It turns out that, along with Gucci handbags, a lot of people are getting hip replacements these days as part of their everyday fashion statement. If you are thinking of adding in a hip replacement/ therapy into your wardrobe, here is a list of the most common choices:

1. Total hip replacement.
2. Partial hip replacement.
3. Hip resurfacing.

There are also other alternatives to hip replacement that have strong evidence of working just as well in certain circumstances.

1. Prolotherapy injections.
2. Platelet Rich Plasma injections (PRP Therapy).
3. Stem Cell Therapy.

But before you go out and get a new hip you might want to know a little about your hips and how they work. The hip is a ball-and-socket joint. This joint has a large range of movement. The ball of the hip joint is the femoral head (top of your femur). This rotates within a socket, in the pelvis, called the acetabulum.  This is where a lot of problems occur either because of genetics, accidents, but most commonly due to improper movements and functions. Over time things become stiff and sore, but I have found in my line of work that age is not an excuse for needing a hip replacement.  It is the activities or lack thereof that lead to needing hip replacement/therapy.

What movements are best to keep your hips happy. Let’s look at what movements of the hip that can be carried out at the joint.

• Flexion – Lifting the leg up to step on the stairs. Muscles involved; iliopsoas, rectus femoris, sartorius, pectineus
• Extension – Pushing down on the leg and moving forwards. Muscles involved; gluteus maximus; semimembranosus, semitendinosus, and biceps femoris (the hamstrings)
• Abduction – Stabilising the leg for balance, pushing the leg out to the side. Muscles involved; gluteus medius, gluteus maximus, piriformis, and tensor fascia latae
• Adduction – Stabilising the leg and bring the leg back to the centre. Muscles involved; adductors longus, brevis and magnus, pectineus and gracilis
• Lateral rotation – Rotating the leg outwards as in Ballet dancing. Muscles involved; biceps femoris, gluteus maximus, piriformis, assisted by the obturators, gemelli and quadratus femoris.
• Medial rotation – As in kicking a soccer ball. Muscles involved; anterior fibres of gluteus medius and maximus, tensor fascia latae.

As you can see there are a lot of muscles involved just to keep you upright and walking forwards. A simplified example is the effect over time from sitting at a desk 8hrs a day. The flexion muscles “iliopsoas, rectus femoris, sartorius, pectineus” become short and tight, pulling on the lower back, and consequently the extension muscles become elongated and weak causing the pelvis to tilt forwards.  This causes the femoral head of the femur to become impacted into the hip socket, ouch!

So, you ask, how do you keep your hips happy without becoming too much of a hippy?   Firstly, try to limit sitting to no more than 90 minutes at a time.  Why 90 minutes you may ask, different story for another time!

Secondly when walking around, keep your hips in a neutral position. Think of the hips (pelvis) as a giant bowl of water and you do not want to spill any. Try to not tilt your hips forwards or backwards. This rule does not apply if you are dancing, but do not quote me on this, we must ask Estelle to get the answer!

Thirdly, there are an endless supply of exercises and stretches that are fantastic for keeping your hips happy and hippy.

Here are a few exercises that you can try at home.

1. Seated abduction and adduction isometrics. Use a band around the knees press outwards. Use a ball or pillow between the knees and press in. Do both for 4 x 30sec.
2. Prone hip extension: Lying on your back lift the hips up to the sky. 4 x 10 repetitions.
3. Prone Knees bend: Lying on your back, bend the knees and gently let them fall side to side.  4 x 5 to each side.
4. Standing Single leg hip hike: Standing on one leg, lift the unsupported hip up to the side, as if you are dancing.
5. Standing Hip adductions, abduction, extension, flexion: In a controlled manner swing one leg in all 4 directions, forward, to the side, across the body and then behind.

If you have any question, please do not hesitate to contact us. Alternatively, you can visit our YouTube channel where we have videos of several of these exercises.

In the spirit of summer and light, I thought we would also touch on the Importance of Sunlight to your health and wellbeing.  Cyndi O’Meara author of Lab to Table very eloquently explains how important sunshine is.  We have been told for years to avoid the sun, cover up, wear protect clothing and “not get burnt”, well the not get burnt part stands but the avoid the sun at all costs sentiment is not necessarily correct.  To put it bluntly, Cyndi states “Without sunlight we would be dead”, when in actual fact we need sunlight every day! 

