Barbs experience is nothing less than inspiring. Not only did she complete the C25K successfully, she went on to finish a life long goal of hers to run the Sutherland to Surf!
Take the next step and sign up for the Health Associates Couch 2 5km! What are you waiting for!

Often the simple things are overlooked. Health is advertised and marketed as products or services that are outside of our control. Pills, potions, lotions and programs all created to improve your quality of life. There are places for these in ones overall health, but often coming back ourselves, looking at our lifestyle, habits and behaviour is where we will experience the greatest benefits.

According to the Sleep Health Foundation Australia is on the grip of a sleep deprivation epidemic which has a staggering impact on our nations productivity, risk safety and mental health. Research conducted by the Sleep Health Foundation revealed that 33 to 45 percent of adults sleep either poorly or not long enough most nights, facing each day with fatigue, irritability and other negative side effects of sleep deprivation. 

If you are suffering side effects from poor sleep, the Sleep Health Foundation recommend these tips:

Stick to a routine
Try to go to bed at the same time every evening and get up at the same time every morning. 
Take care with food and drinks 
Avoid all stimulants like caffeine and alcohol for at least an hour before bed and finish eating at least two hours before bed. 
Wind down and relax before bedtime
Have a buffer zone before bedtime to, review the day's activities and work out a plan of action for the next day.
Lower the lights
Your body clock is affected by light, so turn off bright overhead lights and lamps and put aside your smart phone, computer or iPad at least an hour before bed. 
Make sure your bedroom is comfortable 
Keep your bedroom quiet and dark with comfortable bedding suitable for the season.  No TV in the bedroom! 
Don't lie awake watching the clock 
Staring at the clock when you can't sleep actually increases the stress hormone known as cortisol in your body, making it more difficult to fall asleep. Try turning your clock away from you.

Of course, there can be many reasons why you may be having poor sleep and seeking help from a professional is always recommended. 

Start with the simple things and get back to basics. Eat well, sleep well and live well. 

Twice a year Health Associates organises a Couch to 5km program. A low cost, high quality learn to run program to encourage our community to not only move more, but to move well. As experienced runners and running coaches, Chris and Alana have built a strong program and strong team to deliver what we believe to be one of the most comprehensive running programs for beginners in the shire at affordable prices.

This month we had over 20 runners complete the Menai Park Run, completely redefining what they thought they we capable of. Some have never run, some never visioned themselves as endurance runners and most are juggling the millions of commitments that comes with working age and parenthood. 

​We are so proud of all our runners and the effort you put into the program. It has been a hard season with so much illness that set many of our runners back. But they persevered and have achieved outstanding results. 

Thank you to all our participants for taking part in the program and allowing us to support and guide you. We really love to be able to encourage an active and healthy community and we are really grateful for your belief in us.

See you at the next C25K in 2018

​Chris and Alana

Lower back pain can originate from many causes. It is very common in people of all ages and can feel like an ache, tension or stiffness. Common causes of back pain are sudden movements and falls, injury, or a medical condition. Many things are considered when determining how and why you are experiencing pain and as a physician I would examine what is happening with your bones, tendons, ligaments and muscles among many other things.
 
Considering that 1 in 6 Australians experience lower back pain each year, most Australians experience lower back pain in their life time. Most sufferers are of working age, equally among men and women. But back pain can start in youth as young as 8 years of age.  
 
As an experienced practitioner in the diagnosis and treatment of back pain I would like to share with you my most helpful tips that can help ease your recovery or fast track you to the most appropriate care in a timely manner.

As a general statement - lower back pain can be categorised in three ways;

1. Disc pain
2. Facet joint pain
3. Sacroiliac joint pain

To determine the site of your pain as a general statement if you bend forward from a standing position and that recreates pain for you then that may be a disc problem; If you are standing up and experience pain when you arch your back then it could be facet joint or sacroiliac joint 

If you just have simple lower back pain here are some basic things to do...

If bending forward aggravates your lower back then try stretching in the opposite direction. Lying flat on your tummy, propping yourself up on your elbows and letting your lower back arch and sink down on the ground. Aim to be completely relaxed and try not to contract any muscles. It should be just a very gentle stretch into extension.

​​In most cases please avoid the following movements if you are experiencing lower back pain:

• Bending - Lifting - Twisting
• Reaching forward to lift up something
• Bending down to pick up an object
• Repetitive forward bend - Vacuuming, sweeping, changing nappies, picking up kids
• Repetitive rotation - shovelling

Of course avoiding these movements all together in the long term is NOT useful. Ideally we encourage strengthening exercises as you progressively get better.

Please consider this advice as general in nature. You should always consult with a professional in order to achieve a diagnosis. If your symptoms worsen you are advised to see a physician.

Chris Bowles is an experienced chiropractor with one mission; to help you be 'Free to Move.'
If you are experiencing aches, pains, headaches, migraines or sports injuries then he can help you.

Chris is available Monday - Saturday from 8am - 7pm ( 8am - 12pm on Saturday)

Call 9542 3330 or book online  today.

