Functional Health and Performance

When considering the many factors that impact on our health and wellbeing it can be hard to decide where and even when to begin. For a lot of people that decisive moment will be here, in the form of New Year’s Resolutions. But, just how do you sustain the concept for the coming months and beyond?

Seventy percent of us will suffer from a low back pain in our lifetime. A one-size-fits-all approach to preventing and rehabilitating chronic back pain is unlikely to be successful and what we must do is be holistic. The previous article has introduced how we can build a holistic approach and today we delve deeper.

In this, the second in the Holistic Health Series, we will discuss an approach to Chronic Back Pain. We will go beyond the standard approach of just looking at various exercises and get down to root causes and open out our ideas for a successful solution. Read on if you have tried and failed to rehabilitate yourself out of pain.

Red Flags Assessment Training  |  Saturday 19th November 2011

10am to 2pm | £30

@ Northern Integrative Health Practice (NIHP)

Book your place: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it |  0191 3980000 | www.healthnorth.co.uk

Here's a great opportunity to find out more about how to customise your nutritional requirements.  A new series of videos that tell you all about Metabolic Typing and how to find your unique Metabolic Type:

Find Out More Here

July is ‘Change 4 Life’ month and the motto is to “Eat Well, Move More, Live Longer".  Change 4 Life was set up to provide opportunities for children, adults and families to make changes to their daily diet and exercise routines to live a longer healthier life.  At the Northern Integrative Health Practice (NIHP) we’re doing our bit to share great information on nutrition and help you get the most out of exercise, sport and activity.

The practitioners at the NIHP have worked with many athletes from recreational to competitive levels. The Great North Run is a hugely important event for the region as a health practice we have enjoyed a lot of success in supporting charities and runners alike to achieve their goals for the run.

This year we've stepped it up a notch.  For the 2011 Great North Run you can get access to high quality conditioning resources that support you day-by-day and step-by-step. Click below to continue reading........

ME North East Open Day - A Great Success.

The ME Northeast and the 'Northern Integrative Health Practice' teamed up to deliver The Bowen Technique therapy for people living with ME/CFS.

• Importance and Function of the Shoulder Girdle
• Functional Assessment
• Rotator Cuff Conditioning
• Flexibility | Stability | Strength

To Book: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it | 0191 3789555 | www.durhamclimbingcentre.co.uk

December's Climbing Conditioning Workshop on Climbing Injuries was a great opportunity to find some effective strategies and methods for dealing with and reducing the risk of injury.  A key focus was sharing and developing the Injury Prevention and Management Pathways for functional health and performance......The NIHP was proud to be there.

November's 'Climbers should Squat' Climbing Conditioning Workshop video is now available to watch.  Fantastic group of climbers looking for ways to enhance their performance.  We looked at a 4-Step method to enhancing leg strength and the squat profile. Hope you get some take-home strategies for instant impact on climbing performance.

October's 'Advanced Stretching Techniques' Climbing Conditioning Workshop video is now available to watch.  Fantastic group of climbers looking for ways to enhance their performance.  During the workshop we looked at individual-specific performance, flexibility and injury issues and take-home strategies for instant impact on climbing performance.

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel:  http://www.youtube.com/user/FHealthPerformance?feature=mhum

The next workshop at the Durham Climbing Centre is all about conditioning the Squat.

This is an essential component for any athlete and the workshop will cover loads tips:

To Book: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it | 0191 3789555 |

Book your Place to attend the first Weight Loss Secrets Workshop at the NIHP.

Looking for ways to enhance your climbing performance?  The next workshop at the Durham Climbing Centre is all about investigating and enhancing your flexibility.

H Pylori Seminar with Dave Hompes | June 2010 | London

The more I learn about health and wellbeing, the more it becomes clear that the health of our gut/digestive system is one of the most important areas to work with. Some say that up to 80% of the immune system is in the gut.

Helicobacter Pylori is a type of bacterium that lives mainly in your stomach and upper small intestine. It can contribute to many digestive complaints and many other symptoms.

