Inhalers are essential to managing asthma, but did you know, taking your reliever inhaler more than two days a week, shows your asthma isn’t controlled.
Maybe the dose of your preventer is not right, or you’re not using your inhaler correctly. Smoking cessation, keeping active and weight loss are also recommended in the NZ Asthma Guidelines 2020.
What is often forgotten is HOW you are breathing. This isn’t doing some crazy technique where you jump in the snow in your underwear, but learning to breathe well and adaptably, all the time. Research shows that improving breathing in asthmatics reduces symptoms and inhaler use.
When we breathe, it should be silently through the nose and your upper belly should go gently outwards. The breath out should be relaxed and twice as long as the breath in. Asthmatics habitually try to get air in as easily as possible, leading to shallow mouth breathing and a short exhale. This is how we breathe when stressed and makes asthma worse.
Thinking about nose/belly breathing and a long-controlled exhale means the air you breathe in is clean, warm and moist (that’s the nose’s job), that you are relaxed and there is plenty of space to get the next breath in. Try humming, this helps keep the nose ready and active, it also gives you a long exhale!
The better you breathe at rest, the harder it is for your asthma symptoms to take hold.
Rugby season is just around the corner and now is the time to start preparing for the upcoming games (If you haven’t started already!). Whether you’re a seasoned veteran or a new player, there are several key steps you can take to ensure you’re in top physical and mental shape for the season.
Let’s talk about the importance of proper conditioning recovery, and nutrition in order to prevent injury and have a successful rugby season.
Training and Conditioning.
As the rugby season approaches, it’s important to focus on building a strong base of cardiovascular fitness and muscular strength. Appropriate conditioning will ensure you have the endurance to last through the entire game, as well as the power to perform at your best when the time comes.
A good training program should include a mix of on-field and off-field exercises, such as skills training, sprints, weightlifting, and plyometrics. A comprehensive training program should also incorporate flexibility and mobility exercises to help aid recovery and improve the ability of your muscles to perform when needed.
Rugby Injury Recovery.
A good training program should ensure that you are getting enough rest and recovery time. Taking the time to properly recover will allow your body to repair and come back stronger for the next training session or game. Unfortunately, overtraining can lead to burnout and injury, so make sure to listen to your body and take rest days as needed. This can include getting enough sleep, stretching, and foam rolling.
Nutrition and Hydration.
Proper nutrition and hydration are crucial for optimal performance on the rugby field. Eating nutrient-dense foods, such as lean proteins, complex carbohydrates, and healthy fats, will provide your body with the necessary fuel to perform at your best. It is important to stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water and electrolyte-rich fluids throughout the day.
Not only will proper nutrition and hydration improve your performance, but they will also help to prevent injuries and fatigue. Adequate fuel and hydration can be the difference between a winning performance and an injury-plagued one.
Rugby Injury Prevention.
Injury prevention is crucial for a successful and enjoyable rugby season. Common rugby injuries include soft tissue sprains, strains, and contusions. A comprehensive training program, proper recovery and appropriate nutrition will all contribute to preventing such injuries. Key aspects of injury prevention include completing a good warm-up to ensure you are physically and mentally prepared to take the field.
A good warm-up could include a variety of jogging and dynamic stretching, such as leg swings and arm circles. Another important aspect of injury prevention is having proper technique and form. Unfortunately, incorrect technique with aspects of the game such as tackling, scrummaging, and rucking can lead to injury. Therefore, it is crucial to take your time and perfect your skills.
Additionally, it is important to listen to your body and not push through pain. If an injury does occur, it is crucial to seek advice from a health professional. At Active Health, we understand the unique needs of rugby players and are dedicated to helping individuals achieve their goals and prevent future injury. We will be able to facilitate your healing and recovery from injury, as well as work alongside you to plan a return to play. Incorporating these injury prevention strategies and seeking professional and individualized advice will optimally lead to a more successful and most importantly, enjoyable rugby season.
Your nose is your first line of defense to allergens, pollens, viruses and the cold air. As air flows through your nose it goes to work filtering, warming and adding moisture to the air so by the time it reaches your lungs it’s clean and at body temperature. The moisture ensures the lungs function and can clear debris that does get through and inflate and function optimally.
