Highlights of 2012 - and watch this SPACE for 2013!

WOW!

What a year 2012 was! FOUR @SpaceClinics physios were present in London in 2012 at the hugely successful Games as physio Games Makers! It was not just UK sport that was memorable: SPACE Clinics here in Edinburgh enjoyed the best ever year since opening in 2005 despite the continued economic stress!

Thank you to EVERYONE whom has supported us in any way, visiting the clinic as a patient or interested party to what we are trying to achieve.

This blog has reported much over the past 12 months too.

If we share some highlights of the year, perhaps you will see how we are evolving, and the type of information we are dishing up digitally to anyone from the various countries that regularly tune into our interests in exercise, concussion and diet: three themes of significance in 2012.

We also like reporting on advances in science. In January we reported on strain hardening in fascia and the phenomenon of 'creep' for example JANUARY New Fascia Info published.

Ross was discussing body fat reductions with a patient stimulating a piece on how Mediterranean diets could be good for the brain as well as the body in February FEBRUARY Food for Thought and dietary myths carried on in March with the renowned Tim Noakes acting as part of an evidence based review of exercise associated collapse in MARCH The Dehydration Myth.

Ross reported live from the pitchside in early April from Lille in France as part of the Kelburne hockey club backroom staff at the Eurohockey Championships APRIL Eurohockey Club Champions, whilst May saw an honest appraisal for the career of Scotland rugby legend Chris 'Mossy' Paterson MAY Chris Paterson retires from rugby which was one of our most popular pieces all year.

Scottish rugby had a great June with victories in Australia, Fiji and Samoa, often training or playing in rain which saw the squad visit flooded regions of the South Pacific JUNE Flooded Fijian Villages which gave this SPACE blog an opportunity to report back from what is seldom seen in the UK of these beautiful islands.

Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome spiked our interest in the Tour de France JULY Tour de Force 2012 glory and July also saw the four staff assist at the glorious Games JULY Kitting out the Games Maker volunteers. Dr Jacques Rogge declared the XXXth Olympiad closed AUGUST Closing of Olympics but following on hard on the heels of the Olympians came the Paralympians, which we recognised with the C4 ad AUGUST Here come the superhumans as well as the most popular blog of the year with the remarkable story of inspirational Alex Zanardi SEPTEMBER Zanardi: From F1 to Gold Medal.

September was also the month when the SPACE sponsored Scotland Touch team finished the European Touch Championships in Treviso in Italy as Champions SEPTEMBER SPACE sponsored Scotland Touch Champions!. Newcomer John Twynham showed how he was updating his emergency skills in Ireland SEPTEMBER Emergency Life Support Skills Update.

Several physio staff attended the International Federation of Athletic Coaches meeting in Glasgow in October, and heard coach Toni Minichiello speak of how Jessica Ennis coped with pressure to scoop Olympic gold in the summer OCTOBER How Ennis won the Gold. 

New methods of combating jetlag were hinted at in November NOVEMBER Vial and masked attempts to combat jetlag and a SPACE physio took to Vegas to speak to America on hip & groin injury NOVEMBER Sporting Groin whilst this past month festive greetings were spread around with clips from the record breaking Santa Claus Run DECEMBER Santa Claus Festive Run Video of Footstrike with a video of footstrike.

Phew! What a year-and we left out the various concussion discussions, exercise myths and debates plus various one-offs!

More to come in 2013 from this blog!

We have some exciting clinic news very early on in the year which should see a shift in the way Edinburgh and eastern Scotland is serviced for physio and medical services for the near future!

Happy Hogmanay!

All the best to you all for 2013.

Literally, watch this SPACE!

Santa Claus Run 2012 and Festive Greetings to all!

At this time of year training, never mind 'events' of any distance may seem few+far between.

So it was great to be involved in a simple fundraising 5k run in Las Vegas recently. The seasonal twist was that it was started and completed dressed in festive Santa Claus garb!

The opening mile saw runners pick their way through children and parents with Strollers (very Americana) but the more agile Father Christmases were able to pick up their pace & stretch their legs around peripheral Vegas to collect a souvenir tee if finishing in top 1000. The bunfight was a scramble to finish with a World Record of between 8-10,000 participants all dressed in (thoughtfully provided) Santa costumes. 

