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stretches and exercises

3/30/2020

There are several exercises that will help strengthen your lower back. Try these three stretching exercises to help make your back stronger and better toned:

Plank
1. Get into press - up position with your forearms on the ground.
2. Keeping your elbows in line with your shoulders, push up onto your forearms and toes, keeping your back straight and your elbows on the ground.
3. Hold for a few seconds, and then lower yourself to the floor.

Bird dog
1. Get on your hands and knees, keeping your back straight.
2. Extend one leg and the opposite arm straight out.
3. Hold for five seconds, and then rest.
4. Alternate with the other leg and arm.

Bridge
1. Lie on your back with your arms by your sides.
2. Gradually lift your hips using your back, buttocks, and abdominal muscles.
3. Hold for five seconds, and then relax.

Finally, no matter how comfortable you are at your desk, prolonged, static posture is not good for your back. Try to remember to stand, stretch and walk at least a minute or two every half hour. Moving about and stretching on a regular basis throughout the day will help keep your joints, ligaments, muscles and tendons loose, which in turn will help you feel more comfortable, more relaxed and more productive.

While it’s a natural tendency to want to rest our backs by sitting rather than standing, in many cases it’s bad sitting posture that’s contributing to the problem.

Being mindful of preserving a correct sitting position, keeping core muscles toned to support the spine will help keep your back in its best possible shape.

LATEST back care advice

3/30/2020

The enforced lockdown and working from home may mean that you are sitting at your desks for longer periods than normal. Plus, your chair and desk may not be set up as well as your office, so you may be experiencing more discomfort. Whether you experience it as a sharp, searing pain or a dull ache, lower back pain can affect up to 80% of the population at some point in their working life.

Causes of lower back pain when sitting down
Not all back pain is the same, and there are many possible causes.

Posture
Bad posture while either sitting or standing can contribute to lower back pain. Sitting in a slouched or hunched over position can put strain on your discs, the fluid-filled cushions that protect the vertebrae from rubbing together.
Even if your back pain isn’t caused by poor posture, it can be made worse by it
Did you know that the average time people can manage to sit “properly” is 4 minutes? Two things are therefore important - change your sitting position frequently and do stand up every 20 minutes or so.

Being out of condition
Weak core muscles will not provide sufficient support for your spine, which may lead to pain and discomfort. Your ‘core’ muscles comprise of abdominal, back, buttocks, hips and include the ones on your sides. If these are weak, they may not be supporting your spine well enough, leading to pain.
Strengthening, stretching and cardiovascular exercise can go a long way toward helping strengthen your core. This should lessen your discomfort by reducing the degree of strain on your back.

Upper back pain when sitting
Many people experience pain in their necks and upper backs as a result of craning forward while sitting to look at a computer monitor or phone display. An adult head weights almost 5kgs - nearly the same as a 5litre bottle of water! Now imagine how hard it would be to carry the 5litre bottle of water in front of you with outstretched arms, and whether it would be easier to carry it closer to your body. For every inch your head moves forward from the centre of your body, you add a load of around 11kgs to your neck and back muscles - no wonder they complain when we sit badly in front of a computer or phone screen.
Although it’s tempting to sprawl out and watch television for hours, this can also easily throw your back out of alignment.
That uncomfortable feeling of stiffness when you finally do move or stand up is telling you something.

Best sitting position for lower back pain
Better posture makes a difference.
It’s likely your parents or teachers cautioned you to sit up straight when you were a child, and with good reason.
Sitting in one position too long isn’t healthy. Doing it with your back rounded forward, slumped to one side, or leaning too far back can put stress on parts of your spine for an extended period. This can lead to pain, as well as other issues.
To help you sit straighter, position your body along an imaginary straight line extending the length of your back, out of your head, and up to the ceiling. Keep your shoulders level and don’t let your pelvis rotate forward. Doing so causes a curve in your lower back. If you sit up perfectly straight, you’ll feel the small of your back stretch and lengthen.

Home remedies for lower back pain when sitting
In addition to improving your posture when sitting, try these at-home remedies for lower back pain:

Change your position. Consider a standing desk or one that’s ergonomically designed to help you maintain good posture by allowing you to adjust the height of your monitor.
Apply ice. Cold helps reduce inflammation that may be affecting your back. Leave the ice pack on for about 10 minutes, and then remove it. You can do this every hour or so.
Use a heating pad. After any inflammation is under control (about 24 hours or so), many people find heat soothing. It also promotes healing by increasing the blood flow to your back muscles.
Use a support. Placing a rolled-up towel or special lumbar pillow at the base of your spine while sitting will help you remember to sit up straight and provide you with some stability.
Use a set wedge or tilt your seat down at the front so that your knees are slightly lower than your hips - this makes sitting upright much easier.

recipe - Pain de Campagne (Country loaf)

3/30/2020

With plenty of time on your hands plus the knead to exercise and de-stress, there has never been a better time to make your own bread! (providing you can get hold of flour!) This loaf is made using a ‘poolish’, a yeasted pre-fermentation similar to a sourdough starter that’s classically used in French bread-making. The grains and slow proving create a complex flavour and chewy crust. Recipe makes a 900g loaf

Preparation time:20 minutes, plus overnight proving, resting and rising
Cooking time:40 minutes

Ingredients
Poolish
150g strong white bread flour
large pinch dried active yeast
DOUGH
150g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
150g mixed seed bread flour
100g rye flour
11⁄2 tsp fine salt
1 tsp dried active yeast
vegetable oil, for kneading

Pain de campagne means “country bread” in French; it's our rustic equivalent of a sourdough.

