My secret antioxidant loaded winter warmer drink!
I have a secret to tell you... I've been drinking this super amazing antioxidant loaded drink every morning this year. And it makes me feel super virtuous! So I thought I'd finally share it so you can be virtuous too. Also it's more of a winter warmer than a spring/summer refresher so it's more apt for October.
KT's super antioxidant Winter Warmer drink
juice of 1/2 a lemon
juice of half a lime
1/4 teaspoon of Clear Spring matcha green tea powder
A slither of fresh ginger grated
2 teaspoons of baobab powder
manuka honey to taste
Boil the kettle and place all the ingredients except the honey in a mug. Fill the mug with hot water and stir until all the ingredients are blended nicely. Add making honey to taste. You're good to go! I take mine in a KeepCup so I can enjoy on my morning commute :)
How to avoid the 5 common causes of back pain
old lady stretching
One of the number one questions I get asked is how to I avoid back pain? Nearly all of us will experience back pain at some point in our lives. But how wonderful would it be to minimise the risk of getting back pain? Read on to find out how.....
1. Stress
We all know too much negative stress is bad for us and some of you may know that it affects us physically. Stress is part of our lives and it helps us achieve success and conjure bravery when we need to step up to the plate. You have a stress threshold - a line that once crossed begins to compromise your immune system. It slows your recovery and healing rate so normal repairs that should occur result in tissues getting left and more damaged. This can be as small as an ulcer or a big as your back pain. The best source of information I can give to you is about your perception of stress and I cannot say it better than Health Psychologist Kelly McGonigal in her recent TED talk. It's 8 minutes and a revelation you will not want to miss out on.
2. Lack of movement
You are designed to move. Sustained poor posture is a major cause of back pain and structural damage. Make sure you move throughout the day. If you are desk bound, walk around the office, take the stairs for a few flights, leave for a lunch break. In the recent article "The making of a corporate athlete" by performance psychologists Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz that was published in the Harvard Business Review it is recommended that every person does at least 2 strength training workouts a week for endurance and to promote mental and emotional recovery.
3. Poor posture
Sit, stand and walk tall. If you are exercising, exercise tall. Another major contributor to back pain is poor posture. If you already have back pain then poor posture will make it worse! You may be blissfully unaware that your posture is bad but if you are currently pain free it is well worth investing the time and effort to work on your posture to minimise the risk of injuries occurring. In this day and age, with the mountain of information and specialists to help you there is no excuse for poor posture. Seek help.
4. Repetitive faulty movement patterns
This is an extension of poor posture but relates more to exercising with poor form. I have seen so many clients walk through my door who hit the gym 5 days a week but when I assess their movement patterns it is clear they do not have good technique and their movement patterns are contributing to their pain. If you are working out in the gym and have not had any guidance at all in the past 6 months then ask a professional to look over your technique.
5. Poor nutritional intake
Your nutrients for every day micro damage to your body come from food. Food provides you with the building blocks for repair, to create new cells, to strengthen your muscles, to strengthen your bones and connective tissue. It is imperative that you take care of your nutrition and nourish your body it is as much a part of minimising the risk of injury as movement is.
For more information on exercise for the prevention of injury and for back pain and injury recovery please email me at
The Life Resolution - the only one to make - EVER
Happy New Year
Have you set your New Years resolution (NYR)? No? Good! Don't do it. Seriously do not set a New Years resolution this year. Here is what is faulty with the NYR...
Faulty goods
Often we set a short term goal that can be achieved within 3 months - to stop smoking, lose weight, go to the gym, stop drinking so much etc. Some of us achieve it most of us lose interest. If we do achieve our goal (yay - well done you!) we are prone to slip back into our old ways and vow to ourselves in 9 months we'll try again.
Why? Because life is too important. We are creatures that seek out good times and fun. We want to participate. So how do we deal with the conundrum of good times v being good?
Golden Goods!
Precision Movement challenges you to set a Life Resolution (#liferez). The liferez is a lifestyle change. It starts with taking a good look at your life and saying what can I change here to be healthier, happier and have optimal wellness and enjoy my fitness?
