Welcome to 2012

Hello, Happy New Year and best wishes for the year ahead. I hope the Christmas festivities were full of fun, laughter and plenty of good food!  A lot of people now have set their New Year resolutions and I wish you all of the best with them. I would guess a few have aimed to lose a few of the Christmas pounds but on, so exercise is probably on the agenda in the near future. This issue deals with Goal Setting with activity so take a look, it may give some handy hints on how to do it in a safer and more beneficial way. There is also an article on low back pain, highlighting possible causes of lower back pain, how to deal with it and where help may be found for it.

Lower Back Pain

Lower back pain (LBP) does not have a specific cause and can occur in a number of scenarios. It could be an isolated incident, such as a fall, lifting something incorrectly, amongst other. It may be building up over time as well. This could be caused by bad posture, being overweight, smoking, or excessive time in a constant position (such as sitting on a chair or in a car).¹

These scenarios could cause sprains andd strains in muscles and ligament, a disc prolapse (slipped disc) or a damaged spinal facet joint. The majority of cases of LBP get resolved pretty quickly, but if it becomes a problem after a month or so, it would be advisable to visit your GP for advise on further treatment. Short term treatment may include heat packs or heat cream, anti-inflammatories or simply a bit of rest. Longer term solutions may involve a stretching programme, physiotherapy, massage or acupuncture. These treatments need to be advised and discussed when visiting your GP. Very severe cases may require surgical procedures to alleviate the problem.

Recent research has suggested that massage along with a suitable exercise programme and knowledge given to the injured individual showed significant benefits in the decrease in pain and discomfort in the individuals with LBP². Whether the problem is acute or chronic LBP, it is important that the injured individual has a specifically designed programme to follow as each person and injury are different.

Goal Setting

Activity or rehabilitation has to have an aim and goal setting in the right way will help achieve those aims in a realistic manner. Following the acronym SMART, it can be a planned and easily manageable process³.

           SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Agreed, Realistic and Time-managed. Each step should be followed correctly.

• SPECIFIC – You must know exactly what it is that you want to achieve. Its not worth saying “to get fit” as that is too general, so something like “to run continuously for 30 minutes” is better.
• MEASURABLE – Have an end target which can be worked towards. The example above is also suitable.
• AGREED – This could be by yourself or with a trainer/coach or therapist. Get it in writing so if you forget it will be there and is a good tool to motivate yourself.
• REALISTIC – Smaller achievable goals are better then 1 large one. Breaking down a large goal is the best way to achieve this as each small realistic target improves motivation when achieved. An example is if you wanted o run 30 minutes as the final goal. Breaking it down into 10 weeks, in which 3 minutes per week can be added, is easier to achieve then running 30 minutes all at once straight away.
• Time-managed – Have a suitable time frame for your specific goal. Using our previous example, you could make your aim “to run continuously for 30 minutes by March”. This shows that from January to March, you can have sub-goals that can involve each month or week, going as far as days in the week as well if desired.

Remembering the important parts mentioned above will help achieve any goal for any individual. Seeing a health professional is advisable when planning goals as they can help advise the individual of a safe and suitable programme to follow.

 Quick Facts

1.  “1% fluid loss during exercise effects maximal performance, so keep as hydrated as possible.”

2. “Outdoor activity improves muscle stability better then when indoors.”

3. “Caffeine can reduce the onset of ‘muscle burning’ during an exercise session.”

References

 1. Www.backcare.org.uk

2. Furlan A.D., et al., (2008), Massage for Low-back Pain, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (online), 4:CD001929, Source: PubMed

3. Heaney C., Thought for Sport, International Therapist, Issue 98 (October 2011), pp. 10-12.