In days gone by, medical experts used to prescribe bed rest for back pain in addition to other chronic pain conditions. However, studies have made the finding that people who exercise and stay flexible are able to manage their pain much better as opposed to those who don’t.

Exercise is responsible for improving your pain threshold. With pain that you experience on a chronic basis, your pain threshold drops. This means that it takes less pain in order to make you feel more uncomfortable. With cardiovascular, strengthening as well as flexibility exercise, it is possible to improve that pain threshold.

The personal trainer’s wisdom about pain management

Lower back pain is one of these chronic types of pain. Unfortunately, it is a type of chronic pain that is experienced by all kinds of people – and it’s more common than you think. People such as athletes and fitness fanatics to people who don’t do any physical activity – whatsoever – are all prone to lower-back pain.

Most adults will have to deal with this kind of pain at some point in their lives. So, this begs the question: when you experience this type of pain, when should you head on off to the gym and when should you rather skip the gym and go straight to the physio or medical specialist?

Exercises for lower back pain, stretches, foam rolling as well as a few other simple strategies may be all you need to do in order to have less pain. Get your personal trainer to teach you how to do the following exercises – with good form – so that you can manage chronic pain.

Exercises to help alleviate lower back pain

Pelvic tilts

The pelvic tilt exercise can relieve tight back muscles and make sure that these remain flexible. Here’s how to perform this lower back exercise which enhances flexibility in this part of your body:

• Lie with your back on the floor. Bend your knees bent and keep your feet flat. Make sure that your arms remain by your sides.
• Gently arch your lower back and push your stomach out.
• Hold for five seconds and then relax.
• Flatten your back and pull in your belly button towards the floor.
• Hold for five seconds and then relax.
• Increase the number of repetitions daily and build up to 30.

Lying lateral leg lifts

These exercises work your hip abductors which support your pelvis. In addition, these muscles can help to reduce strain on your back. Making sure that these muscles are kept strong is essential as these help you to maintain your balance. If these muscles are weak, this can affect mobility.

To do lying lateral leg lifts:

• Lie on one of your sides with your legs together.
• Keep your lower leg slightly bent.
• Draw your belly button into your spine in order to engage your core muscles.
• Raise your top leg about 18 inches off your lower leg. Keep it straight as well as extended.
• Hold the position for two seconds.
• Perform this exercise 10 times.
• Turn onto your other side and repeat by lifting your other leg.
• Perform three sets on each side.

Supermans

A person requires back extensors which are strong in order to maintain good posture. These muscles are along either side of your spine. If you back extensors are weak, this can reduce spinal and pelvic support. However, performing an exercise called a “Superman” can assist.

To perform a Superman:

• Lie face down on the floor. Extend both of your arms to the front of your body. Keep your legs stretched as well as flat on the floor.
• Lift both of your hands as well as your feet. Aim to create a gap of about six inches between them as well as the floor.
• Attempt to pull in your belly button. Lift it off the floor to engage your core muscles.
• Keep the head straight and look at the floor to avoid neck injury.
• Extend your hands and feet outward as far as you can.
• Maintain the position for two seconds.
• Return to your starting position.
• Repeat a total of 10 times.

Executing these fitness exercises in order to work the core muscles can assist with preventing injury, increasing stability as well as improving flexibility. People who suffer from lower back pain should also pay attention to their general posture as well as the manner in which they carry heavy objects in order to identify movements that may be responsible. Anyone who experiences severe lower back pain or if this discomfort does not go away with gentle stretches and exercise should make an appointment with a physio.

Following the podcast which we dropped last week about the woes of Newcastle United, Jimmy Haidak and myself got to talking off air about which teams we think will be relegation fodder for the Premier League this year. As per normal Haidak and I are at crossed paths in terms of who we think will win the title, who we think will finish top 4 and who we think will win the Champions League, but when it comes to the relegation candidates we are in no doubt at all. Have a look and let us know if you agree.

Newcastle United

There really is no getting away from the fact that the mighty Toon Army look doomed this year, something which many fans are actually looking forward to. The start of the season has been pretty dismal for the Geordies, except of course for that miraculous win at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium. Newcastle just can’t score goals, which is kind of necessary if you want survive the Premier League. Mike Ashley has ran the club well and truly into the ground and the appointment of Steve Bruce is the epitome of just how miserable this club is right now. Unless Joelinton channels his inner Shearer, Newcastle are toast.

