Cramp! What works???

Nicki’s Story

For almost twenty years, I have suffered debilitating cramps. Generally, they strike at night, after a long day of being on my feet, treating clients, or at sports tournaments. Frequently episodes have lasted two or three hours. The pain has been excruciating, with muscle spasms and micro-trauma, causing discomfort for several days.

My GP told me that, aside from magnesium, not much helps, and that I would just have to live with this situation. He neglected to tell me that anti hypertensive medication would make the situation much worse! He didn’t know that a diet with moderate to high sugar levels would also make things worse, and the cruel irony was, his recommendation that I try a commercial sports drink would expose me to even more sugar thus worsening the situation.

At this point, with the cramps becoming a nightly occurrence, and long periods spent in hot showers trying to bring the muscles into a relaxed state, I was exhausted and distressed.

I tried all kinds of remedies, both allopathic, and natural, to no avail. Nothing made more than a transient difference. Then I began the detox process and noticed on the nights that I had severe cramp, I had also eaten chocolate with my coffee. So I reduced my sugar intake. No sweetened foods after lunch. There was an improvement!

Crampade

Then, in November two years ago, I was at a Sports Medicine conference and during the break, I encountered Crampade for the first time. I was impressed with the passion of the inventor. I was impressed by the science and research we discussed, and came home with a generous amount of product to try for myself.

Of course, the theory was great, that wasn’t unique! The formulation is. But the proof of any product lies in its usefulness.

From the first time I took it, Crampade was spectacularly different! For me, the cramps stopped within five minutes of me taking it. This has been consistent over the last eighteen months. Every time I have taken Crampade, I have experienced relief, usually within three to five minutes. To have a product such as this has been a game changer for me.

But, Crampade isn’t just good for cramp. It also provides electrolytes lost through dehydration.

Sportspeople

It helps sportspeople perform  better for longer. This is particularly true for Masters level sports people. It also aids recovery in tournament situations, and helps with decision making.
Because Crampade is a powder, in a sachet, it is really convenient to use. It is a measured dose, unlike many other products on the market. A sachet or two in your sports bag, or wallet, and you have it with you for every situation.

Convenient

Crampade is convenient to use, because on sachet taken prior to competition provides enough electrolytes for the day. There is no need for alternating water and a sports drink, the focus simply becomes drinking water during the game time.

Crampade requires only a small amount of water to deliver electrolytes, reducing the bloated feeling, and meaning it can be taken immediately before play. This is also a major advantage for those who suffer night cramps, reducing the need to wake a short while after taking it.

It is an occasional use product – you only take it when you need it.

The formulation is alkaline, helping reduce lactic acid.

The inclusion of pyridoxine is especially valuable for pregnancy. Because it is an electrolyte formulation, it is beneficial for those suffering morning sickness. Clients using the product report feeling better sooner.

Really, there is a reason for everyone to consider Crampade as their preferred choice, for hydration, cramps, sports performance, and post celebration recovery.

I love that Crampade was created from the benefit of scientific research, but I love that it is fundamentally a supplement. There are no negative side effects, and that is highly unusual.

Cost wise, Crampade is less than half the cost of other products on the market.

Where can I get it?

Available in our Clinic or from our online store for $13/box of 10. Buy and try today, you will be amazed!

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Special massage promotion until Sep 14th

Special massage promotion until September 14th!

To encourage you to try our recently added new services, we’d like to give you a $10 discount on your first booking of this new service.
Our experienced and qualified Pilates Instructor & Personal Trainer, Colin, has recently added qualifications in Relaxation Massage to his skill set.

As part of this promotion you can see Colin, our “new” massage therapist, for only $60* for a long treatment.

Book yourself a Relaxation Massage with Colin and use the coupon code COLIN to receive one $10 discount.

* Health Fund rebates are not available for these services.

Colin is no longer with IC Sports Therapies. We wish him well in his future.

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Friday Fitness Fact #8: Weight Loss

 

 

Weight loss is not a physical challenge – it’s a mental one.

‘The following behavioural strategies could help your weight loss plan:

