Pilates Stretching Routine
A muscle should never be overstretched or pushed beyond its capacity. Always stretch muscles when your body is warm – either after a hot shower or bath or after walking or exercising. Never stretch [...]
Exercise As We Age
Regular, physical activity and exercise can drastically improve the functional abilities of older adults, especially the ability to stay mobile and thus independent. This remains true, and even more important, as one ages. We [...]
7000 Steps
Exercise and activity are fundamental to wellbeing. We know this. In terms of activity (gentle/moderate activity, not actual exercise) it is often suggested that we should aim for 10 000 steps per day. This is [...]
Shoes for Sport
Injuries during sport and exercise are very commonly linked to our “biomechanics” Key to our biomechanics are our feet. Our feet are responsible for distributing the impact of every step. When you consider that [...]
Sport & Exercise Injuries: PREVENTION, TREATMENT, RECOVERY
Sport & Exercise Injuries: PREVENTION, TREATMENT, RECOVERY We all want to exercise, really, don’t we? But sometimes we get injured and we know how frustrating the rehab process can be. Here we take a look [...]
Sport & Exercise Injuries: THE BASICS
Sport & Exercise Injuries: THE BASICS Activity and exercise are good for us - reduced heart disease, increased energy, easier weight control, and greater self-esteem are all good things. But almost two thirds of [...]
Knee Troubles
The knee is a major weight-bearing joint of the lower limb. Structurally, it is a relatively complicated joint, adapted for movement, support and stability of the body. Injuries of the knee are relatively common. [...]
Covid-19 and Weight
Covid-19 has changed the world. Millions have died; the economic and social impacts are massive to say the least. The question of disease-severity and co-morbidities has gained a lot of attention. We all know [...]
Cold Therapy
You may have heard of people like Wim Hof, who has become quite well known for his cold-exposure exploits, ice-water-bathing, cold-water-swimming, barefoot-marathon-running, etc. You probably know about various athletes who use post-match ice-baths to [...]
Two Simple Fitness Tests
We all know that exercise is good for us. We’d all like to be fit. In today’s world of personal trainers, smart watches, clever fitness apps, and more, it can seem a bit complicated. [...]
Being Realistic (About Exercise)
Active living is good for us. Very good indeed. The simple truth is that you cannot be well, truly well, unless you live actively. You know that don’t you? And you’ve been active, at [...]
Back to Active
The stories are fairly familiar aren't they? You were pretty active at school, and perhaps for a few years after that, but soon settled into the form of adult living we call "sitting on [...]
Quiz Test Post
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Home exercise gear
There's a lot to be said for exercising out of the home (variety, interest, fresh air, instructors, high-end equipment, team sports, etc.) but there are also several good reasons for exercising at home (convenience, [...]
Age vs Health-Age
You can never be too rich or too slim or too young, is a saying that most of us have heard (and yes, it can be seen to contain some discriminatory notions, but let's [...]
Overtraining is a real thing
The main wellness message around activity and exercise is invariably "do some" or "do more". And that's fair enough, given that more than half of us are inactive / sedentary. Exercise and activity is [...]
So you want to boost your immune system?
The human body's immune system is responsible for fighting off infection and disease. It is a very complex system that involves skin, gut, blood, specialised white blood cells, antibodies, and more. Nobody wants to [...]
Making healthy habits stick
Wellness, and health to a large extent, comes down to lifestyle (strictly speaking there's also genetics, age, luck, and some other factors but since we cannot control those factors, we focus on lifestyle, which [...]
Choose a habit, any habit…
Wellness comes down to lifestyle. Healthy lifestyles build and sustain wellness, and well people live better (with more energy, enthusiasm, productivity, happiness). It's a cycle and it's a circle. So how do we build [...]
Exercise: some surprising benefits
Most of us know that exercise helps with fitness, strength, energy, weight-control, health, future health (=health risk), etc. The evidence behind all of these benefits is overwhelming and the benefits are really not in doubt. [...]
Protein power
A lean and toned physique has become the embodiment of health and well-being. There is no shortage of blogs on the ‘net and supplements on the market with advice and claims on how to [...]
Sanlam wellness rowing challenge
The Sanlam Wellness Rowing challenge, held recently at head office, was an initiative by the wellness champions and spearheaded by Elaine Kerchhoff and Bevan Louw – actuarial Wellness champions. The purpose of the event [...]
Why is lifestyle change so hard?
We all want to be well, or more well. Perhaps it's more exercise, better sleep, less alcohol, losing weight, coping with stress more effectively, quitting smoking, or something else. But we all have that [...]
Fuel for Exercise
Have you ever walked into the gym, had a look around and noticed how seemingly over-prepared some of the patrons are - sports drinks, snack and water, bars, fruit, powders, and more… Are you doing [...]
Carbo-loading: UPDATE
Remember carbo-loading? Carbo-loading was a popular practice for athletes in days leading up to an event. The idea of starting with a "full tank" was thought to be a good idea, especially for endurance events. But [...]
My secret wellness weapon
My favourite wellness tip: use your diary I am a doctor and a wellness coach. I have made my living designing and delivering health & wellness services of one type or another. For 25 years now. I [...]
Still Sitting?
Still Sitting? AN EMERGING & IMPORTANT & INDEPENDENT HEALTH RISK There is compelling evidence that we sit too much - the negative health effects are real and measurable. It’s worse for the otherwise-inactive but [...]
To gym or not to gym?
To Gym or not to Gym? Some of us see this as THE question. But this is not Shakespeare and it is not really THE question at all. It’s true that the modern gym is [...]
Just MOVE
Active living is not just about sweaty gym sessions (those are good of course). There are two types of “exercise”: strenuous exercise and incidental activity. Most of what people talk about has to do with [...]
Exercise: a plan for keeping it up
Keeping it up. It’s such a familiar story: we start with great enthusiasm and good intentions, but after a few weeks we find that we’ve reverted back to the couch, the running shoes are gathering [...]
Exercise – what’s in it for me?
So what’s in it for me? A lot. An awful lot. Exercise is one of the healthiest things you can do for yourself. Just to offer a short list of the main benefits of exercise: [...]
I can’t exercise because…
But I can’t because… Let’s get onto this thorny issue. Given that you already know exercise is good for you (you do don't you?), the real issue is WHY do you not exercise like you [...]
Walk to Wellness
Walking. Perhaps one of the greatest paths to wellness..... The benefits Fitness - walking improves your cardiovascular fitness. Health risk - walking reduces your risk of heart disease and stroke. Silent killers - walking [...]
Active: At Home At Work At Play
So many of us have so many excuses for not being active. Here's a look at three specific areas where you can perhaps stop the procrastinating and get busy being active. At home Car-washing, [...]
Cardio, Strength, Flexibility
You're active or you're getting active. Great! But you want to make sure you do it right and get the maximum benefit from your exercise programme. This is where you need to understand the [...]
Exercise – 5 Myths
Exercise burns lots of calories Exercise does burn some calories but not as many as you'd imagine. It's very hard to exercise enough to "burn-off" a cheeseburger and very few people (competitive athletes and [...]
Before you start
Active living and exercise are great. We all need to be active, most of us MORE active, and for the most part we all CAN be. But let's just pause for a moment to [...]
Exercise vs. Activity
Exercise vs. Activity?! Are these not the same thing? No, not quite. Exercise is strenuous or "formal" exercise that gets you sweating and out of breath (you can talk but not sing). Examples include running, [...]
In Five: Exercise
There are many benefits to exercise including physical, medical, psychological, and emotional matters. The human being needs to be active, it is that simple. We need strenuous exercise (150-180 minutes a week) as well as [...]