We need Sunlight to help our bodies block the hormone melatonin to help us awaken the mind and energise us for the day!  We need it for our daily required vitamin D intake.  Vitamin D is important for growth, maintenance and repair.  Sunlight helps us avoid Seasonal Affective disorder, which can have long lasting impacts on your mental health with depression and lethargy being just two of the impacts of the condition. 

If you would like to know more on the importance of sunlight in relation to our health and wellbeing, or information about how to purchase the Lab to Table book, please feel free to ask any of our ALTA team, can I just say, it is so ‘enlightening’!

Part1: JC and I were talking what is with White Bread and its popularity despite it not being the most healthiest? So JC did a bit of research and hence this article! It’s fun, quirky, interesting and it was so long we did in 2 parts – enjoy!

Well, let’s jump back in time and understand the ‘history’ of the humble loaf.  The oldest evidence of bread-making was found at a 14,500 year old site in Jordan, and the Egyptians are recorded as one of the first to introduce yeast to the process of making bread.  Around 1000BC Rome, the circular Quern was developed – a circular stone wheel, which was the basis of all milling until the industrial revolution in the 19th century and in some parts of the world is still the way stoneground flour is made today.

History also tells us that bread made with the whitest flour were for the rich and elite, while the coarser darker loaves were for the poor. Around C150, bakers’ guilds were created which allowed the elite access to the more refined white breads, controlled businesses and regulated the price and weight of bread. Whilst wholegrains are rich source of nutrients, and a very important source of substances in poor people’s diets, they can go rancid after a few months. The more refined white flour was found to be able to be stored for longer periods of time.

At the beginning of the industrial revolution, “there was a synergy between the desires of people (status) and the necessities of commerce (long shelf life of the processed product)” – and white bread is produced on a massive scale.

Sliced bread was popularised after a slicing machine was invented by Otto Frederick Rohwedder of Davenport, Iowa, in 1928. The “Wonder Bread” company was the first to mass produce and sell pre-sliced white bread.

Bread type of choice also depends on history and your ancestors. In Eastern Europe, rye bread and whole grains are popular for their relatively high protein and lysine content. England, and various countries in the Mediterranean, preferred white bread because they had better access to other protein sources like fish.

Studies found that white bread is still popular as it is easier to digest, more appealing as it looks purer and more refined, better value for money and possibly more nutritious.

Part2: What you eat (or don’t) says volumes about what you think about your health, your religion, your social status according to a book I have recently been reading- “White bread Protestants”: Food and Religion in American Culture”

Bread type of choice all depends on history and your ancestors. In Germany to the Eastern Europe rye bread and whole grains are popular – From what I am told Germans eat white bread rolls for breakfast and dark bread for dinner. Rye bread has a relatively high protein and lysine content. My speculation is that countries like Scandinavia, England, and various countries in the Mediterranean, preferred white bread because they had better access to other protein sources, like fish, than other countries who tended to be land locked, relied on protein from their breads, and other grains.

As you may remember white bread has been a status symbol for a very long time, not only does it require less chewing, of all the grains and grasses, the wheat embryo (germ) and the outer layers of the seed are rich source of nutrients, and a very important source of these substances in poor people’s diets. Unfortunate, these same important nutrients can go rancid rather quickly. White flour can be stored for years, while whole grain flour tends to be good for only a few months.

At the beginning of the industrial revolution, when large populations had to be fed on a massive scale, “there was a synergy between the desires of people (status) and the necessities of commerce (long shelf life of the processed product)” – and we get the white bread on a massive scale.  Governments needed to import wheat from other countries, such as Canada, and the USA that milled the grain into flour with new steam powered technology.  Side note: the baguette and croissant thought to have originated in France came from an Austrian baker August Zang who in the early 1800’s founded a Viennese bakery (“Boulangerie Viennoise”) at 92, rue de Richelieu in Paris. where he had a unique method of baking the baguettes in a mechanical steam oven.

