Merry Christmas from the Newcastle Integrated Physiotherapy team! We thank you for sticking with us through a difficult year, and look forward to working with you in 2021. 

Here's what our team has to say about the upcoming holiday (and how they combat overindulgence):

"My favourite things about Christmas are spending time with family, eating seafood, and hanging at the beach. I love exercise and will combat my overindulgence with food and wine by doing an early morning swim at the beach with the kids, walking the dog after his big lunch, and maybe even doing some rowing." - Zoltan

"Christmas is my favorite time of the year. I get to enjoy all my favourite foods guilt-free. I get to go back to my home town which is Tamworth and spend time with my family. Each year my parents put on a big family lunch and all my relatives come over. The one thing that sucks now that I'm older is my parents won't let me open presents until my brothers who don't live at home anymore get there and they usually don't turn up home until late morning, so I have to wait to open my presents." - Sara

"I like watching little children opening their presents with great excitement and the older ones pretending they still believe in Santa." - Ruth

"My favourite thing about Christmas is eating all the wonderful food and watching the joy and excitement on my boy's faces with Santa gifts. I enjoy an early morning swim at the beach and a walk after lunch with my dog to overcome the feeling of overindulgence!" - Kara

"Christmas is special to me as it's the one time of year that all the family comes together. It's all about spending quality time together eating, swimming, and relaxing. Christmas day usually begins with a glass of champagne whilst we open presents, followed by a traditional hot lunch with all the trimmings, and then ends with a prawn roll by the pool (for those that can fit it in!)." - Lucy

"Christmas in my household centres around family and food. My parents host our traditional Christmas lunch with cold roast meat, salads, and numerous desserts! Its usually hot enough to use the pool, so after we've eaten our bodyweight in food, we head down for a relaxing afternoon around the pool, with everyone usually staying to eat the leftovers for dinner.

Over the holiday period, I give myself a week off my usual training and exercise routine, and spend the time outside taking my dog to the beach and the park, swimming at the baths, and I might even throw in a hike or two if its not too hot!" - Libby

Christmas Closedown Dates:

While we enjoy spending time with our family and overindulging we will be closed from the 24th of December to the 5th of January. Our Physiotherapist Ruth will open on Saturday mornings over this period.

Please call us on 4957 2961 to book an appointment over the next few weeks. And if you need help getting back on track in the new year, then you know where to find us!

It's essential to stay active year-round, but the increase in temperature brings with it the risk of heat exhaustion, fatigue, muscle cramping, heat stroke, and even heat collapse. It's important to drink plenty of water, avoid the hottest part of the day, and to know your limits and listen to your body. 

As the weather warms up, it becomes harder to engage in physical activities like walking, jogging, or hiking as it's just too hot! 

Are you planning on spending your summer in the pool? Why not try hydrotherapy, a water-based treatment that keeps you active and is incredibly beneficial for your health.

What is hydrotherapy?

Hydrotherapy is a form of physical therapy that combines hands-on treatment and guided movements in water. The water is generally around 33 to 36° Celsius, which allows your muscles to relax while easing the pain in your joints.

The water also helps by supporting your weight, increasing the range of movement in your joints. Resistance from the water will also increase your muscle strength.

In general, hydrotherapy is seen as the safest exercise for people with muscle and joint conditions.  

Is hydrotherapy right for you?

If you suffer from pain in your back, hip, knees, or shoulders, then hydrotherapy may have benefits for you.

Hydrotherapy is also often prescribed as a form of post-surgery rehabilitation as floating will lessen the strain on your body when performing certain exercises. 

Similarly, hydrotherapy is safer for the older population as they won't fall or hurt themselves in the water. 

The benefits

Hydrotherapy can have a variety of benefits, including:

• Relieving muscle pain and spasms
• Improving flexibility
• Increasing muscle strength
• Increasing the range of motion in your joints 
• Improving circulation
• Improving posture
• Improving walking ability
• Decreasing pain and swelling

All while improving your cardiovascular fitness and helping you achieve your recommended level of physical activity.

We can provide tailored programs to assist you with all different kinds of injuries, chronic pain, osteoarthritis, metabolic diseases and more! To get you back to moving with more confidence.

Give us a call on 4957 2961 to find out more.

The challenges brought along by 2020 completely transformed the lives and routines of our children.

Group sports and school activities changed or completely stopped, and we all spent a lot more time at home. 

Having a good relationship with exercise and doing enough physical activity is essential for our kids' physical and mental wellbeing. With this in mind, it's time to get your kids back into exercise and those good routines. 

How much exercise do kids really need?

Current recommendations state that children aged 5 to 12 should participate in at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity every day. Unfortunately, around 85% of Australian children aren't meeting this guideline on weekdays, with 84% missing it on weekends. 

Another important recommendation to note is around screen time. We're all getting more and more addicted to our devices, especially with the recent lockdown regulations in place. Recommendations state that kids aged 2 to 5 have no more than 60 minutes of sedentary screen time, and no more than 120 minutes for kids aged 5 to 17. Shockingly only 35% of kids aged 5 to 12 meet these recommendations, with only 20% following this once they get to 13 to 17 years old. 

