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Anterior cruciate ligament Injury: The most disabling knee injury for a sportsperson involved in pivoting and turning activities e.g. basketball, netball, football, hockey. Structure: The ACL is intracapsular, covered by synovium and positioned within the intercondylar notch attaching proximally on the posterolateral femur with an oval-shaped 2cm attachment and fans out in three bands to attach distally on the tibial spine. The three bands of the ligament (anterolateral, int

A cervicogenic headache is simply another name for a headache which originates from the neck and is one of the most common types of headache. During certain neck movements or sustained postures, stretching or compression force is placed on the joints, muscles, ligaments and nerves of the neck. This may cause damage to these structures if the forces are beyond what the tissues can withstand. Damage can occur from a traumatic experience such as a specific incident or gradually

Core Stability - Activating Transversus Abdominus The transversus abdominus (TA) muscle is the deepest layer of the abdominal wall. It wraps around you similar to a brace or corset and attaches at the back to your spine. When it contracts it “stiffens” and supports the spine and is therefore vital to spinal stability and control. Core stability refers to the sub-conscious use of TA and other muscles, such as the gluteal (bottom) muscles, to provide an effective stable base fo

Definition: Anxiety disorder is an umbrella term used in psychiatry for different types of psychiatric disorders characterised by excessive and irrational rumination (compulsive focus on one’s distress aimed at bad feelings and experiences from the past. Opposed to worry which focuses on events potentially happening in the future), fear, worrying, uneasiness and apprehension. Anxiety is not the same as fear. Fear is evoked by a realistic danger and is an appropriate response

Coronary heart disease is a disease that causes blockages or narrowing of the coronary arteries, the arteries that supply oxygen and nutrients to the heart. Often this is caused by atherosclerosis which is the build-up of cholesterol, the fat in our blood, on the inside of the walls of the arteries. This build-up is also called plaque and this can restrict the blood flow to the heart. Without blood supply the heart will become starved of oxygen and the patient can feel a pain

A hot stone massage is a massage performed with smooth, flat, warmed up stones. The stones are used to massage the muscles and to be placed on certain points on the body like the hands, back, face etc. The heat makes it possible to get deeper into the areas massaged and together with the use of cold stones to reach a high stage of relaxation. The benefits of this technique are easy relaxation of the muscles due to the use of heat, it helps to get rid of stress, it helps to re

Every year AAMT (Australian Association of Massage Therapists) promotes Massage Therapy Week. This year’s focus was on Men’s Health and Wellbeing and to help spread the message AAMT invited international cricketer Brett Lee to be their spokesman. In the latest issue of the Journal of the Australian Association of Massage Therapists, Brett Lee was quoted as saying that “the physical benefits of massage therapy include the relief of stiff and sore muscles, reduced inflammation

For maximum mechanical efficiency in a squat the weight of the bar needs to be aligned with the middle of the lifter’s foot. When the bar travels either side of the vertical line it creates an unnecessary lever arm resulting in a mechanical disadvantage. This means that the placement/positioning of the bar in a squat will determine the mechanics and muscular involvement of the lift. Each different position of the bar requires a different positioning of the torso if we are to

We are always looking for ways to get bigger, better, stronger and more successful at what we do, when it comes to Crossfit I couldn’t agree more! Talk to a successful athlete and they will have their own strategies for success, whether it is their nutrition, some fancy supplement they believe is key or perhaps a recovery method they swear by. I’m willing to bet that most of them are prepared to give just about anything a try if it promises to increase their performance. I re

“I just don’t have the time” is the number one reason I hear in response to why people aren’t exercising. Even 4 minutes four times a week will produce benefits. High intensity interval training, or HIIT has become a common method of working out. As the name suggests it involves alternating between periods of very intense work (0:10 – 2:00mins) and short periods of low intensity or rest (0:10-1:00min) often repeated for several rounds. HIIT is not a new concept by any means.

If you’ve spent anytime in a gym you’ve probably heard the term “functional training”. It refers to the use of exercises that mimic everyday movement/activity and have application to your structural health, strength, balance, range of motion or athletic demands. Ask someone to name a functional exercise and more often than not they’ll probably say: “a squat” or “a deadlift” or “one of the Olympic lifts” and they’d be absolutely correct. Not many people would respond with a si

Recovery, in my opinion, is where progress is made and I believe it to be the most important aspect of any exercise program. It doesn’t matter how much and/or how hard you train if you’re recovery is lacking, eventually you’re going to run out of steam, performance is going to suffer and your risk of injury increases. Two extremely important aspects of recovery are: sleep and hydration. Sleep : Arguably the most important element of recovery. If nothing else, make sure you g

“White (wo)men can’t jump!” or at least this white woman can’t jump. I missed the box again today, I’m thinking about entering a competition for world’s most bruised shins! This got me thinking though, why do I keep trying to jump on top of a box that clearly seems too high for me? What am I trying to prove? And really, what’s the rush? I think it’s quite a common thing in CrossFit (and in life) that we get ahead of ourselves too much, especially when there is some form of co

Do you feel like no matter how much you stretch you still feel tight? You could have restricted fascia. Fascia consists of tough sheets of connective fibres, creating a 3-dimentional web that encases and weaves through every muscle, nerve, and organ in the body – it ties your whole body together. Healthy fascia is supple and has an elastic quality to it. It supports the maintenance of correct posture, prevents injury – such as muscle tears, secures tendons to bone and provide

“Knees out”, “Keep your heels down”, “Chest up”. These are just a few of the cues you would have heard from your coach while squatting. We all know we should be doing these things and I believe it’s important to also know why?! It’s not your coach being pedantic, there is good reason behind it. In fact, how you move and the positions you adopt throughout the day have a direct impact on your health. Squats are one of the most primitive, fundamental and functional components o