Sadly only XL appeared on the day itself for last minute UK runners! Of which there were a few.

Clock the footfall of these Santas to see the variation in landing strategy & propulsive toe off! Can you assess the biomechanics of their running styles, and see the differences?

Compare it to the barefoot and shod styles seen in the 

glorious Runblogger slo-mo clip here:

Great to see so many kids & families out as we know there were in Edinburgh for the recent 10k event from the number of patients dropping into the clinic for remedies or assistance in preparation for the run.

That is a great message for anyone aspiring to run in 2013: get yourself checked by SPACE if you think there is a hint of a problem before it develops. And enjoy your running! Dressed as Santa or a normal person...

A long time retired

What a year for British sport! Even the much trumpeted barely avoidable clapfest of Sports Personality of The Year (#SPOTY if you missed its social media handle) missed out on the final triumph with England's cricketing comeback in the subcontinent.

Following a remarkable year, which included the London 2012 Olympics, Bradley Wiggins success at the Tour de France, and Andy Murray's success at Flushing Meadow, a recent BBC news article by Peter Crutchley, asks the question 'why do so many athletes struggle with retirement'? The article looks at why successful sportsmen such as Ricky Hatton and Andrew Flintoff suffered from depression following retirement and their desire  to return to professional sport, with mixed results.

Ricky Hatton with a sympathetic referee
at the end of his comeback fight with Vyacheslav Senchenko

The article describes athletes going through a process of grieving and describing a sense of loss. This has some athletes struggling to come to terms with their retirement despite their body telling them it's time to stop. This struggle may be due to changes of habit, and can be exaggerated by changes in training routines that also have biological impacts, such as a reduction in the generation of serotonin. Serotonin being the chemical released by the body that helps us cope with stress, counteracting the chemicals released in the fight or flight activities replicated in sport. 

Athletes set short term, often weekly goals on the field or track, and periodised goals in the gym & over a season. Away from the institutionalised world that many athletes inhabit and with an absence of such goal-setting, how can lives be best managed?

Additionally it can be difficult for athletes to try to replace the euphoria and andrenaline/endorphin highs experienced when competing in front of thousands of supporters.

To read the full article please click here

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/20646102

We should spare a thought for the ex-sporting athletes as they seek to build their lives following retirement-even if sometimes families can benefit from an enhanced parenting role free from sacrifices & time demands of chosen sport. It is not always thus however, and depression can have negative consequences for families of the sportsman 'bereaved' & 'grief' for their lost youth/career/past glory. 

It may not always be easy-never mind having to deal with the effect of injury or the consequences from sport (see our blog from May: Pressures of Fame SPACE Blog May 2012).

Like any grieving process, retirement can take time to come to terms with. So whilst the footballers of today may forego their Christmas Dinner with the family for the nation's Boxing Day entertainment, the reality is that it truly is a short career, with another truism echoing in footballers' ears like those in cricketers, boxers, gymnasts etc: you are a long time retired.

Sleep & the Athlete: news from America

Has the 'American Athlete' online magazine been reading the @SpaceClinics blog on sleep, performance, technology & sex?

Clock this latest piece: American Athlete magazine article 'Sleep & Performance'.

Reflections of a piece we wrote on sleep and performance last month SPACE Blog 'Sleep & Technology' perhaps? Greg Chertok, M.Ed CC-AASP is the Director of Sport Psychology at the Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Center based in Englewood, New Jersey. His piece discusses how optimal sports' performance is dependent on good sleep.

His comments on athlete recovery should be of interest: 

“Results in a study showed that young men aged 18-27 metabolized glucose least efficiently when they got only four hours of sleep at night. Levels of cortisol (a stress hormone) were also higher during sleep deprivation periods. This has been linked to memory impairment, acceleration of the ageing process, depressed immunity, age-related insulin resistance, and impaired recovery in athletes.”

He completes the interview with echoes of the SPACE blog for those whom display irritation and negative moods from sleep deprivation: a regular routine with consistency in sleeping and waking times, plus deliberate reduction or elimination of stresses all would help with athletes as well as the regular lay population.

Sleep monitors may also be of assistance for checking on wake periods, the time to sleep and the timing of periods on REM/deep & light sleep. It would seem that proper sleep is essential (no big surprise) but the fact there is only just some proper research into the subject is perhaps still a little surprising. 