During periods of war, famine and other calamities through out history, the governments of the time, were quick to protect the people’s bread. History tells us during the First World War, many regulations were passed controlling the bread trade. Experiments began to solve problems of keeping bread fresh, conservation of supplies and the stopping of waste. In the development (science) of bread, new and innovative ways were made to lengthen its shelf life and to preserve quality. Substitutes were introduces such as flour made of peas, arrowroot, parsnips, beans, lentils, maize, rice, barley, and oats. In the end, as with most things’ chemistry would prove to be the best at preserving breads shelf life.

During the Second World War, regulations were imposed on the baking industry. The ‘standard’ loaf was a grey colour, which may have been ok in taste, but not much to look at. Compared to all the varieties of bread loaves today, shape, texture, and flavour, still at a comparative low price, and available to all. Think for a moment only a few hundred years ago, it was only the ‘poor and common people who should eat poor and common bread’, and only the rich should be able to enjoy the real white loaves of bread.

In a 1950’s advertainment listed the benefits of White Bread here.

1.  Easier to chew and swallow
2.  More palatable.
3.  White bread, rolls, and crackers are pleasing with just a bit of jam or cheese.
4. Purer. Pure as the driven snow, snowy white linens. We all know you know that processors and vendors adulterate food. You suspect that it’s more difficult to add dubious fillers and extenders to white bread than it to add them to brown.
5. Easier to digest. You know that whole grains or wholemeal bread tends to have a laxative effect, which you don’t need during a factory shift.”

Most of our food is so highly processed that it’s easy to forget that digesting is difficult, and energy consuming. We spend 10% of the energy we get from food just digesting.  For us sedentary modern city dwellers, a serving of whole grains is a good thing, in the book ‘Bread and the British Economy’ by Andrew Jenkins. The following points were made about bread at the time;

1. Better value for money. Like most women who spend most of their budget on food you have a keen sense of what fills and satisfies the family. (Peterson has done the complicated calculations, concluding that compared to, say, barley, wheat’s weight per volume, ease and yield in grinding, and relatively low cost of baking made it only slightly more expensive than coarser breads).
2. Possibly more nutritious, not that you would have put it this way, because being easier to digest, eaters got more calories and nutrients for a given weight of bread.
3. A finer product. You knew that harvested grains had to go through a laborious sequence of cleaning, freeing of the dirt and grit of the field, threshing to get rid of the inedible outer husk, and grinding into flour. It made sense to sieve out the course, dark bits to leave pure white flour.
4. What the rich ate. Lords and ladies who could afford it had always opted for white wheaten bread, leaving the rough stuff to those they regarded as inferior. If you could feed your family like the rich, well then you most certainly would.

Maybe it is less about food preference and more about the way we eat that has changed over the decades. And along with changes in society and the way people now eat bread let’s hope we go for a healthier, whole grain sourdough bread that has more nutritious benefits.

We’ve all had those days after exercise where we’ve felt sore, it’s often call DOM’s (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) but what your body is also experiencing, which is normal, is inflammation especially if you’ve perhaps strained or injured a muscle.

Acute inflammation is a natural part of the body’s recovery and healing process. But if your body is out of balance and you don’t fully recover from previous injuries and workouts, you can develop chronic inflammation which makes it more painful to work out, and more difficult to recover.

Red light therapy supports healthier training and recovery. We have 2 Joove lights at home, one larger one in our ensuite and a portable one and this article is only one of its amazing things that red light therapy can achieve.

Inflammation 101  
If you train or play sports, you’ve probably experienced inflammation after a strenuous workout, or from an injury.

With exercise and athletics, inflammation is a response to muscle damage which may sound bad but this is how muscle tissue grows: microtears from exercise are repaired in order for muscle tissues to get stronger. It is a normal process of growth and repair. If you don’t recover properly after workouts, or don’t fully heal from an injury or strain, that acute inflammation could become chronic over time and limit your performance.

Red Light therapy can be a part of a healthy lifestyle and can help support body balance (homeostasis) & enhanced cellular function. Like exercise, diet, and restful sleep, healthy light intake can have a big impact on managing inflammation and injuries.

What is Red Light Therapy? 
Red light therapy, also known as photobiomodulation (PBM) or low level laser therapy (LLLT), is a simple, non-invasive treatment that uses LEDs to deliver wavelengths of red and near infrared (NIR) light directly to the skin and cells. Red light therapy allows a person to supplement the sunlight they get from their environment with concentrated wavelengths of red and NIR light. This helps supply the mitochondria in your cells with the light needed to boost ATP energy synthesis and power your body.