The other amazing factor is the production of nitric oxide (NO) in our sinuses (laughing gas!). It doesn’t make you giggle but its effects are widespread and definitely promote wellness. NO works as a sterilizer (anti-fungal, antiviral and antibacterial), it promotes the beating of cilia – the cells that work like a Mexican wave to move your mucus around, reducing snotty noses and postnasal drip. It acts as a vasodilator (opens the blood vessels) and breathing against the increased resistance of small breathing tubes (compared to the mouth) opens up your air scass – this leads to an overall increase in the amount of oxygen you can absorb – up to 17-20% than through your mouth! NO also has anti-inflammatory effects.
This is all missed when you breathe through your mouth! You are more likely to feel calmer as you slow your breath down and tell your body it’s safe believe it or not breathing through your nose also improves your memory!! My favorite saying is it’s as silly to breathe through your mouth as it is to eat through your nose. People often tell me they can’t get enough air through their nose – this can be due to issues within your nasal structure and sinuses but often is actually due to chronic mouth breathing. The disuse leads to nasal stuffiness and a sensation of being blocked, so you continue to mouth breathe worsening the situation.
So….. tuck your chin in, close your lips, let your teeth sit slightly apart, your tongue floats to the roof of your mouth so it’s creating a small amount of suction, and is docked behind the top teeth. Breathe silently and feel your head, neck and shoulders relax and enjoy the calm and wellness.
It’s always tricky to find the motivation to dust off your sporting gear or rugby boots weeks before the season kicks off for pre-season training. Most sports are played seasonally so there is a lot of the year where players aren’t training or playing regular games.
During the off season it is common for muscular strength, endurance and general conditioning for the sport declines. When the new sport season begins, there are massive physical demands on players. Going from nothing to full training and competitive games can lead to injury, due to lack of conditioning over the off season and the sudden high demand on the body. It would be like running a full marathon after doing no training for 3 months, this would be especially hard on the body and most likely lead to injury.
Why is pre-season training beneficial?
Pre-season is set to take place before the competitive season begins to allow time for players to progressively work on their fitness, strength and game specific skills.
Pre-season training gives players time to condition their bodies to the physical demands of their sport. This will not only help with the players ability to reduce injury during the competitive season but also help improve technical skills of the game. Having a good training schedule weeks before the competition begins means your player will be able to hit the first games performing well, and not feeling as exhausted afterwards.
The impact a team has when they start the season fit and conditioned to the sport is massive, compared to starting unfit and having done no skills for months. This can be the difference between a successful season and a season full of lost games and player injuries.
Along with building the physical aspect of sport, pre-season training is great for team building. It is important for players to spend time with each other, getting to know each other, how they play and interact in order to have a cohesive team.
Tips for Pre-Season training;
Start off easy. Give yourself time to increase your physicality and intensity of your training sessions. This will allow time for your body to adjust to the increase in load on the body.
Recovery is just as important as training. An easy way to target this is to add cooling down and stretching into each training session. This will help reduce tightness in your muscles which can help to reduce injuries.
Have a good mix of exercises and drills. There are many aspects to training that are beneficial to making pre-season training worthwhile. Cardiovascular training is great to help increase your fitness. Resistance training helps to reduce muscle imbalance and builds strength. Speed and agility training is great and be sure to add in sport specific skills and drills, so you are ready for the demands of your sport. Stretching is important too. This will help muscle recovery and increase flexibility.
Add in fun games and activities. It doesn’t all have to be sport focused. In order to build sportsmanship and increase team bonding, try some activities that push your players out of there comfort zone or away from the sporting context. For example, taking your team to mini golf, or day tramping or even a movie night.
Where we can help:
We can help with our expert physiotherapists. Our physiotherapists are trained to sport muscle imbalances, biomechanical issues and can test range of motion, flexibility and muscle strength and function. Identifying these can be key in avoiding injury.
We can also help by tailoring individualized exercise program, warms up or drills to ensure you are correctly loading your muscles and optimizing your training load.
Our podiatrist can also offer expert advice. They are trained in assisting with shoe selection. This can be helpful to people who are new to sport or people who will be spending a lot of time in the shoes they have chosen for their sport as it can be a good way of reducing injury or muscle soreness.
Podiatrist can also do gait analysis. This is extremely helpful to analyze your walking and running style to see if you need any assistance with exercise to improve the way you walk or run. This can be hugely beneficial in injury reduction.
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