Jonny Kilpatrick

IN the last number of years we’ve seen a huge shift in the exercise industry towards high-intensity interval training (HIIT) as a means of providing time-efficient and intense workouts. There is no doubt that HIIT training can rapidly increase fitness and provide the numerous health benefits associated with exercise but there are also a number of pitfalls to training exclusively like this that should be considered in order to ensure this works for you.

DRY needling is a type of acupuncture that has become very popular with physiotherapists in recent years in our treatment of injury and pain. Also known as Western medical acupuncture, it differentiates itself from traditional acupuncture by being administered to soft tissue structures such as muscles and fascia (connective tissue) in order to stimulate the central and peripheral nervous systems. This results in the release of pain relieving substances within the body, which can desensitise painful structures as well as the loosening of excessively tight muscles, therefore restoring movement and function and facilitating a healing response.

Injury prevention is obviously preferable to injury cure. It is common for people to adapt their work desks and equipment to improve their posture as a form of injury prevention. It is also common for gym-goers and athletes to practice good form when using weights as a means of injury prevention. What is uncommon is paying attention to and correcting our most frequently used movements that arguably have some of the more devastating effects on joints if performed badly over a lifetime.

Running is one of the most popular forms of exercise worldwide and every year millions of people will take it up or push themselves to their limits training and competing. What is often not appreciated about running is that it’s a complex sequence of movements requiring above average movement control, fitness and strength. In our clinics, the vast majority of injuries for which we see runners have one thing in common; they can be considered overuse injuries and are therefore preventable. These are caused when injury to a tendon, bone or even nerve has happened and repetitive overload of this injured structure continues until degeneration of the tissue occurs. achilles tendinopathy, patellar tendinopathy (runner’s knee), plantar fasciitis, shin splints, stress fractures and iliotibial band syndrome (IT band) are all such injuries. If not caught early enough, these all usually require prolonged periods of exercise modification, treatment and rehabilitation. This however can easily be avoided when symptoms are recognised and addressed as early as possible.