Method

The night before, prepare the poolish; in a deep bowl, beat together the flour and yeast with 150ml lukewarm water until combined. Scrape down the sides, cover with cling film and set aside at room temperature for 8-15 hours.
The next day, mix the remaining flours, salt and yeast, then gradually incorporate into the poolish with another 175ml lukewarm water until you have a smooth, but slightly sticky dough. Knead vigorously on a well-oiled surface for 20 seconds, then lightly coat with oil and rest for 10 minutes; knead and rest again twice more. 3 Flatten the kneaded dough out into a long rectangle and fold the top and bottom thirds over each other like a book. Flatten the dough out into a long rectangle again and fold as before. Transfer to an oiled bowl, cover with cling film and leave to rise for about 1 hour; repeat the folding, then leave to rise for another hour.
Now shape the dough. Flatten slightly on a lightly floured surface and, working around the dough, pull all the edges into the centre, then flip over. Rotate the dough a few times in your hands, pressing firmly to seal the base, and create a smooth domed surface. Place, seam-side up, in a floured proving basket. If you don’t have a proving basket, place, seam-side down, on a well-floured chopping board. Lightly flour the exposed surface of the bread, cover with a clean tea towel and leave to rise until doubled in size – about 1-2 hours.
Preheat the oven to high. Place a deep baking tray of water in the bottom of your oven (this creates steam for the crust) and a baking stone (or flat baking sheet) on the middle shelf. If using a proving basket, flip the dough onto the hot stone or tray. If the bread has proved on a chopping board, run a knife under the dough to loosen it, then slide onto the hot surface. Quickly cut a few slashes into the top of the bread, then return to the oven.
After 10 minutes, reduce the oven to 220 ̊C, gas mark 7, then bake for another 30 minutes, until golden and hollow- sounding when you tap the base. (If the bread browns too quickly, reduce the oven to 200 ̊C, gas mark 6.) Cool on a wire rack before slicing to serve.

Why a daily routine is so important

3/30/2020

The pressure of waking the children up, getting them ready for school, getting ready for work, dropping them off at school and being at work before the first client arrives has been lifted! Now that we have had a week’s ‘holiday’ from this, it’s vital that we reintroduce structure to their day. This should not be regimented and rigid, but as a family, we will all benefit from this, it will reduce stress, conflict and we will all be more proficient and productive as a result.

For those that have been furloughed, or who are forced to work from home, you will have far more free hours and as we are restricted on our movements, weekends free up! Designing and sticking to a personal daily routine can lead to freedom, productivity, happiness, and fulfilling your true potential.

With the prospect 12 weeks at home, here are just a few reasons why you can be better off with a set routine:

Did you think to brush your teeth this morning? Did it require a lot of determination or willpower? Probably not, because you have made it habitual, you know longer need to think about it, you simply do it. The same holds true for other tasks when we follow a routine. We no longer need to think, reducing the number of decisions to make each day. Knowing exactly which tasks we need to do each day without having to contemplate, decide or ponder too much, makes us more efficient as a result.
Although we have been gifted this extra time, it is still the most precious asset at our disposal, once lost, it is non-retrievable. Maintaining a routine, takes the guesswork out of our day and allows us to wake up and ‘do’ instead of wake up and ‘plan’. It predetermines our schedule, allowing us to use our time efficiently.
Having structure and a logical sequence in our lives, facilitates familiarity and security with what we have to do each day. It creates a flow to our day and helps to instill good habits. Just like brushing our teeth every morning, adhering to a routine allows us to adopt constructive habits that match our goals and aspirations.
With consistency, we create momentum, and this has a significant bearing in ensuring success. Sticking to a schedule helps build impetus, which in turn provides the ‘fuel’ to continue with your routine and reap the benefits associated with it. You may gain increased self-confidence gained from the tremendous satisfaction of completing a task or take delight in your increased proficiency! One of the keys to mastering any skill is repetition, practice makes permanent, good practice makes perfect!

Developing and sticking with a routine that is congruent with your goals is one of the surest ways to ensure success. It is also perfectly okay to set aside certain times to do nothing. What matters is that you are conscious and alert to your choices. The next few weeks and months pose differing challenges for us all. Each of us has different goals, needs, desires, and resources. That is why it is essential to decide exactly what you want to achieve then develop your routine around your life.

Next week we will be discussing the benefits of 12 weeks with exercise and healthy living compared to 12 weeks of no exercise nor healthy living!

stretches and exercises

LATEST back care advice

recipe - Pain de Campagne (Country loaf)

Why a daily routine is so important

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