  1.  Schedule your day to allow adequate time for buying, preparing and eating healthy food. Set an alarm if necessary so you don’t get stuck watching TV or working at the computer.
  2. Stock up on healthy snacks that have a pleasing texture and taste. You may like the crunchiness of carrots, the tanginess of cheese cubes, or the smoothness of frozen yoghurt. Drinking a cup of hot tea with your midmorning or midafternoon snack may make it last longer and feel more satisfying.
  3. Communicate with family and friends and ask for their support in improving your health. Ideally, working on weight together with a friend or family member means you can encourage and support each other and help keep each other on track.
  4.  Stay “in the moment” while eating.  Avoid eating at the computer, while driving, or multitasking while you eat. Tune into the experience of eating, what tastes and textures you feel like, how satisfying the food is, and what it feels like to be hungry or full.
  5. Remind yourself several times a day of your weight loss goal and how important it is to you. You could paste a picture of a thinner version of you or write your reasons for losing weight on a note card that you keep with you, or put a picture on your desk.
  6. Don’t get caught in thinking traps that can derail you from your diet. If you feel that you deserve something extra for being good, reward yourself with an extra snack or a small dessert that only adds a limited amount of calories. If you have a bad day, don’t use it as an excuse to go off your diet for a week. Remind yourself that you need to get back on track as quickly as possible to minimize the damage.
  7. Tell yourself “I can do this.”  Research shows that self-efficacy, or confidence that you can succeed at reaching your goal, is a powerful predictor of future behavior. If you catch yourself thinking negatively, switch to thinking about other situations in which you successfully learned a new behaviorl. Visualize yourself resisting temptation or throwing the extra weight into the ocean to keep motivated.

These strategies, accompanied by a reasonable nutritional plan, and increased exercise should help you develop a new relationship to food and increase your self-control.’

Sources:

To Lose the Weight, Change How You Relate (to Food)  https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-mindful-self-express/201102/lose-the-weight-change-how-you-relate-food

 

Previous: Friday Fitness Fact #7: Resistance Training

Friday Fitness Fact #7: Resistance Training

Resistance Training

Resistance Training

Resistance training doesn’t make women “big”. It’s difficult for anyone to get “too bulky” by lifting weights alone.

Resistance training is a form of exercise that improves muscular strength and endurance. During a resistance training workout, you move your limbs against resistance provided by your body weight, gravity, bands, weighted bars or dumbbells.

Resistance training (also called strength training or weight training) is the use of resistance to muscular contraction to build the strength, anaerobic endurance and size of skeletal muscles.

Resistance training increases muscle strength by making your muscles work against a weight or force.

Different forms of resistance training include free weights, weight machines, resistance bands and your own body weight.

A beginner needs to train two or three times per week to gain the maximum benefit.

Complete the Adult pre-exercise screening tool and consult with professionals, such as your doctor, exercise physiologist, physiotherapist or registered exercise professional, before you start a new fitness program.

Rest each muscle group for at least 48 hours to maximise gains in strength and size.

Varying your workouts can help you push past a training plateau.

Fun Facts: Weight Training

  • Stronger core results in better posture
  • 60% of people who weight train get an average of 7 hours or more of sleep per night
  • Weight training lowers bad cholesterol and blood pressure
  • Increased metabolism means you burn more calories when your body is resting
  • Adding just 2 weight training sessions a week can reduce body fat by 7%
  • Weight lifting boosts dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin, making it a natural antidepressant
  • By 80 years-old, sedentary people will lose 50% of their muscle mass, weight training can stop, prevent and reverse muscle loss
  • With better muscle coordination overall body mechanics are improved

Sources:

Resistance Training – Health Benefits – https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/resistance-training-health-benefits

Fun Facts: Weight Training – http://www.octanefitness.com/octaneblog/blog/2014/09/26/fun-facts-weight-training/

 

Previous: Friday Fitness Fact $6: Calories

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Customers of the Week, for July

Hurrah!

Wouldn’t July to be a winner too?  😉

Our Customer of the Week winners were Maureen B. for the week of 3rd July, Henry H. for the 10th, Jan S. for the 17th, and Meera S. for the 24th.

Each won a prize, just because they came for treatment and the Robot pulled their number out of the hat.

There were also one or two who were blessed with a birthday discount or gift  ^_^

How can you win?

To be in with a chance to win,  book your next appointment with us today at icsportstherapies.com.au/bookings, or contact us to make a booking for you.

Previous: June 2017

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Customers of the Week for June

We are so June-rous to our clients 😉

Our weekly winners were Andy M. for the week of 29/5, Jesse H. for the 5th, Elise M. for the 12th, Kanako M. for the 19th, and Chris J. for the 26th.

Each won a prize, just because they came for treatment and the Robot pulled their number out of the hat.

There were also one or two who were blessed with a birthday discount or gift  ^_^

How can you win?

To be in with a chance to win,  book your next appointment with us today at icsportstherapies.com.au/bookings, or contact us to make a booking for you.

Your Monday Muscle: #8 Vastus Lateralis

Vastus Lateralis

The vastus lateralis muscle

This muscle is located on the side of the thigh. This muscle is the largest of the quadriceps group (often called quads) which also includes the rectus femoris, the vastus intermedius, and the vastus medialis. Collectively, the quadriceps muscle is the largest in the human body and its purpose is to extend the knee. The specific task of the vastus lateralis muscle is to extend the lower leg and allow the body to rise up from a squatting position.