Foam rolling has been around for a long time. It seems to be a household item. Great for the kids to play on, ornamental in the living room and often collecting dust. You see them in gyms, they are used for warms ups and cool downs and often recommended by health care professionals. I want to help you claim back your foam roller and give you 3 simple tips to get rolling again and help you feel great.

1) Thoracic Spine Extension
The thoracic spine is one of the five segments of the spinal column, encompassing the shoulder and chest area.
It's essential that you maintain thoracic mobility to avoid poor posture, and unsightly rounded shoulders which can eventually lead to back pain or acute injury. 
Thankfully, thoracic mobility can be easily maintained and improved using a foam roller and the thoracic spine extension exercise, as described below. 
This exercise will help stretch out the chest and back muscles, relieve muscular tension and maintain thoracic mobility. 
                                 

1. Put the foam roller under your upper back / thoracic spine. Keep your knees bent and feet flat on the ground. 
2. Place your hands behind your head and pull your elbows as close together as they'll go. 
3. Let your head fall to the floor and try to wrap yourself around the foam roller, extending the thoracic spine over the roller. 
4. Roll, slowly up and down the vertebrae, pausing on any painful parts (do not roll the neck or lower back, focusing solely on the thoracic spine).

​2) Foam rolling the quadriceps
The quadriceps are responsible for leg and hip extension and are an easy muscle group to keep in good shape using a foam roller.
Foam roller exercises for the quads will alleviate muscular tension, limber the muscle, and work out any knots or trigger points for improved soft-tissue quality. 

1. ​Begin by supporting your bodyweight in a press-up position with a foam roller positioned lengthways between your quads and the floor. 
2. Roll the quads muscles from the hip down to the knee. 
3. Pause and hold on any tight or painful areas to workout the tension and repeat for all the muscle. 

Note: 

• Train one leg at a time (one leg on top of another) to increase the amount of pressure applied to the muscle, maximising the effect of your bodyweight. 
• Tilting to one side can target certain areas of the muscle and ensure complete coverage. 

3) Foam rolling the calves
Tight calves can be the result of many things, not the least of which is a lack of flexibility training. Foam rolling can help break up tight fascia — the connective tissue surrounding your calf muscles — and work out the kinks and knots.

​1. Place the foam roller underneath your calf muscles.
2. Place your hands on either side of your hips and if you can lift your bodyweight up off the floor.
3. Using your arms as a fulcrum, roll your calf slowly from top to bottom and back again, turning you leg inward and outward to hit all areas of the muscle.

So you have an MRI. Now we have THE answer! 

​​If you have ever visited me or heard me speak on imaging - then you will have heard my rants on the use and abuse of imaging in medical diagnosis. There is even a term for it. VOMIT - victims of medical imaging technology. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1126156/

The allure is powerful - "a picture tells a thousand words" we are told. Well sometimes a thousand words is too much! 

Here we have a small but informative study which demonstrates the subjectivity of image interpretation. All clinical investigations have elements of subjectivity in their interpretation. 

An area of practice that I am particularly passionate about is communication of imaging results. Its absolutely amazing how powerful what is communicated to a patient (and how) - especially in regards to diagnostic imaging results. The patient that walks in armed with scans or xrays from 10 years ago exclaiming "I HAVE A DISC BULGE!" In my head I think how can I possibly undo this belief system...? People literally carry these pathology labels around with them for life. So strong is our desire to know, see and label pain in our body.

Other studies have demonstrated the very high degree of false positives. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25584950 - Nakashima et al. demonstrated this in their cervical spine study 
"Most subjects presented with disc bulging (87.6%), which significantly increased with age in terms of frequency, severity, and number of levels. Even most subjects in their 20s had bulging discs, with 73.3% and 78.0% of males and females, respectively. In contrast, few asymptomatic subjects were diagnosed with SCC (5.3%) or increased signal intensity (2.3%). These numbers increased with age, particularly after age 50 years. SCC mainly involved 1 level (58%) or 2 levels (38%), and predominantly occurred at C5-C6 (41%) and C6-C7"

Get that! 73% of 20 year olds with no neck pain had disc bulges on MRI and 87.6% of the 1200 participants had disc bulges and no neck pain.

What does all of this mean? Just because you have xyz pain and an MRI or xray with "wear and tear, disc bulges, degeneration etc etc" - please consider obtaining a clinical diagnosis (also very subjective) from a provider that is going to move your focus from pain and imaging results to movement and function based outcomes.

There is definitely an art, a skill, involved in unpacking, counselling and educating people about their bodies and the lack of support for the use of imaging in the vast degree of spinal problems. Sure imaging has its place but as I like to say though - there is no image that says - here is your pain! 

Chris

Introducing The Parnells - Gregg and Kim. We love these two little pocket rockets. They have an unstoppable spirit to keep going and to never give up. They signed up for the Health Associates Couch 2 5km in the summer and achieved extraordinary results. What really stood out was there support and encouragement for each other. Kim was first thinking about participating in the program and Gregg quickly jumped in and said "lets do it together!" 