Group One (classic H pylori symptoms)

• Abdominal Pain
• Acid reflux / Heartburn
• Anaemia
• Bad Breath
• Chest Pain
• Constipation
• Diarrhoea
• Gastritis
• Nausea & Vomiting

Group Two (non-classic H pylori symptoms)

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Fatigue / Low Energy
• Headaches / Migraines
• PMS
• Sinus Problems
• Skin: Urticaria. Rosacea, Hives, etc.
• Sleep Problems
• Weight Gain
• Weight Loss

Developed/Serious Health Conditions

• Autoimmune Conditions
• Cancer
• Heart Disease
• Osteoporosis
• Ulcers

I attended the seminar to find out more about it and how I can help clients who may be suffering from H Pylori and similar digestive infections. The information from Dave Hompes was great and helped me find out that:

• H pylori can responsible for a huge array of digestive symptoms as well as depression, anxiety, fatigue and weight gain.

• some alternative treatments to triple therapy antibiotics are more effective in killing H pylori and have no side effects.

• antacids such as Zantac, Prilosec, Prevacid & Nexium can actually cause the symptoms they are meant to cure.

• There are foods to avoid which can completely resolve digestive symptoms in a matter of days

• simple foods & herbs available in every supermarket can work against H pylori

• there are supplements that could kill H pylori and which ones I could use to help heal the stomach and which ones are a waste of money

• there are ways to keep H pylori away once it’s gone and why testing your loved ones & family is so important if you have H pylori

If you have any questions regarding your digestive system health of want information of parasites then get in touch.

Jack Walton

07792761324

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Tune in to my blogs to get a functional, holistic and integrated view on health and performance.  Topics including corrective exercise, strength training, sports conditioning, nutrition, metabolic typing, functional medicine, Bowen Therapy, anatomy, scientific research and more.

Loads of info, articles, tips, resources, workshops and courses coming up.........

The NIHP is the place for all this.  Watch this space.

Jack

In a series of fortnightly articles, originally published in The Journal, we have been discussing the myths and contentious issues that exist in the health and fitness world.  In fact I have consequently been asked an excellent question.  My favourite so far.  Simple and straight to the point.  “How do I complete the Great North Run?”  Quite a daunting task if you’ve never experienced 13.1 miles on foot.  There are thousands of us currently preparing for the run and all have a training routine of some sort. 

We all have different motivations for the race/run too.  You may be looking to set a personal best or looking forward to participating purely for the enjoyment, achievement or fundraising aspect.  Whatever is driving you to take part and no matter what stage you are at in your training, I will share with you some fundamentals that all levels of athletes need to pay full attention to.

Reaching your Potential
A big mistake often made when preparing for the Run and in fact, many sports, is to simply look at what the activity entails and then train this exclusively.  Yes, you will need to be gradually building up the road miles as part of your training, but this alone will inevitably lead to reduced performance levels, injury and your system breaking down.  There are certain key factors that should be the base of your conditioning.

What you Eat, How you Move and When you Sleep.
Consideration of these three factors will ensure you are in your best condition to train and not just complete the run, but beat that personal best.  It seems obvious, but I have found it alarming how many of us who are looking for enhanced health and performance, actually drastically negate these areas.  Sometimes it seems that we don’t fully appreciate how important it is that we eat the right foods at the right time of the day, recover correctly and sleep at the right times and have a stable structure and efficient movement patterns.  Often it is a simple case of priorities, which are our own to develop.

Eat, Move and be Healthy
A fantastic book that I recommend to establish a holistic approach not just to the Run, but your pursuits and life in general is ‘Eat, Move and be Healthy’ by Paul Chek.  As a CHEK Exercise Coach I urge you to embrace these factors to prevent breaking your body down and to build a strong system that gives rise to sustained energy levels, a rock-solid immune system and boosted performance levels.  Your conditioning program will also be enhanced by the support of the trainers at BodyGuards Personal Fitness Gym, who embrace this approach (contact below).

More Myths?
What topics, trends, exercises and advice do you want some clarity on?  ‘Functional Trainer’ provides Health and Performance training: 07792761324 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

This article was first published in The Journal. For more details and information on a Holistic approach to health and performance give us a call on 0191 398 0000 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

When concerning our individual health and fitness, we are all at different levels. Indeed there are also many levels to consider, from physical to emotional. Below is some advice relevant for all on how to take the next step to enhance health and fitness.

We all vary in how much we prioritise health, what areas we focus on, what we enjoy and how we go about it. Our goal may be to increase endurance, improve immune strength, reduce pain, avoid pain, enjoy activity or enhance sporting performance. Whichever it is there are many stages involved...