Refreshercise

  If there’s one food I reach for most, it's beetroot ! This vibrant root veg is packed with a powerhouse nutrient: nitrate . 💡 Why Beetroot Matters Supports healthy blood pressure Plant nitrates are converted by mouth bacteria into nitrites, which then become nitric oxide - a molecule that dilates blood vessels, increasing circulation. Even small amounts can reduce the risk of stroke and heart attack by around 10% , according to one study. Boosts performance and brain function The surge in blood flow benefits muscles and brain alike - improving athletic performance and reaction times in older adults. Perfect for aging bodies As we get older, our ability to produce nitric oxide declines - making nitrate-rich foods like beetroot even more valuable.   🔄 Beetroot vs. Nitrates in Processed Meats Plant-based nitrates are not the same as additives found in processed meats. When naturally occurring nitrates from veggies convert to nitric oxide, they promote health . Nitrates in s...

Have you ever noticed that your lower back feels more sore after a long walk than after a run? You're not alone! Running activates the big muscle groups in your hips and legs more than walking. If you're like me, you might be happy using those big muscles, but when it comes to walking, particularly slowly, you feel you need to bend forwards from time to time or stop completely because it is painful. But there's a solution that can improve your walking experience: walking backwards. Why Walk Backwards? I first discovered the benefits of walking backwards during a Feldenkrais lesson. Interestingly, this concept isn't new in the ancient practice of Tai Chi. In fact, backwards walking has been a staple in Chinese exercise routines for centuries. With growing research supporting its benefits, it's about time this practice became more common in the Western world. Here’s why you should consider adding backwards walking to your routine: Improves Balance and Coordination : W...

  It’s funny how one study can make headline news while countless others collect digital dust in academic archives. Case in point: "Standing desks are bad for your health" or "Standing desks do not reduce risk of stroke and heart failure"—based on one study albeit with 83,000 participants. Let’s delve deeper, shall we? Before you toss out your standing desks, consider what this study actually reveals about how sitting and standing impact your health. The study aimed to examine daily sitting, standing, and stationary time in relation to cardiovascular diseases like coronary heart disease, heart failure, and stroke. It also looked at orthostatic circulatory diseases such as hypotension, varicose veins, and venous ulcers. Key findings? The first graph (fig.1) shows that standing for just 2 hours increases the risk of orthostatic circulatory disease (think vein issues), while sitting only increases this risk after 10 hours. Seems clear that lack of blood flow while sta...

As a massage therapist and a Pilates instructor in the city, I would see some clients with the same pain every time I saw them.  And it wasn't that I wasn't a good therapist. They would see lots of experts, and it didn't matter which treatments they had, they reported the same pain.  With other clients, their pain relief was more simple.  They would regularly attend Pilates, do more exercise which could just be walking, change their desk set up and do more activities, which relaxed them.   I used to think the more new techniques I could learn, the more I would be able to help those clients with more persistent pain. But I think less about my own techniques now, and more about the state of mind of the clients in persistent pain. Quite a few years ago, I remember one of my colleagues was in so much pain she actually couldn't sit down at her desk.  She was relatively young, she hadn't had a fall or a fracture, she hadn't pulled a muscle or torn a disc ligament...

  It’s very rare for me to mention Feldenkrais in the UK and for someone to reply that they had heard of it. I'd never heard of it either, until a few years ago, a pain specialist recommended that I see a Feldenkrais practitioner.  It was to become the start of a new pain management and movement journey for me, and if it had been 20 years earlier, I probably would’ve trained to be a Feldenkrais practitioner! History of Feldenkrais 1 It all started with Dr Moshe Feldenkrais, in the 1940s.  He researched and developed anti-submarine detection equipment for the British Admiralty, when he was forced to flee Paris. He was an inventor, a physicist and engineer, and he was also a student of Judo.  Feldenkrais studied with the founder of modern judo, Jigaro Kano, in Paris, earned his black belt (one of the first Europeans to do so) and eventually opened the first Ju Jitsu Club of Paris. It wasn’t until the return of a childhood soccer injury that he consolidated all of these...