conditions which are known as shin splints, so its quite useful to be able to differentiate between them. I’ll start scary and get less so as we go through. The first and most scary is stress fracture of the tibia (main weight bearing bone in the leg below the knee). If this happens, get it looked at asap. Stop running. Let it heal. There really isnt much that massage … Continue reading

Breathing Pattern Disorders

So in view of the fact today is National Asthma Awareness day in the UK, I thought I’d write a little on Breathing Pattern Disorders (BPD) and how they affect people and the human organism. There are a few misconceptions about oxygen, carbon dioxide and their relationship with the human body. When we breathe, we expel CO2, and breathe in O2. However, this does not necessarily mean that CO2 is poisonous to humans. No, we cannot live from breathing in CO2, but yes, we can have big issues from not having enough of it in our system. When a person … Continue reading