Trigger points in three of the four quadricep muscles are the kingpins behind many cases of knee pain and dysfunction. The vastus lateralis trigger points refer pain to the outside of the thigh, knee, and upper lower leg. They may also cause the “stuck patella” or “locked knee cap” conditions in which the knee cap fails to track up and down naturally during movements of the knee. While the pain from the other quadriceps trigger points is focused only on the knee joint, the vastus lateralis trigger points may also project pain to the outside of the thigh, which may also be confused with IT Band syndrome.

What are the pain and symptoms associated with the vastus lateralis?

  • Knee pain
  • Pain on the side of the thigh extending down into the front and back of the knee
  • Pain under the buttock extending toward the hip joint
  • Pain occasionally descends into the back of the calf
  • Locked knee
  • Extended walking increases pain in the thigh and knee

Fun Facts about vastus lateralis

  • It is the largest of the quadriceps muscles
  • Everyone has trigger points in the vastus lateralis.
  • ‘Growing pains’ in the knees and hips of children can often be traced to the vastus lateralis

Sources:

  1. Vastus Lateralis. healthline.com.
  2. Vastus Lateralis Trigger Points: The Knee Pain Trigger Points, triggerpointtherapist.com
  3. Vastus Lateralis Muscle: Hip, Thigh, Knee Pain, thewellnessdigest.com

[Previous: Your Monday Muscle: #7 Rectus Femoris ]

Services and prices, effective July 1st 2017

A few change, most stay the same

In response to numerous increases in our costs (e.g. our electricity daily supply charge is a cheeky 30% higher than a year ago), we are revising some of our service fees. We are sure you understand. Thank you for your continued loyalty and custom.

Effective 1st July 2017, our pricing schedule is as follows:

  • Remedial Massage, Sports Massage, Lymphatic Drainage: $70/½hr, $100/hr, $145/1½hrs
  • Hot Stone Massage: $120/hr
  • Swedish Relaxation Massage: $70/hr
  • Relaxation Massage: $70/hr
  • Physiotherapy: $90/½hr
  • Pilates Group Session (max 4): $22.50/hr/pp
  • Cardio Boxing Session (max 2): $35/hr/pp
  • Personal Trainer (1-on-1): $70/hr
  • Shockwave Therapy: $50/15mins
  • Facial Therapy: $70/hr
  • Moor Therapy from $40/hr
  • Postural Assessment: $80
  • Balance Assessment: $80
  • Management & Treatment of Sports Injuries  P.O.A.
  • Sports & Postural Taping from $10
  • Sports Trainer Coverage from $35/hr
  • Sports Event Risk Assessment from $40/hr
  • Sports First Aid Supplies See our shop
  • Sports Strapping (on customer site) P.O.A.
  • Sports Taping and First Aid Training: minimum 6 participants required

Half-hour Treatments and Concession Rates are available.

We accept most payment methods.

 

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Friday Fitness Fact #6: Calories

Calories

Calories.

You burn more calories in the 23 hours you don’t exercise, than the 1-hour you do.

21 Bizarre Ways To Burn Calories

These results are based on an average 68kg human.

  1. An average sized human will burn about 2400 Calories per day without doing any exercise.
  2. Singing in the shower can burn an extra 10-20 Calories per song, depending on the volume and pitch of your voice.
  3. Laughing for 10 minutes can make you burn between 20 and 40 Calories.
  4. You burn about 200 Calories during 30 minutes of active sex.
  5. Banging your head against a wall uses 150 Calories an hour.
  6. On average, brushing your teeth for three minutes will burn 10 Calories.
  7. Pushing a shopping trolley up the aisles for half an hour will burn over 100 Calories, this number increases with the amount you put in your trolley and the heavier it gets.
  8. One hour spent sitting in front of the TV burns around 65 Calories.
  9. Smoking a cigarette burns roughly 10 Calories.
  10. Dancing on a Dance Mat for 10 minutes will burn 50-60 Calories.
  11. Hugging for one hour can burn 70 Calories.
  12. If you whip your head back and forth to Willow Smith’s song, you will burn up to 50 Calories, depending on how crazy you go.
  13. A one minute kiss can burn between 2 and 4 Calories, depending on how intimate it is.
  14. A person will burn 7 percent more calories if they walk on hard dirt compared to pavement.
  15. You burn more calories than you consume when you eat celery.
  16. On average, if you walk your dog for 30 minutes, you burn 100 Calories.
  17. You burn more calories sitting in the cold, than heat.
  18. Chewing gum burns 11 Calories per hour.
  19. You can burn up to 350 more Calories per day if you fidget, rather than someone who remains stationary.
  20. Missing a night of sleep causes the body to burn about an extra 161 calories.
  21. Constant texting can burn 40 Calories per hour.