Red Light Therapy’s Effects on Inflammation 
Red and near infrared light act as a very mild form of stress that activates protective mechanisms in the cells. When these light wavelengths hit the skin and penetrate into the cells, the mitochondria makes energy more efficiently. This boosts the production of pro-and anti-inflammatories, and disease-fighting antioxidants that accelerate the healing process for more efficient healing. It can also reduce inflammation by improving blood flow to damaged tissues.

If you’d like to know more then click here for more on red light therapy.

Who doesn’t love a little something sweet, particularly of the Choccy variety?  Well you all know here at ALTA fitness we are all about a bit of balance, which can be achieved through the quality of what you put in your mouth rather than abstaining completely!  Chocolate is actually not a bad food, its the additives and the addictive nature which causes most of us grief.  Who can relate to “by accident” eating more than intended? I certainly can!! Well, below are a few tips which I found work quite well from none other than our ALTA library favourite book “Lab to Table” by Cyndi O’Meara.

Tip #1 You’ve heard me say it before!! “Only eat the best” in this case,  home-made or Artisan Chocolate made from the finest ingredients!!  Theory being if you eat the good stuff you are less like to settle on the cheaper not so good products!
Tip #2 Buy individually wrapped chocolates!!  As it is expensive and good quality you are less likely to open the next one unlike the already open family size block, which our brains tell us we need to consume until finished!
Tip #3 Savour it!, When eating that piece of chocolate, really enjoy it, because that will be all you have.
Tip #4  If rule 3 fails and you do decide you want more, there will be effort required to go back to the shop to buy another piece of chocolate, I know for me that is all too hard and the craving passes!  
Tip #5 Stay away from cheaper chocolates for at least 2 months, give yourself a chance to really reset. 

If you would like to know more about the health benefits, including what is in chocolate which makes it good for you, please feel free to borrow our “Lab to Table” book from our ALTA Library to find out more!!  And remember, your health and wellbeing is important to us, not just how you aim to become fitter, stronger or leaner. 

Its always interesting when someone says to you “Oh I’m surprised you have done so well”. Ouch! I think it was meant to be a compliment but it translates to “Oh I didn’t think you were that good!”

Have you had that before, someone underestimates you or you are overlooked? I was reading an article just about this and it made me think that in our ‘world of fitness’ we see and hear this often, in fact sometimes even I may have underestimated your level of fitness or capability but then I am so excited when proven wrong. Or maybe it is a friend or family member who underestimated you – now this we hear often!

Vanessa Van Edwards from Science of People says that the reasons for this may be – People don’t really understand you, or you’ve hidden your true value or you underestimate yourself.

So, I thought I’d turn the article I read and picked a few steps (from the 11 she wrote) to help us learn how to NOT be underestimated (or let you underestimate yourself!) when it comes to your fitness and your fitness goals.

