Force plates have been used for many years in research and with elite athletes. However, more recently they have become more accessible, and are now being used in general practice for injury management and rehab. So, what is a force plate and how may it help...
Living in the BOP means we have a large choice of venues where we can exercise or do some training, be it inside on a court, or outside on the grass or beach. This raises the question – is all training the same? Being summer...
Heel pain or Severs disease is common in athletic youth especially aged 8-15, with girls typically getting it slightly earlier than boys. Boys tend to be more common, mainly because overall they tend to be more physically active. To understand Severs and its management you need...
Hamstring strains are very common in sport, but also can occur in day to day activity. The injury often happens whilst sprinting, decelerating or kicking, but can also occur in a ‘splits’ position where one leg goes forward. In sport the most common predictor of...
Understanding pain and how pain works can play a large part in the recovery of many injuries. In years gone by our understanding of pain was very basic and structural in nature. The thought was that damage occurred in the tissue and depending on the...
Knees can be a common cause of issues in active individuals. They can also be troublesome to treat, much to the frustration of those individuals and their physiotherapist. Discounting arthritis there tend to be 3 main groups of knee issues. Ligament injuries. These require large forces...
According to the MOH website (https://www.health.govt.nz/your-health/healthy-living/food-activity-and-sleep/physical-activity/how-much-activity-recommended) adults should do at least 2 ½ hours of moderate or 1 ¼ hours of vigorous physical activity spread throughout the week. Moderate intensity activity causes a slight, but noticeable, increase in breath and heart rate but you can still carry on a conversation....
Have you ever though about how you breath? Breathing? you may say. Why should we need to think about that? Shouldn’t it just happen? You are right in thinking it should just happen, but how it happens has great relevance to your health over the long...
Today is my scheduled exercise day. Should I follow my plan or do something different? There are multiple possible answers to this scenario but let’s keep things simple. The first question that comes to mind is how are you feeling today? This is probably the simplest...
Anecdotally weight training for children and adolescents (youth) has not been considered safe. This can be backed by Emergency Centre data which showed that over 100,000 children (5-18years) presented to emergency departments in the USA during 2000 – 2004.(1) Many more may have been injured...