Welcome Everyone To My Fitness Blog

Do you have trendelenburg pattern of walking?

2009-02-06T02:04:00.000-08:00

Are you envious of those supermodels who seems to walk perfectly on stage? Do they make you want to imitate their walking posture? Do you desire to imitate them and walk like runway models?

Well, I have seen some of the women sashay themselves by cat walking down the streets. However please remember, supermodels were trained professionals. They were trained to walk in this manner. If you continue to catwalk down the streets over a long period of time, it will not only look bad for you, but will injure your hip or lower back. The way you walk may be the cause of your WEAK abductor muscles.

Trendelenburg walking pattern is the dropping your hip when you are standing on opposite leg. If you are standing on your right leg, and your left hip drop prominently, you may have a right trendeleburg gait. Your right abductor muscles are not strong to hold and control your right hip in level, that causes your left hip to drop.

If you notice you have this sign symptom, do strengthen your muscles. Never ignore it, as it leads to future pain and weakness to the other part of your body (i.e lumbar)

Feel free to drop me an email if you have enquiries.

2008-12-31T23:02:00.000-08:00

Does the picture looks familiar to you?

Well, many people have the wrong sitting posture. Especially in the office environment, which we often use the computers for the most of the times.

Pressures in supported sitting are 40% more than standing.

It creates a backward tilt, flattening of low back and forward shift in Center of Gravity.

It places load on discs and posterior structures of vertebral segments.

In standing, natural curvature of lumbar spine is increased, reverse for sitting.

Prolonged sitting in flexed position may increase resting length of erector spinae muscles.

(overstretch the back of the ligament structure)

This means, you may have a kyphosis posture.

Relationship between back and abdominals

2008-12-13T07:02:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone, I am back!!! Was busy for the past months...hardly had time to update my blog :) Some Important facts that i had found...here it goes (enjoy reading ^_^)

The Imortance of Strong Abdominal Muscles
- Some 80% of all Americans will experience low-back pain in their lifetime.
- If you are a weekend athelte, have poor posture, an imbalance in upper/lower abdominal area strength, and are overweight, you're even more at risk.
- You don't have to be an anatomy expert to realise that when it comes to back pain, weak abdominal muscles are often the culprit.
- Abdominal strength is the glue that keeps your back strong. Your back's strongest ally is its abdominal muscles.
- Abdominal muscles support the back, and without the asistance of the back and stomach muscles, your spine would collapse.
- Strong abdominal muscles are critical to general health, good fitness, and a strong, pain-free back.
- That's why people with low-back pain invariably sport abdominal muscles that are much weaker than their lower-back muscles.

Our interesting brain

2008-10-26T08:17:00.000-07:00

Hey I have read up some info on our brillant brain, wow it is awesome. And i would like to share with all of you :)

Almost all of behavior involves motor function, from talking to gesturing to walking. Even a simple movement like reaching out to pick up a glass of water can be a complex motor task to study. Not only does your brain have to figure out which muscles to contract and in which order to steer your hand to the glass, it also has to estimate the force needed to pick up the glass. Other factors, like how much water is in the glass and what material the glass is made from, also influence the brains calculations. Not surprisingly, there are many anatomical regions which are involved in motor function.

Let's continue reading......

This is Anterior view of our Brain...

Let's say, it was cut at the frontal plane. It will look like this :

So, every part of the body is represented in the primary motor cortex, and these representations are arranged somatotopically --> the foot is next to the leg --> the trunk --> the arm --> the hand.
The amount of brain matter devoted to any particular body part represents the amount of control that the primary motor cortex has over that body part.

Look at the HAND and FINGERS, there are a lot of cortical space required to control the complex movements. Oh wow.....