Although their health and fitness journey hasn't been without a few speed bumps, their dedication to understanding their injuries and respecting the process of recovering and healing has helped them recover with optimism and confidence.

​ 
Name:
Kim Parnell
Occupation:
Stores officer/Purchasing TAFE
What does health mean to you?
Being active in body and mind
How do you keep healthy
Run, walk, soccer
How you stay motivated?
Train and exercise with a friend or group.
I feel accountable to them if I don't turn up!!!
Facebook page to feel encouraged.
Why do you like coming to Health Associates?
Friendly faces with help and guidance and a wealth of knowledge
Advice for others wanting to improve their health?
Start off with small goals
Find a friend to exercise with
Favourite Quote:
Listen to your body

Name:
Gregg Parnell
Occupation:
Customer support manager
What does health mean to you?
Keeping fit and healthy means a lot to me. I have a busy life and staying fit helps to meet the day to day demands.
How do you keep healthy
Football, mountain biking and running
How you stay motivated?
Kim and I support each other, but being part of a wonderful group really helps you along
Why do you like coming to Health Associates?
Chris and I play in the same football team and he has been able to help me with many sports injuries I’ve had over the past few years.
Advice for others wanting to improve their health?
Get out and just do it ! The C25K is a great way to start and meet others starting out

Let's face it, as a practitioner I make my living by helping people in most cases overcome injury. However, as a human being first and someone that actually cares about the people I treat and the community I live in, I would much rather see you on the field more, and in my clinic less. Yes, the worse business model around. But if I was in it for the money I would have chosen a different career path.

A lot of the work I do with my patients is educating them. Helping them understand how and why something has happened and then setting them up for future success. As much as I love seeing everyone, in my industry, less is more!
So, this brings me to the topic of pre-season training. What is it and why is it important? Regardless of where you are on the sporting spectrum, recreational to elite, pre-season training could make a significant impact on how well you play, reduce chance of injury and enjoy your season of sport.
What is pre-season training?
Pre-season training is training that occurs in the timeframe directly proceeding the actual sports season. So, for instance, if the sport runs from September to February, pre-season training via cardiovascular activities, weight training, and sports-related drills will probably begin sometime around June. This gives the player a few months to get his or her body into prime shape before the season formally begins.
The amount of pre-season training necessary to get up to playing level is often determined by how much time was taken off after the season ended. Of course, if training was continued during the off time, then getting season-ready will likely take much less work, thus reducing pre-season demands.
The Importance of Pre-Season Training
This type of training is important because it prepares the players for the oftentimes grueling trainings and games that occur in the midst of the season. If no pre-season training were to occur, it would be like running a marathon after having spent the past three months not running at all. It will feel harder than ever and even if you do finish, you’ll likely have some type of injury due to your body not being properly conditioned.
In the end, pre-season training is just as important as training that occurs during the season, if not more so.

​By Chris Bowles

Running. Love or hate it, it can be an amazing tool to facilitate enormous social and personal impact.

My journey with running began over 25 years ago. I hated it. I was not good at it. It hurt and it was essentially forced upon me to help me lose weight. I was very overweight as a child and this was how my dad helped me get fit. Leaving the judgement aside my experience as a runner has evolved so much since then.

Moving through different stages of my life, it has always been a corner stone that I could turn to, and our relationship with each other has gone through some tough times. But we keep coming back together. 

My perception of running and health and fitness changed significantly when I became involved with Can Too in 2008. Here I could see that exercise could be more than a means of self improvement. Exercise could be a powerful tool to help heal, to create hope and to impact powerful social change. Can Too taught me the power of meaningful connections, supportive communities and running.

The work that Can Too continue to do today, I personally believe, is creating a paradigm shift in the health and wellness community. The fitness industry has a powerful impact on human transformation in more ways than one, and harnessed with the intention of not just supporting individual goals but community improvement could completely change the landscape we live in - for the better!

Particularly in an era of rapid growth in social media platforms. Meaningful, human connections is becoming more essential for our well-being.

This brings me back to running, why I still continue to run and why I facilitate learn to run programs and running groups to inspire others. 

Recently, I completed a local fun run of 11km. Along side me were a dozen other women who put their faith and confidence in me to guide them through a training program and across the finishing line.

The results were incredible. But the relationships, the change in confidence and self-perception and the care and support for each other is what resonated the loudest for me. 

We run for ourselves but we run for each other. Regardless of where we are on our journey there is support, encouragement and inclusiveness that lifts you up not puts you down. This not only impacts our health and fitness, it permeates through to all other areas of our life. We are cheerleaders for each other and we are cheerleaders for those we engage with. 

I write this blog with hope. I hope that the small changes we make as a community of cheerleaders will create a landscape for our children to grow up in, where they too raise each other up. Where they don't compete to be better than anyone else but they compete to bring out their best and the best in each other. That the destination is not status or power. But measured on how well we lived and how well we helped others live. 

By Alana Bowles
Learn more about the Health Associates Couch to 5km here