1. Do you underestimate yourself? You might be doing this because you are not getting enough feedback, are you hearing the words – Perfect, nice job, there you go (JC’s favourite), let’s try it this way. If you’re not getting it, ask for feedback as you maybe doubting your capabilities. And I can tell you, more often than not, that people underestimate their balance – you know who you are!
2. Be a Giver. I know this sounds funny but we see it all the time, when a client compliments another client on their exercise, say lifting a heavy weight, then that person is likely to say (or think) hey I’m not bad at this, I can do even better. And in turn there is the ‘Giving Loop’, giving encouragement and compliments is contagious and before you know it you realise that you are more than capable and sharing success’.
3. Embrace the Naysayers.  Ooooh I like this one! Ever hear of the man Dick Rowe who turned down the Beatles. What if they had listened to the Naysayers? Ever had someone say, “What you’re going to run a marathon, I’d like to see that!” Or you’re too fat, too old, too young, too skinny to build muscle or hike Cradle Mountain Hut Walk – Naysayers!!! But hold onto them sometimes they can be your motivator to prove them wrong, this is a perfect time to use your frustration or anger to spur you on and say ‘Take that!’. On the other hand though keep your Dream Builders & Supporters even closer, those who cheer you on and don’t underestimate your dreams and capabilities.
4. Increase your confidence. NBC News (2017) said that up to 85% people have low self esteem. So changing confidence overnight or all in one go may be tough but this is why we always ask, what is your goal for coming to ALTA? So set a goal, picture it, write it down, share it with us and we can work with you to achieve it. And for every little achievement on the way your confidence in yourself will grow and seriously take the time to acknowledge them.
5. Stop people pleasing Yep, I like to be liked or maybe you say yes when you want to say no – if we don’t want to be underestimated let’s become less apologetic – don’t apologise for existing or setting boundaries or stating what you want, your fitness goal is yours, no one else’s. Do what is important to you and in the act of becoming fitter, stronger, healthier you’ll know you’ve doing the right thing for you.
6. Focus on yourself. Think of yourself as a bank, the more you invest in yourself, the better you become. Now this is particularly relevant to your fitness (though the article was on a different tangent but I can manipulate this to our cause). You are the only one who can stop other people from underestimating you reaching your goals. It’s your step to make it truly happen so grab a pen and paper and write down what you need – it could look something like this
   1. My goal is to run 10k. I need to run twice a week, I need to do a strength session (with us of course!) once a week, I need to go to bed by 10pm every night, I need to keep hydrated min. 8 glasses of water, I need good running shoes…breathe… you may not get everything on the list but make the list. See I forgot something – eat well, good protein, good fats, lots of vegetables.

Now you are amazing, all of you, if you have read this it is because you want to not be underestimated – stay persistent, stay fearless, be kind to yourself and importantly to others as you will spread the word – don’t underestimate me!

If you’d like to read the article (not my interpretation in regards to fitness & note I have given my own views as well) click here, I love Vanessa Van Edwards and her advice!

We have become known as a PT studio that offers rehab exercise programs, people come to us via referrals or from those seeking out a rehabilitation trainer. But on the flip side we often see new clients who come to us for Personal Training and we refer them to an Allied Health Practitioner which may come as a surprise to them as it is often before we even start training them!

When we started ALTA, JC had already taken courses in rehabilitation, one because he worked with athletes but also he had many clients who at times required rehabilitation after an operation or injury. And, in doing this he found it really rewarding to be able to help people with their discomfort, pain or restricted movement. Will & Jason have also studied in the areas of rehabilitation, we are so lucky to have a team who can support our clients. But key to us is injury prevention. That’s why we like to start with mobility warm-ups, safe training and always some stretching at the end of your sessions – as with any exercise there can be some risk.

So why is it so important for us to be working with Allied Health practitioners such as Physios, Osteo’s, Chiropractors, Rolfers, Remedial Massage, Acupuncturists and more? Because, we are not medical professionals and when we see something, or you tell us of an injury or pain or discomfort, it is our job to help determine if it’s something we can work with or if you need to see a professional. That’s why over the years we have worked with, and continue to work with, some wonderful doctors and practitioners who care about you as much as we do. How we work together is important, it can be a simple phone call, to a detailed report, to attending a workshop as JC has done in the past with a heart patient. We have, and are always willing to, liaise with your practitioner as importantly we gain a greater understanding of your issue. They will also guide us in what we can do to support you, or what not to do that may hinder your recovery.

Remember, your health and wellbeing are important to us, not just how you aim to become fitter, stronger or leaner, that’s a given, so anytime you see someone or need to be referred keep us in mind so we can support you from our end.

Mobility is the ability to move between different social and societal settings. Or is it the ability of the body to move freely and easily? Today we are talking about the latter.  Not to be confused with flexibility, which is the ability to change, bend and compromise.  I am sure we all know a few people who may have mobility but no flexibility, but I digress.

We are after what specifically is mobility in an anatomical sense. Mobility within a joint is the degree to which the area where two bones articulate, allowing the joint to move before being restricted by the surrounding tissue such as tendons, muscle, and ligaments. Think of mobility as the range of uninhibited motion around the joint. Though ideally your body should move synergistically (say that 4 times quickly!).