Watford

The revolving door policy which Watford have had for their managers seems to have worked for a long time, up until now. Javi Gracia was fired just 4 matches into the season and quite frankly Watford just look weak right now. Qique Sanches Flores has come back for a send spell in charge of the Honrets and we predict that he won’t make it to the end of the season either. Watford have been dismal so far this season, summed up by their 8-0 drubbing at the hands of Manchester City. Watford will have some exciting times this year, but sadly the majority of them will end in disappointment and loss, and by Christmas it will be clear that Watford are only heading in one direction and that is the Championship.

Brighton

For our money Brighton are going to be in a straight shoot-out with Sheffield United for the last relegation place and we just have an inkling that Chris Wilder’s men may just have enough in the bag to keep the Blades in the Premier League for at least another season. Graham Potter is trying to do things at Brighton which they just don’t have the clientele for and that will ultimately be their undoing. Glenn Murray did well for the Guls last year but at 35 years old he cannot be depended on as they did in the past. When the goals dry up and the defense gets leaky, Brighton’s fate will be sealed and the too will be heading back to the second tier of English football.

Who do you think drops down this year? Do you agree with our picks? Let us know in the comments.

Low mood, low sex drive and mood swings can be difficult to live with regularly. Your mood may even be getting in the way of keeping up with your friendships and relationships. Many people don’t think of poor health and being overweight with a lot of mood disorders. They may assume that it’s just the way that they are and it’s something that they have to deal with everyday. Thankfully, taking control of your health can have a direct impact on your mood. You will experience increase sex drive and fewer mood swings thanks to taking care of your body.

Why Poor Health Affects Mood

There are a few reasons why poor health can have a direct impact on your mood. For one, people who are overweight and obese tend to eat sporadically throughout the day, and the majority of the meals and snacks they are eating are loaded with sugar. This can cause mood swings and mood spikes all throughout the day. You may find that you feel agitated or angry when you are hungry because of a severe decrease in the amount of sugar currently in your body. When you take better care of your health and follow a healthier diet, you’ll experience fewer sugar spikes and will find that this prevents mood swings.

Another reason poor diet and health has an impact on mood is because of low confidence and self-esteem. When you feel badly about your appearance, you’re less likely to be in a good or happy mood. However, when you start to get off excess weight, have more energy and like the way that you look, you are going to find that your mood is elevated and that you are able to feel happier throughout the day. This is why it is a good idea to consider using ViSalus Italia products in order to reach all of your health and wellness goals.

Getting Started On Your Wellness Journey

Losing weight and getting healthier is a journey. It is a difficult, yet highly rewarding journey that brings you to happiness and good health. For this reason, a lot of people have been choosing to utilize ViSalus products to make it easier for them to reach their goals and get healthier in the process. It is important to take things slowly when you are first getting started. This is simply because your goals will not stick if you try to take things too quickly or if you’re having problems sticking to your new lifestyle. If you’ve never worked out before in your life, it’s not going to work if you all of a sudden assume that you’ll workout for two hours every day.

By taking things slowly, you are more likely to stick to these changes and be doing something positive for your health. If you are having problems finding the best products available, you might want to consider ViSalus because of the range of weight loss and wellness products that they are selling. Using quality products can help you to achieve your goals and get into the best shape that you have ever been in your entire life.

There are lots of reasons for you to shed off that excess weight and begin caring for your body and overall well-being. It won’t just have an impact on your body, but it is going to elevate your mood and get you to feel better about yourself. You will enjoy beginning the journey and sticking with it over the years. You will look better and feel a whole lot better when it comes to getting the most out of this process.

There seem to be conflicting responses in regard to the best time to take a shower. Some people think that it needs to be during the day. Others think that it is better at night. Some people also suggest bathing twice a day while others believe once is enough.

There are benefits in bathing during the day. Before you head to work, you need to bathe so that you will stay clean and presentable. It does not mean though that taking a shower is the only way for you to clean yourself before going to work. You can use skin care products to smell nice and remove dirt from your body. Therefore, whether you decide to bathe in the morning or not, it is okay as long as you clean yourself. When you choose to bathe, you need to use cold water. It makes you feel awake and allows you to stay in a positive mood throughout the day.

There are also benefits in taking a steam shower at night before you sleep. You need a hot shower before you go to bed to put you in the mood to sleep. Make sure though that you allow enough time from the moment you finish taking a shower until you go to bed; otherwise, you will find it hard to sleep. You will raise your body temperature using a hot shower, so you need to cool down before you go to sleep.