Source: 20 Bizarre Ways To Burn Calories, thefactsite.com

[Previous: Friday Fitness Fact #5: Exercise]

Wednesday Wonder #1: Tongue

Tongue

The Tongue.

D­on’t stick out your tongue if you want to hide your identity. Similar to fingerprints, everyone also has a unique tongue print!

The next time someone sticks out their tongue at you, take a closer look. See all those tiny bumps and ridges? “It’s the different distribution of size and shape, just as fingerprints,” said Bowyer, that makes your tongue unique to you and no one else. The bumps contain more than 10,000 taste buds, each one filled with microscopic hairs called microvilli. Microvilli function like tiny food critics, sensing if your meal is sweet or sour, salty or bitter, and sending reviews up to the brain.1

20 interesting human tongue facts2

  1. Did you know that the tongue is the only muscle in human body that works without any support from the skeleton? Yes! It is known as a  muscular hydrostat.
  2. Our tongue is the home of our taste buds. When looked under a magnifying glass, hundreds and thousands of small bumps will become visible on the tongue. These bumps are known as papillae and are the actual home of our taste buds.
  3. The tongue is not the only place where taste buds live. Taste buds can also be found on the inside of our cheeks, on our lips, on the roof of our mouth and even under the tongue.
  4. There are approximately 10,000 taste buds in our mouth of which 8,000 live on our tongue and the remaining 2,000 are found in the places we mentioned in the previous point.
  5. There are specific segments on the tongue for sensing different tastes. The notion that different parts of the tongue are responsible for sensing different types of tastes (in other words, there are taste belts) is actually a myth. Our tongue can taste sour, sweet, bitter, salty and umami. Umami is actually a very new variant of taste discovered by a Japanese scientist who found that the chemical that is responsible for this taste is monosodium glutamate.
  6. Our tongue is the only muscle in our body that is capable of sensing taste and sending taste signals to the brain. Each individual taste bud has around 15 receptacles that are responsible for carrying taste signals to our brain.
  7. The tongue is THE STRONGEST muscle in the entire body. However, it is at the same time, one of THE MOST sensitive muscles as well.
  8. In terms of flexibility, the tongue beats every other muscle in our body! Because of this flexibility, the tongue is capable of easily manipulating food inside the mouth and is also capable of acting as a natural cleanser for our teeth after a meal.
  9. Our tongue has a unique property. It is incapable of detecting taste if it is dry. This means that if you place a piece of lemon on a dry tongue, you will not be able to tell that it is sour. The tongue gets its ability to sense taste only in the presence of saliva that keeps it moist.
  10. The colour of the tongue can tell a lot about a person’s health. Here are some colour indications about health: Pink Tongue = Good Health; White Tongue = Fungal Infection and Yellow Tongue = Stomach Problem or Fever.
  11. Tongueprints (actually tongue imprints) of humans are unique (very much the same as the fingerprints). Tongues of different humans are of different shapes and will have different number of taste buds, thus making the tongue imprints unique.
  12. The tongue has a really, really rough texture. Did you ever notice that while kissing someone?
  13. Women have shorter tongues compared to males.
  14. We mentioned in point 9 that a dry tongue is incapable of detecting taste. That’s because taste buds are capable of sensing taste only when molecules of the food (or whatever you put in your mouth) dissolve in water (our saliva consists of water). This essentially means that you cannot sense the taste of anything whose molecules do not dissolve in water even if you have a moist tongue. Ever tried tasting glass?
  15. Here is an interesting tongue fact – if you don’t keep your tongue clean, you will get bad breath. Why is it so? That’s because our mouth is the home of more than 600 different types of bacteria and a single saliva drop contains 1 million of those bacteria. Our entire tongue remains moist due to saliva. So, can you ever imagine the number of bacteria present on our tongue?
  16. Every taste bud on our tongue has somewhere between 50 and 100 taste sensing cells. No individual cell is capable of tasting more than one taste.
  17. About 2/3rd of the tongue is visible and the remaining 1/3rd is not visible. The part that is not visible is close to the throat.
  18. In Tibet, you can merrily stick your tongue out at others. It will not be considered rude or childish. In Tibet, it is actually a greeting.
  19. The tongue is more important than we think. It not only helps to taste food but also helps to talk, to spit, to swallow and even to kiss.
  20. The longest human tongue to ever be recorded was 10.1cm from back to tip. The longest female tongue to ever be recorded was 9.75cm.

 

Sources:

  1. You’re more unique than you know, cnn.com
  2. 20 interesting human tongue facts, factslegend.org