Synergetics is the system of holistic thinking which R. Buckminster Fuller introduced as Synergy. That is, an interaction or cooperation giving rise to a whole that is greater than the simple sum of its parts. The term synergy comes from the Greek word “συνεργία synergia“ from synergos, meaning “working together”.  A simple example of this is the first thing in the morning, we are all a bit stiff – no way you could touch your toes, but after a hot shower and a cup of coffee, your body starts to move a bit better and a bit more, the systems are waking up.

A specific example for me is the loaded back squat, which has been a bane for me for a few years now.  When squatting down to 90 degrees, I would feel pain in my right knee and lower back. A physical therapist could, and have measured, all my specific flexibility in each muscle and mobility in each joint (under passive unloaded movements). But why do I have pain in the right knee and right lower back when I do a loaded back squat?  My body is not in synergy.  Long story short and jumping forward many months, I have a lack of mobility in my upper thoracic (upper ribs, back) which under load will not allow my pelvis to move and in turn places a greater load on my knees, which stops stability muscles from working or completely turning off (sensory motor amnesia).

Gray Cook, creator of FMS Functional movement screening system, (who we use at ALTA) created the joint-by-joint basis to create the best movement patterns Viewing Cook’s approach from the bottom up we can see how joints can stack on top of each other, alternating from stability to mobility.  Feet are stable, ankles have mobility. Knees have stability, hips have mobility. Core is stable, thoracic has mobility, neck is stable.  And when we sit for long periods of time or have an injury this paradigm becomes flipped.  In my case, thoracic became stable instead of mobile.

Where to from here? To ensure you have proper mobility in your joints there is no one cure all exercises, the body is “Synergetic”. It is a combination of exercises from massage, yoga, pilates. Specific mobility exercise for each joint, specific flexibility exercise for each muscle group as well as activation exercises (turning on sleepy muscles, the opposite of sensory motor amnesia).

So, you see mobility has many aspects. If you would like to learn more about mobility and how we integrate the synergetic’s of mobility in to the ALTA system, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Everyone knows how much we love our coffee, an Almond Milk Latte certainly brings a smile to our faces each morning when consumed. But really what are the benefits?  Is coffee good for you?  Well, according to Paul Gow, the author of ‘Liver Better life’, he says YES!! Read on as we explain more, did you know that 1.4 billion cups of coffee are consumed everyday worldwide!  Interestingly, caffeine makes up only 1-2% of the weight of the actual coffee bean, this makes caffeine levels vary greatly. But more importantly, caffeine contains proteins, amino acids, carbohydrates and fibre, fats, minerals, acids and numerous polyphenols (micro nutrients from plants), all which have incredible health benefits when consumed in moderation- aka 2 cups a day!

The biggest beneficiary of moderate coffee consumption is in fact the Liver.  Caffeine reduces liver fat, inflammation and damage, “There is no medicine out there that your doctor can prescribe that benefits your liver like a cup of coffee” It is however also good for your heart, and despite what you may have heard, coffee does not increase your blood pressure, but it does reduce the risk of Diabetes.  But how does this cup of goodness help the liver and heart so much?  In a nut shell and on a very basic level, coffee reduces insulin.  Insulin drives many of the common diseases in the Western World, such as heart disease, respiratory disease and strokes to name a few.

So what are the negatives?  Caffeine can contribute to anxiety and disrupted sleep if consumed in high doses, Cyndi O’Meara in her book ‘Lab to Table” explains the addictive nature of caffeine, stating that when you feel like ‘you lack focus and are fatigued’ if you have not consumed coffee aka caffeine then you may be in fact be addicted! But like Paul Gow, she also mentions that if consumed in moderation, coffee won’t be harmful to your health.  As a side note, Caffeine base energy drinks are no good, this is usually due to the high sugar levels, the caffeine content is not an issue if they are consumed like everything, once again …..in moderation!

So to sum this all up, we are happy to report that Coffee is great!  It is a wonder drug when it comes to liver health, if you have good liver health it makes it better, if you don’t it makes it better.  And with beneficial effects against lung disease, heart disease, stroke diabetes and infections we can look forward to our morning coffee knowing we are looking after ourselves each day, sometimes twice!  If you would like to read more on the Benefits of Coffee, we have the Liver Better Life (Paul Gow) and Lab to Table (Cyndi O’Meara) in our ALTA Library which we are happy for you to borrow and have a read, or alternative have a chat to us!