Instructions
The liferez is exceptionally easy to assemble. You choose your changes and when, where and how to implement them and the reasons for doing so. Ideally make one small change each month. If you feel your change is successfully implemented and fits well with your life then go on and change something else.
Completely customised
Your liferez is designed by you. You can choose anything you would like to improve from as little as one less cup of coffee per day to taking your first vacation in 5 years. We all have different needs, priorities and responsibilities so make changes that serve your life. If getting to the gym 5 days a week is impossible for you then don't include this in your liferez. Seek out what would work better for you. Measure your progress by your own life yard stick.
Second class post and loving it
The liferez is an endurance event - it's your life. You wouldn't want to sprint through your life akin to same day DPD delivery would you? You'd want to take your time, sit in the post office for a while and enjoy the view, take a few travels, maybe get lost and redirected before arriving at your destination a la 2nd class Royal Mail. With the liferez you'll make smaller steady changes that you can work into your life over time. They'll take a little effort in the beginning but will soon feel routine.
T&Cs
With the liferez you will value the T&Cs and you get to make up your own. My T&Cs are based around the 80/20 rule. 80% of the time I am golden and 20% I splash out and throw caution to the wind. My T&Cs stipulate that after my splash out I return to my golden ways and this keeps my liferez in check.
Guarantee
The great thing about the liferez is as long as you use it consistently it has a lifetime guarantee. It will always serve you.
Want to know more about TheLifeRez? Follow me on Twitter and use #theliferez or on Facebook. Contact me at KT@precisionmovement.co.uk
Beneficial breathing for back pain & injury recovery
For this weeks blog post, I’d like to touch on a subject that is often overlooked. What plays a major role in the alignment and stability of your body, is critical for your survival and is also integral to maintaining a sense of calm?
It’s breathing. Your ability to breathe is truly amazing. It keeps you alive, it’s highly linked to how you feel and what state your body is in, it’s autonomic (you don’t have to tell yourself to breathe) but you can also take conscious control of it. The control and awareness of your breathing is your own little magic remedy for stress relief. Do a quick test now and count how many times you breathe in and out per minute.
Rate yourself!
A normal natural breathing rate is 12-16 full breaths (inhale and exhale) per minute. Obviously, when you are exercising breathing rate increases as a necessity of the need to transport more oxygen to the muscles for work. If you breathing rate is higher than normal for every day living this may be an indication that you are stressed. This could be mental, emotional or it could be nutritional or digestive. Whenever the body is disturbed or under stress it has the same response. Breathing rate increases with stress.
Discover your Depths
There are a few ways to breathe. The most common, although not most beneficial is chest breathing. This is a short sharp shallow breath, which is usually quite fast and is associated with the stress response. This type breathing contributes to getting more oxygen into the top area of your lungs as muscles in the upper back, shoulders and neck are use to lift the chest during strenuous exercise. This is not however, a breathing technique that should be used in every day life.
Breathing that causes pain and injury
When someone breathes like this they usually inhale and exhale through their mouth and this can often bring the head position forwards and create mild (and sometimes major) stress on the neck and shoulders. The body will also respond hormonally, as it thinks it’s under stress so it will secrete a low constant level of cortisol – the stress hormone.
Breathing for healing and recovery
Deep breathing/belly breathing or diaphragmatic breathing is a full breath where by the whole lungs are filled with air, the diaphragm drops down and the organs below it push out against the abdominal wall. Two thirds of a full breath happen below the chest, then last third of the breath should lift the chest if needed. This type of breathing takes the body into a state of relaxation and rest. Often a diaphragmatic breath is inhaled through the nose and exhaled out through the nose or in through the nose and out through the mouth.
Breathing for exercise
A simple effective berthing technique that helps you to relax and destress is to inhale for 6 counts hold your breath for 3 counts then exhale for 6 counts and rest for 3 counts. It takes a bit of time to slow down the breath so go easy to start. Practise this for 5 minutes a day and within a week it will seem easy.