Whether you shower during the day or night, it is up to you. There are benefits either way.

How often do you need to shower?

In regard to the number of times you take a shower each day, the choice is also yours. If you have enough time to shower twice, it would be fantastic. You can bathe in the morning before going elsewhere and again at night to wash off dirt from your body.

If you have enough time to do more, it is also possible. Remember, though that the amount of time you spend in the shower room does not determine if you will be cleaner. It depends on the products you use while bathing, and if you are lazy about scrubbing dirt from your entire body.

Time to meditate 

If you bathe several times because you want to meditate and be alone for a while, it also offers benefits. In the bathroom, you are alone, and no one will disturb you. If you wish to use that opportunity to relax and forget about your toxic day, it would be great. You can even do it often if you feel stressed out. Some people wait until the weekends to spend more time bathing. If you wish to do it and you have time, no one can stop you.

In the end, it is your choice when and how often you bathe. Do not forget to enjoy the experience and use the moment to stay refreshed. You deserve a break.

To read more on topics like this, check out the health & fitness category.

Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience. There are two basic types of pain, and they are very different.

Acute pain, for the most part, has a physical cause, such as disease, inflammation, or injury to tissues. This type of pain generally comes on quickly, for example, after trauma or surgery, and may be accompanied by anxiety or emotional distress. Acute pain resolves when its cause is treated, and healing occurs.

Chronic pain lasts longer than acute, generally over three months. It may start with an injury or other cause, but it persists even after healing has occurred. Chronic pain is widely believed to be a disease, with known changes in the nerves that get worse with time. Due to its persistence, it can cause major problems in every aspect of a person’s life and is frequently resistant to many medical treatments. A person may even have two or more coexisting chronic pain conditions. Among the most common pain challenges are headaches, low back pain, arthritis, pain, cancer pain, and nerve and muscle pain.

Here are a few Symptoms of Chronic pain:

• Chronic pain is the pain lasting more than 12 weeks. This pain has no certain duration of cure; it may last till months or even years and longer.
• Joint pain is also considered as one of the most important and alarming symptoms of chronic pain. A person who is continuously suffering from such pains must go for diagnosis.
• Sleep problems are a very common reason for chronic pain, as sleeping is the most essential function of the body. Hence if the sleeping balance gets disturbed, then it is a signal of some serious problems.
• Loss of stamina and flexibility is also one of the symptoms of chronic pain as the person starts losing flexibility and stamina due to decreased activities in day to day life.
• Few mood swings, which include depression, anxiety, and irritability, are also one of the knocking conditions for chronic pain which you can track easily.

Chronic pain is diagnosed based on some very frequently asked questions by the doctor which includes,

• When did the pain start and since how long is it disturbing you?
• How does it feel like while being in pain? (sharp or dull)
• Where is the exact epicenter of the pain?
• What are the things which make it worst or better?

Hence, these are very basic questions about what is the basis of the further diagnosis of any patient. In some of the cases, MRI scans are also considered as a part of diagnosis in order to cross verify all other functionality of the patient’s body. Until unless the doctor comes across the exact reason for the pain, they won’t make their patient anxious just by few symptoms. They will rather have a proper diagnosis and try to give the best remedy for the cure.

Treatment of Chronic Pain

• Drugs, up to some extent, can reduce the pain temporarily but inculcating a habit of it can create more complications sometimes. But don’t forget to take important pills at the right time. What if you forget? Pill reminder is helpful in managing the disease.
• Nerve block techniques are pretty common these days to attain some cure from the disease as the nerves which carry the pain signals are interrupted inside the body, which helps the patients.
• Physical Therapy can also be very helpful for the patients of chronic pain as it helps increase the flexibility and range of motion as well.
• Psychological or Behavioral Therapy which does not have much impact on the pain but yet is considered to be one of the best solutions for the cure as it has a positive impact on the mood of the patient.

How to Manage Chronic Pain?