Joy!

This is a blog preaching about the joy of movement!

Anyone whom has reason to have attended @SpaceClinics Inner SPACE Clinic in Dalry may have heard this term used by the staff.We are using it to describe the feelings expressed essentially by patients whom have suffered stiffness and pain which changes after a visit to our excellent physio & massage team.

We really like the term: some folk really appreciate this feeling, and how they perhaps had not recognised how far from joyous movement had become.

The Vegas Experience currently being enjoyed by one staff member had also permitted one particular pleasure: that of witnessing the extraordinary physical performances of the Cirquedusoleil company.

Beatles Box Office

Stairway to the theatre

Their live show 'Love' is beyond a re-imagining of the Beatles story or some form of story of the band. The links to their past are based largely in the 4800 items of contemporary styled costume. The experience is an unusual reworking of familiar a well as less popular tunes (think about the predictable singalong of 'Hey Jude' mixing with 'Hey Bulldog') alongside dance and the anticipated aerial and tumbling displays typical of the troupe.

The joy of movement is shared by the audience judging by the spontaneous cheers and tears witnessed around the packed theatre at the Mirage. For the spectators, there is a deep sated joy in the expression of humans in tumbling & acrobatic performance with the aerials simply breathtaking.

Joyful audience leaving (not via the shop either!)

The Circus School remains the UK's only venue for learning skills that are often are rooted in gymnastics if not base circus performance. There is a team of physios involved with the School looking at conditions such as hypermobility and overuse injuries, and the Cirquedusoleil employ a number of physical therapist & athletic trainers or therapists around the world attending all shows as well as training sessions or practice. What jobs they must have?!

There is no doubting the expression of joy in all of the performers in the extremes of movement possible for humans. However there is something about walking away from the physio bed with an unusual feeling of lightness and balance, and that unfamiliar pleasure has to be celebrated as well.

All in all, don't we need to celebrate the Joy of Movement!

Viva Las Vegas...Postcard from Nevada

Back in January this @SpaceClinics blog talked up 

the Joys of Urban Running, and it appears that the fears over the difficulties of running in the streets of Las Vegas were misplaced.

Bellagio & Caesars Palace in the sunshine

In the cool of the morning, it is possible to enjoy a view of the famous strip with few other folks on the streets (indeed the casinos are obviously busier than the streets!). Add to the conditions a mix of underfoot environments such as concrete, tarmac, artificial grass & sand plus a dozen sets of stairs to manage (running up every second one, descending with good form one step at a time) then a pretty reasonable workout can be achieved!

Cleaning of stairwell with MGM to rear

Whether it is borne out of necessity or positive discrimination, there appears to be a high proportion of working staff in the city are what could be termed 'senior citizens'. That is reflected in some of the morning running population, although irrespective of  age, there appears to be a marked reluctance to do 'stair running' at all-in fact this is the case throughout the day as the population appears totally unable or unwilling to use stairs when escalators are alongside.

Bizarro nature of Vegas exemplified at the Luxor, Southern Strip

For those asking about whether or not joggers are redirected through casinos when the cleaners are doing their job in a 24 hour city, then I would say that sidewalks/ pavements are only partially closed, and there is only one escalator or stairwell closed at a time to facilitate smooth running. So that's a NO then! May be no bad thing having said that, as there is still smoking permitted in public across the casinos - with exception to the card tables bizarrely - it is remarkably fresh to run outdoors in Nevada.

Stratosphere marking Northern end of the 'Strip'

Oh, and a top tip,for even fewer people on the pavements, try headig towards the Northern end of the strip with the Stratosphere as your marker. 

Looks like Paris? Not so much...

Bar various bearded men advertising their homeless status mixing with Veterans from various conflicts, sometimes in camo jackets, and a few folks in battered wheelchairs there were pretty much clear runs right through to the varied Chapels & Churches for rapid weddings. Quite the difference from the Luxor & MGM hotels of the Southern Strip & world famous signage welcoming you to this gambling mecca.

Ah, Fun City Chapel of the Bells. Of course it is...

Enjoy the pics: this is as close to a postcard from Nevada as you will get as otherwise its indoor learning the whole time...