How to increase the chances of a natural birth…

Studies have shown that an alert body and active lifestyle boosts not just productivity, but also happiness and satisfaction levels. There is now an explosion of research studies that demonstrate the harmful effects of sitting all day, which I have covered in past blog posts.

• the impact on muscles (in part 1)
• the general impact on the body (in part 2)
• the impact on your heart and the increase risk of cardiovascular disease (in part 3)
• the increased risk of certain cancers (in part 4)

In my last blog post, "Taking a Break", I explored the reasons for taking a break and looked at the latest research on the length of break you need to take and the frequency. So now I want to focus on strategies to get you moving… Use an Exercise Ball for a Chair Unlike sitting in a chair, sitting on a exercise ball engages your core muscles and helps improve your balance & flexibility. Occasionally bouncing can also help your body interact with gravity to a greater degree than sitting on a stationary chair. Use the Stairs Walk up and down stairs, rather than take the lifts.  Even if you only walk up or down one flight of stairs and then take the lift the rest of the way it will have a positive impact on your health. Walk & Talk Meeting If you have an informal meeting with a colleague why not suggest a walk & talk meeting, weather permitting you could always go outside and get some fresh air too! Pedometer Using a pedometer will help you asses how many steps you take throughout the day. Taking a roundabout way to your desk, taking the stairs or walking to the next tube station as part of your commute will help you increase the number of steps you take daily. Exercise while you Sit at your desk An Amercian start up company, FitnessCubed, has come up with Cubii, an under-desk elliptical trainer that allows you to do basic exercise while you sit at a standard office desk. (It requires no changes to your existing desk set up.) They have also produced a mobile app that allows you to track your workout and you can also share your work out results – so you could even hold an inter-office competition.

We all struggle to get our heads around things from time to time.  For me I find it hard to imagine living with Fibromyalgia, the constant pain, which moves around the body and the tiredness.  In addition to the physical symptoms there is the additional mental strain of living with a chronic condition that is has no visible signs and can change from day to day. A pilot study recruited 22 women who had been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia to participate in a 75 minute yoga class twice weekly for eight weeks.  Questionnaires were used to track pain, anxiety and depression they were completed pre, mid and post intervention.  In addition salivary cortisol samples were taken three times a day pre and post intervention. The results indicate that a "yoga intervention" may

• Reduce pain
• Reduce catastrophising
• Increase acceptance
• Increase mindfulness
• Alter total cortisol levels

Reference Curtis K, Osadchuk A and Katz J (2011) An eight week yoga intervention is associated with improvements in pain, psychological functioning and mindfulness and changes in cortisol levels in women with Fibromyalgia.  Journal of Pain Research 4: 189-201  

The first reaction when we are in pain is often to take a painkiller.  I know from experience in clinic, when that the painkiller stops working that is when our clients book a massage.  But would exerise help?  To me it is counter-intuitive to exercise when in pain so I was interested in a recent study that looked into this. A study of 176 people investigated if the standard Fustra20Neck&Back exercise programme (scroll to bottom for full details) for reducing pain and increasing fitenss of office workers with neck or lower back pain works.  All the participants sat for at least 6 hours a day at a desk and had experienced at least 2 episodes of moderate pain in the last month before the study started.  The study participants included both men and women between 30 - 50 years old.  Half were asigned to the exericse group and half to the control group.  The exercise group carried out the Fustra20Neck&Back exercise programme for 1 hour twice a week for 10 weeks. More than 90% of the particpants in the exercise group found that the intensity of the pain and fequency of the pain decreased significantly.  Improvements in neck & shoulder flexibility and quality of life were also recorded.  However there was no significant differences in lower back pain. Reference

Fustra20Neck&Back exercise programme The programme comprised a 10 minute aerobic warm-up on a cross-trainer.  Then 10 functional flexibility exercises, four strength exercises, five core exercises and a 10 minute cool down. Click below to see the 10 functional exercises for your shoulders.      

Click below to see the strenght and core exercises.