Types of Bones According to Shape

There are many types of bones according to shape.

Long Bones
Long bones are longer than they are wide. Examples include: the bones of the limbs, except those of the wrist, hand, ankle, and foot (although the bones of the fingers and toes are effectively miniature long bones).

Short Bones
Short bones are generally cube-shaped. Examples include: the carpals bones in the wrist and tarsal bones in the ankle.

Flat Bones
Flat bones are thin, flattened bone and are frequently curved. Examples include: most of the skull bones, the ribs, and the sternum.

Irregular Bones
Irregular bones have complicated shapes. Examples include: some skull bones, the vertebra and the hip bones.

Sesamoid Bones
From the Latin, meaning 'shaped like a sesame seed'. Examples include: the patella (knee cap) and the pisiform bone of the wrist.



Reference: Walker, B. (2013). The Anatomy of Sports Injuries. Chichester, England. Lotus Publishing.

Neil Asher Advanced Trigger Point Techniques offers "The Anatomy of Sports Injuries" course, go here to check out what the course has to offer, along with other trigger point courses.

What are the Types of Muscle Contractions?

There are three different types of muscle contractions. A brief description follows for all three:

1. Isometric Muscle Contraction
An isometric muscle contraction occurs when the muscle contracts but does not change in length. An example would be of this is if you were holding a box or weight in front of you, and held stationary. The biceps muscle contracts but does not change in length because the body is not moving up or down


2. Concentric Muscle Contraction
A concentric muscle contraction occurs when the muscle contracts and shortens at the same time. An example would be of this is lifting the body up into a chin-up position. The biceps muscles contracts and shortens as the body is raised up to the chin-up bar.


3. Eccentric Muscle Contraction
An eccentric muscle contraction occurs when the muscle contracts and lengthens at the same time. Example: the biceps brachii muscle contracts eccentrically to enable controlling the arm while lowering an object. While the arm is lowering (getting longer), it is still contracting in order to control it.


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All these tips and more can be found in the course offered by Niel Asher Advanced Trigger Point Techniques called The Anatomy of Sports Injuries.  Very good course with lots of valuable information. Click here to review the details of this course and many others.

When Should You Do Stretching Exercises?

The question often arise: Should I stretch before or after exercise?" The simple answer is "both" and the reason is quite different for the two.

Before:
The purpose of stretching before exercise is to help prevent injury. Stretching does this by lengthening the muscles and tendons, which in turn increases our range of movement. This insures that we are able to move freely without restriction or injury occurring.

After:
Stretching after exercise has a different role. Its purpose is primarily to aid in the repair and recovery of he muscle and tendons. By the lengthening the muscles and tendons, stretching helps to prevent tight muscles and delayed muscle soreness that usually accompanies strenuous exercise.

After exercise this stretching is part of the cool-down. The cool-down will vary depending on the duration and intensity of the exercise undertaken, but it usually consist of 5-10 minutes of very light physical activity, and followed by 5-10 minutes of static stretching exercises.



Reference: Walker, B. (2013). The Anatomy of Sports Injuries. Chichester, England. Lotus Publishing.

Neil Asher Advanced Trigger Point Techniques offers "The Anatomy of Sports Injuries" course, go here to check out what the course has to offer, along with other trigger point courses.

The Anatomy of Sports Injuries Course Information

This course takes a fundamental approach, bringing you inside the body to show exactly what is happening when a sports injury occurs.

At the heart of The Anatomy of Sports Injuries are 300 full-color illustrations that show the sports injury in detail, along with 200 line drawings of simple stretching, strengthening, and rehabilitation exercises that can be used to speed up the recovery process.

This is a tremendously useful course for every manual therapist interested in furthering their knowledge, and treat a wide range of common sports injuries.

Includes
Anatomy of Sports Injuries illustrated course text (Full Exam Edition) + Exam Pack + Certification.

Suitability
Manual Therapists and Exercise Professionals

Go HERE to find this course and get started to day

What is Overtraining?

Overtraining is the result of giving the body more work or stress than it can handle. Over training occurs when a person experiences stress and physical trauma from exercise faster than their body can repair the damage.

Suffering from one or two of the following signs and symptoms does not automatically mean an athlete is suffering from overtraining. However, if a number (say 5 or 6) are presents, it may be time to take a closer look at the volume and intensity of the current workload.