The benefits

Exercise has a wide range of benefits at all ages. It's important, however, to instil the right attitude and routine early on as physically active kids are more likely to become active adults.

Keeping your kids active will:

• Improve their cognitive health so they can function better at school
• Improve their fitness
• Give them a chance to socialise and learn teamwork skills through group sports
• Encourage healthy development
• Build stronger bones and muscles
• Improve posture and balance
• Lower stress and encourage better sleep 

Exercise in lockdown

Lockdown halted group sports, but there are so many ways to introduce exercise into your kid's routine that they'll enjoy and look forward to!

Keep things fun at home by encouraging your kids to dance, play games like hide and seek, or play in the backyard instead of sitting in front of their devices. Our director Zoltan loves spending time in the pool with his kids but is excited to get back to being a footy dad on the weekends. 

And if you have a kid that just won't walk away from the TV, don't worry, Nintendo has introduced a range of exercise-based games like Just Dance or Zumba. There are also a number of free resources online like these exercise videos from Fitness Blender. 

Getting the whole family involved

There are so many fun family activities that will keep you and your kids active while allowing you to spend quality time together. 

Instead of spending your weekends at a crowded shopping centre or restaurant, get outdoors. Research found that just 120 minutes a week in the outdoors is all you need to see significant health benefits compared to not going outside. 

Great outdoor exercises include walking, hiking, and bike riding. A bike, scooter, or some rollerblades also make great Christmas presents!

Are you struggling to get your kids physically active? An accredited Exercise Physiologist can help guide your child to find an activity that works for them and gets them excited about exercise. 

You can call us on 4957 2961 to book an appointment.

At the beginning of this month, we had the pleasure of welcoming a new Exercise Physiologist, Sara Briscoe-Hough, to the Newcastle Integrated Physiotherapy team. 

Sara is originally from Tamworth but has spent the last 3 and a half years in Newcastle. 

Sara has been passionate about exercise for a long time, training at the gym since she was 17 and working as a personal trainer for a year. As a personal trainer, Sara worked with men and women from 18 to 74 years old.

"One of my clients was a lady in her 70s who was fitter than most of my other clients. She was a marathon runner but had no cartilage in one of her knees, which meant she had to train very carefully to maintain movements and stay active," said Sara. Learning to adapt exercises to suit her client's unique needs is what inspired Sara to begin studying her four-year Exercise Physiology degree.

For Sara the best part of her job is seeing people make positive changes and get excited about their results and progress. She is excited to be able to help people, which is what drew her to the career in the first place.

When she's not at work, Sara enjoys going out to eat with friends and is also a power-lifter. "Lifting heavy stuff makes me feel strong and powerful," shared Sara.

To book an appointment with Sara, please call us on 4957 2961.

If you've been online or near a gym lately you've probably heard someone talking about Pilates. Although it has become incredibly popular in recent years, Pilates actually dates back to the early 20th century. 

What is Pilates?

Pilates is a low-impact form of exercise that focuses on improving postural alignment, core strength, and muscle balance. Although it may look like easy stretches, Pilates should definitely feel like a workout.

Even though Pilates is a low-impact workout, we require you to have at least one assessment session (one on one) with a Physiotherapist before taking part in a class. We offer general classes, as well as tailored pre and post-natal classes. We also offer rehabilitation Pilates which acts as the perfect progression after Physiotherapy treatment. * We hope to relaunch classes in December, Covid permitting.

Pilates exercises are designed to give you better functional control with all your day-to-day activities, and the exercise has a whole range of benefits. 

The benefits

1. Pilates improves your flexibility. Pilates moves are designed to help you (safely) increase the length and stretchability of your muscles.
2. Pilates makes you stronger. Many Pilates moves require you to work your core (your back, abdomen, and pelvic floor). Not only will this have you looking lean, but having a strong core allows the rest of your body to relax (preventing strains and injuries).
3. Pilates improves your posture. Pilates focuses on the alignment of our bodies and will improve posture through alignment and core strengthening.
4. Pilates increases your energy levels. As with all exercise, Pilates will increase your energy levels by getting your breath and circulation moving. Pilates can also improve our mind-body connection, with Joseph Pilates (the creator of this exercise form) saying that Pilates encourages "the complete coordination of body, mind, and spirit".
5. Pilates promotes weight loss. Unlike other exercises that target certain parts of your body, Pilates takes a holistic approach and works on strengthening your entire body. Practicing Pilates will make you leaner, stronger, and will improve your overall fitness level and appearance. 

Pilates is a holistic, low-impact form of exercise that will improve your flexibility, make you stronger, and improve your posture. You'll also see changes in your physical appearance, as well as your mental wellbeing and overall energy levels.

Follow us on Facebook to keep up-to-date with the relaunch of our Pilates classes.