By Nicholas Burrows (Exercise Physiologist) North Sydney Sports and Chiropractic We all know exercise is good for us and have been told that it can help reduce the risk of heart disease and diabetes. However more and more research is emerging suggesting that exercise is beneficial in a variety of areas that may come as a surprise. Pain Relief I must admit a certain amount of bias in this topic as my research centres around exercise and pain sensitivity but there is a growing amount of research suggesting that exercise can help with a wide variety of chronic pain issues. The problem with chronic pain is that the pain pathways to the brain become sensitised due to constant...

At North Sydney Sports and Chiropractic, we see a lot of desk workers. A majority of our patients are deskbound. I constantly joke that as long as I am working in North Sydney, I'll never be out of work! But on a serious note, its a sad reality that back pain and desk work go hand in hand. Quite often there is very little you can do to change your sitting habits if your work requires you to sit at a desk and work for long hours during the week. As posture and back pain seem to be directly correlated, good posture is one key indicator of good spinal health. It seems almost impossible to maintain good posture for long periods of the day at work, as you get entrenched in your work, you are mor...

Sleep apparently is the new 'sex'. Are you getting enough? Try 'googling' sleep deprivation and see what results come up. You may find articles on the ill-effect on health and work productivity, some even on torture of detainees. But can sleep deprivation be good for you? Some of the effects of sleep deprivation include fatigue, lack of concentration, learning difficulties, decreased performance, poor judgements, clumsiness and accidents. These are some of the more obvious ones, however some studies are  linking sleep deprivation to decreases in satiety (satisfaction after eating) and increases in hunger. this combination leads the individual to consume foods higher in fats and energy, an...

The ‘Core’ is a term that is thrown around whenever we mention back pain and/or exercise. But what do we really mean by the core? Commonly a good core has been associated with a strong back. In this article I hope to shed some light on this area, which as its name suggests, is a vital part of our body. I also hope to change the way you may think of your core, and challenge even some of the current teachings. Let me start by discussing some of the common myths I hear about the Core. 1. Core muscles are found in the abdominal region. Partly true. As the muscles of the pelvis and lower back region are some of the strongest and largest in the body, the muscles of the hips are now...

We have all heard the saying 'No Pain, No Gain'. It refers to the way you apply yourself during exercise, that is, the harder you push yourself, the greater the gains you will receive. This is true to a certain extent, I believe a more appropriate saying is 'Know Pain, Know Gain'. Meaning, if you understand what your body is telling you, you can push yourself to your limit, without risking injury whilst getting sizable gains. Firstly, you need to understand the language of your body. Be aware of those tight, achy, sore areas that you may have. Everyone has them, and as much as we don't like them, there is a reason why we have them. This is the way your body communicates with your brain. T...