Dynamic Warm-up

2008-10-14T05:44:00.000-07:00

The goal of a warm-up is not to stretch, and it is not just to warm a muscle. Traditional static stretches, which involve holding stationary poses, do little prepare a body for action. In fact, current research indicates that preceding workouts and competitions with statics stretching actually leads to lower strength outputs and slower speeds. Dynamic warm-ups must wake up the mind and muscles in a way that makes muscles more compliant and responsive to the mind's commands in preparing the body to move. This mental focus sets up the muscles to be at their best for the rest of the workout.

Let's take a look at our Knees!

2008-10-13T01:36:00.000-07:00

Athletes who have twisted their knees in sports like basketball, netball, soccer or badminton, commonly complain of their knees ‘giving way’ or ‘locking’. The sensation of ‘giving way’ is an indication that you may have torn your Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) while ‘locking’ is an indication of a possible meniscus tear.

ACL Injury

When athletes change direction quickly during their games, they twist their knee inwards. This increases the strain on the ACL and places the ligament at risk of tearing. The ACL tears when the knee is forced downwards and inwards beyond the ligament’s ability to hold it. Athletes who tear their ACL often report hearing a ‘pop’ on injury.

Meniscal Injury

The meniscus, which is a crescent-shaped cartilage in the knee joint, acts as a cushion to absorb the impact between the leg and thigh bone. The meniscus is better at handling stress from an up-and-down motion. It doesn’t do as well under a twisting motion especially when compressed. This motion can cause a tear in the meniscus. The knee feels ‘locked’ when the torn part of the meniscus blocks the movement of the knee.

Reasons for Lack of Flexibility

2008-10-11T06:47:00.000-07:00

Muscle imbalance.

Many times the agonist muscules are far weaker than corresponding antagonist muscles on opposite side of joint.
Overuse of the muscle without maintaining complete range of motion. Activities that are constantly performed without stretching will result in tight joints and muscles. Muscles such as the gastrocnemius, rectus femories, iliopsoas and hamstrings shorten from continuous stress of activities such as running, jumping, stopping and starting.
Periods of rapid growth. Body coordination is affected during times of growth when the body displays rapid change in height or weight. This is illustrated by a temporary loss of coordination as musculotendinous structure flexibiliy fails to keep up to the increased long bone or soft tissue growth.

How Injury Begins

2008-10-10T04:55:00.000-07:00

Amateur athlete is highly susceptible to injury because the muscles, tendons and ligaments are weak. Often the force applied to them is greater than their inherent strength. Several hours after training sessions is when muscle soreness is likely to set in. Soreness takes several hours to surface because the body must take steps to repair muscular damage. First is the trauma resulting inflammation. Second, fluid is leaked into gaps between muscle fibers to facilitate the healing process, creating an edema (swelling).

Since training thickens the muscles and makes them more resilient, the better condition the athlete is in, the less severe the soreness will be. Training thickens muscles, tendons and ligaments, making them more resilient. The musculature can sustain higher workloads without breaking down. Severe muscle tears occur more often in a beginning athlete due to the muscle being taxed so heavily that it loses its ability to relax and stretch.

The serious athlete, on the other hand, usually suffer fatigue-related injuries rather than the tearing of unconditioned structure.

Hypothalamus

2008-10-08T23:29:00.000-07:00

The hypothalamus is a small area of the brain located in the section of the forebrain called the diencephalon. The hypothalamus is a neural and an endocrine organ. It is concerned with maintaining homeostasis- that is, keeping the body's internal environment constant. The hypothalamus is also essential in controlling behaviour and allowing appropriate responses to multiple incoming stimuli. It continually receives information from the central and peripheral nervous systems concerning temperature, pain, pleasure, feeding, hunger, body mass and metabolic status.

Pack yourself with more muscles

2008-10-08T06:10:00.000-07:00

Muscle burn calories. For every 1kg of muscle you gain, you will burn
70-100 calories per day.

Therfore, when you are resting or sleeping, you are burning extra calories away.

With more muscles, you will get higher metabolism rate, isn't that good :) You will definitely look toned, healthy, and confident!