Physical Signs and Symptoms

• Elevated resting pulse / Heart rate
• Frequent minor infections
• Increased susceptibility to olds and influenza
• Increases in minor injuries
• Chronic muscle soreness or joint pain
• Exhaustion
• Lethargy
• Weight loss
• Appetite loss
• Insatiable thirst or dehydration
• Intolerance to exercise
• Decreased performance
• Delayed recovery from exercise

Psychological Signs and Symptoms

• Tired, drained or lacking energy
• Reduces ability to concentrate
• Apathy or lack of motivation
• Irritability
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Headaches
• Insomnia
• Inability to relax
• Twitchy fidgety, or jittery

The most common sign and symptoms of overtraining are a loss of motivation in all areas of life, plus a feeling of exhaustion. If these two warning signs are present, plus a couple of he other listed signs and symptoms, then it may be time to take a short rest before things get out of hand.


Neil Asher Advanced Trigger Point Techniques has a course called The Anatomy of Sports Injuries. Go here to learn about this technique and how to apply it to your practice.  While there check out some of he other courses that are offered.

Reference: Walker, B. (2013). The Anatomy of Sports Injuries. Chichester, England. Lotus Publishing.

Sports Injury Prevention - The Warm Up

If improving sporting performance is your goal, then there is no batter why to do that than by staying injury free. When it comes to sports injury, prevention is better than cure.

Warm-up activities are a crucial part of any exercise or sports training. The importance of a structured warm-up routing should not be underestimated when it comes to the prevention of sports injury.

An effective warm-up has a number of key elements. These elements should all work together to minimize the likelihood of sports injury from physical activity.

There are 4 key elements which should be included to ensure an effective and complete warm-up.

1. General Warm-up
This should consist of light physical activity, and should last 5 - 10 minutes and result in a light sweat.

The aim of the general warm-up is to elevate the heart rate and respiratory rate. This in turn increases the blood flow and helps with the transportation of oxygen and nutrients to be working muscles. It also helps to increase the muscle temperature, allowing for a more effective static stretch.

2. Static Stretching
This is a very safe and effective form of stretching. During this part of the warm-up, static stretching should include all the major muscle groups and should last 5 - 10 minutes.

Static stretching is performed by placing the body in a position where the muscle (or group of muscles) to be stretched is under tension. Both the opposing muscle group and the muscle to be stretched are relaxed. Then slowly the body is moved to increased the tension of the muscle to be stretched. At this point that positions is held or maintained to allow the muslce and tendons to lenghten.

This second part helps to lengthen both the muscles and tendons, which is turn allows the joints a greater range of movement. This is very important in the prevention of muscle and tendon injuries.

The proper completion of elements one an two prepare the athlete for the more specific and vigorous activities necessary for elements three and four.

3. Sport -Specific Warm-up
After parts 1 and 2 are done, it is now safe to move into part 3 of the warm-up. During this part of the warm-up, more vigorous activity should be employed. Activities should reflect the type of movements and actions that will be required during the sporting event.

4. Dynamic Stretching
Finally, a correct warm-up should finish with a series of dynamic stretches. Dynamic stretching is for muscular conditioning as well as flexibility and is really only suited for well-trained, highly conditioned athletes. A note of caution: this form of stretching carries with it a high risk of injury if used incorrectly. Dynamic stretching should only be used after a high level of general flexibity has been established.

Dynamic stretching involved a controlled, soft bounce or swinging motion to move a particular body part to the limit of it range of movement. The force of the bounce is gradually increases but should never become radical or uncontrolled.

This is the final part of the warm-up and should result in the athlete reaching a physical and mental peak.  At this point the athlete is most prepared for the recourse of their of their sport or activity.


Reference: Walker, B. (2013). The Anatomy of Sports Injuries. Chichester, England. Lotus Publishing.

Neil Asher Advanced Trigger Point Techniques offers "The Anatomy of Sports Injuries" course, go here to check out what the course has to offer, along with other trigger point courses.

Types of Circuit Training

Circuit training can be totally customize, which mean there are an unlimited number of ways to structure a circuit training routine. Here are a few examples of the different types:

Timed Circuit
This involves working tp a set time period for both rest and exercise intervals. For example: a timed circuit might involve 30 seconds of an exercise followed but 30 seconds of rest between each exercise.

Competition Circuit
Similar to the times but each individual pushed themselves to see how many repetition can be done in a set period of time. For example: 12 push-ups in 30 seconds. The idea here is to keep the amount of time the same, but try to increase the number of repetitions in each time. You would be getting stronger as well as faster.