• Forget about the pain and just enjoy what you have got in your life. Yes, letting things for go can also be one of the majorly important management of chronic pain. As it’s always said, it’s all there in your mind. Hence in order to manage the pain, try to deviate your mind as much as possible.
• Be engaged in some of the other works as the idle mind is devil’s workshop; it will create an adverse effect if you prefer to be alone of idle for a long time without any work. Just do what you like all the time rather than overthinking.
• Try to seek help in a psychological and physical way as much as possible. If the current treatment is not helping you out in an expected way then just come out and go for some other health organizations which are best for the cure of such health issues.
• Drug Therapy can be considered as one of the ways to manage the chronic pain, and it can be acetaminophen or NSAID’s (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) like aspirin, ibuprofen is used as pain killers as they have the tendency to reduce the pain for a while. If the lighter dose is not affecting the patient in the desired way, then the doctor prescribes stronger drugs.
• Surgical implant techniques are also used these days for managing chronic pain; they can be either intrathecal drug delivery or spinal cord stimulation implant depending on the current condition of the patient.
• TENS or transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation therapy makes use of electric stimulation in order to cure the pain. Low volt current is sent through the electrodes which are placed near the source of pain.
• Bioelectric therapy is also one of the mechanisms used in order to manage the chronic pain as this technique blocks the pain messages to the brain by producing chemical specifically endorphins which has the functionality to decrease the pain sensation.

Chronic pain is one of the most critical cases of medical science, which has now got some good solutions than earlier days comparatively. We even have a Pill reminder with us to remind us about our pills and to manage the disease in a better way. Just go and help yourself out with it.

If you want to learn more about our blog, please click here.

When you’re in the middle of life at college, it can sometimes feel a little like exercise is the lowest priority. After all, there are so many other things to take into account. From ensuring that you turn in your papers on time to keeping up with all the social goings-on in your dorm or elsewhere on campus, getting fit might be the least of your worries.

However, exercise is essential if you’re going to make the most of your college experience. If you don’t make some time for it, then you might find yourself becoming sluggish or even unwell – and this can have a knock-on effect on college life. With most universities offering a wide range of sporting activities, you’ll be able to pair up health-focused exercise with fun social time and use it as a way to make friends. Here’s how to achieve these goals.

Plan your days

Let’s face it, student life is a bit busy at times, and it’s not uncommon to find yourself feeling overwhelmed, tired out and more. However, on the flip side, it’s often the case that there’s nobody on your back to push you to organize your day – especially if you study a subject that has a low number of contact hours. As a result, you may find yourself getting out of bed at 12pm despite having a huge range of tasks to complete!

Fitting exercise into this schedule can seem like an impossible task, but with a bit of tweaking, it’s possible to plan better. This doesn’t mean that you necessarily have to get up super-early. Even shifting back your wake-up time by two hours or so can create slots for both a workout and quick assignment completion tasks, and can give you more energy in the remaining hours of the day.

Sign up to a club

Colleges pride themselves on the diversity of the extracurricular activities they offer, and many colleges actively encourage students to find their niche and get involved. Club membership often revolves around sport, and there are many options. From soccer to ice hockey, it’s wise to try out a number of different sports as a freshman and then make your mind up from there.

The advantage of using this approach to fitness is that you’ll be able to make friends as well, and this will keep you incentivized to continue attending. While there are many nationally famous college sports teams that compete under the glare of the spotlight, don’t let that put you off. Colleges have teams for all abilities and commitment levels, so you won’t be expected to become the next Johnny Manziel if you join!

Get the right items

Whether you choose to go for a team fitness game such as soccer or a solitary fitness pursuit such as joining a gym, it’s important to be sure that you have the right items on hand. If you don’t invest in the right gear upfront, then you may soon find yourself in a position where you’re risking your health in order to play – which defeats the point of increasing your fitness.

Most athletes, for example, would do well to invest in some compression clothing, as compression clothes increase blood flow and defend against swelling. Learning more about the fitness clothing brand Tommie Copper will let you make an informed choice about a well-respected supplier, while researching the sport you plan to play is also wise. The exact items you need could change depending on the sport you choose: gum shields, for example, are pretty much essential in American football.

Watch your diet

Exercise is, of course, just one of the keys to better fitness levels, and diet also matters. Many colleges offer catered living facilities that can provide your every mealtime need – and while this may seem great at first, it’s easy to lose sight of nutrition. By ensuring that you have a calorie deficit (that you burn off more calories through exercise than you consume, in other words), you’ll quickly be able to enjoy some treats in the cafeteria while also remaining in shape.

Life as a student is fun and exciting, and many students come to the view that there’s no point wasting these precious experiences on exercising too much. However, it’s important to get a good balance and good sleep without snoring – and that’s where making time for fitness comes in. By monitoring your calorie intake, planning your days better, and combining exercise with social time, you’ll be able to create an exercise plan that really does work for you.