Repetition Circuit
This is great when working with large groups of people who have different levels of fitness and ability. The idea is to get the fittest group to do 20 repetitions of each exercise, the intermediate group to do 15 repetitions, while the beginners may do only 10 repetitions.

Sport-specific or Running Circuit
The type is best done outside or in a large, open area with exercises that are specific to the participants sport, or emphasize an aspect of the sport that needs improvement. Instead of resting between sets, you could easily run for 100 - 200 yards,


Reference: Walker, B. (2013). The Anatomy of Sports Injuries. Chichester, England. Lotus Publishing.

Neil Asher Advanced Trigger Point Techniques offers "The Anatomy of Sports Injuries" course, go here to check out what the course has to offer, along with other trigger point courses.

What is Circuit Training?

Circuit training routines are a favorite training session for many coaches and trainers. Circuits can be used for just about everything.

Circuit training consist of a consecutive series of timed exercises performed one after the other with varying amounts of rest between each exercise.

For example, a simple circuit training routine might be push-ups, sit-ups, squats, chin-ups and lunges. The routine could be set up as follows;

• Do as many push-ups in 30 seconds followed by a 30 seconds rest.
• Do as many sit-ups in 30 seconds followed by a 30 seconds rest.
• Do as many squats in 30 seconds followed by a 30 seconds rest and so on with the rest of the exercises

What Makes Circuit Training so Good?

The quick pace and constant changing nature of he circuit training places an unique type of stress on the body, which differs from normal exercise activities such as weight training and aerobic exercise.

There are several reasons why circuit training is great form of exercise and what most of the reasons come down to is flexibility.

• Circuit training can be totally personalized.
• A circuit training routine can be modified to give the athlete exactly what they want.
• It is easy to change the focus of the training routine to emphasize strength, endurance, agility, speed, skill development, and weight loss
• It can be time efficient.
• It can be done just about anywhere.
• No expensive equipment needed or even a gym membership
• Another reason is that it is great fun to do in groups or in pairs.

Reference: Walker, B. (2013). The Anatomy of Sports Injuries. Chichester, England. Lotus Publishing.

Neil Asher Advanced Trigger Point Techniques offers "The Anatomy of Sports Injuries" course, go here to check out what the course has to offer, along with other trigger point courses.

What is a Sunburn and How to Care For this Condition

Definition
Ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun can cause damage to the skin. Exposure to sunlight causes activity in the dendritic cells known as melanocytes and the release of melanin, a pigment responsible for skin coloration. While gradual exposure produces tanning, excessive exposure causes damage to melanocytes, sometimes leading to a cancer of the skin known ad melanoma.

Cause of injury
Excessive exposure to sunlight. Failure to cover exposed skin. Failure to apply sunscreen during extended exposure.

Signs and Symptom
Redness, pain, and in severe cases blistering of the skin

Immediate Treatment
Get out of the sun as soon as possible. Cool baths as needed and topical moisturizers, including aloe vera.

Long-term Prognosis
Most sunburn heals in a matter of days, though damages layered may blister and peel away, with fresh skin replacing the dead layers. This new skin is extremely vulnerable to damage of the sun and should be avoided. Repeated exposure to the sun increases the risk of skin cancer or melanoma.


Reference: Walker, B. (2013). The Anatomy of Sports Injuries. Chichester, England. Lotus Publishing.

Neil Asher Advanced Trigger Point Techniques offers "The Anatomy of Sports Injuries" course, go here to check out what the course has to offer, along with other trigger point courses.

Ways to Prevent Overtraining

As with most things, prevention is better than cure. To follow are a few measures that can be taken to prevent overtraining.

• Only make small nd gradual increases to an exercise program over a period of time
• Eat a well-balanced, nutritious diet
• Be sure to get enough relaxation and sleep
• Be prepared to modify the training routine to suit environmental conditions. For example, on a very hot day go to the pool instead of running
• Monitor other life stresses and make adjustments to suit
• Avoid monotonous training by varying exercise routines as much as possible
• Do not exercise during an illness
• Be flexible and have some fun with the exercise undertaken

Reference: Walker, B. (2013). The Anatomy of Sports Injuries. Chichester, England. Lotus Publishing.

Neil Asher Advanced Trigger Point Techniques offers "The Anatomy of Sports Injuries" course, go here to check out what the course has to offer, along with other trigger point courses.