REVIEW: Sportique range of bodycare products

Every now & again you come across a product you never even knew existed before.  Long time readers will know that we have been fans of v-pure a DHA/EPA pill made from algae (NOT from fish - in fact the fish eat this algae to get the oil in the first place).  Anyway, a company called nuique have taken over distributing v-pure & this company also do the sportique range of body care products.
Anyway, to cut a long story short I looked about on their site & found that they had some 'weird stuff', stuff I'd never heard of like 'Warming up cream', so I thought to myself "What the hell is warming up cream & why would I need it?  I warm up- hell before I workout these days I foam roll, stretch, then do activation/mobility before I even touch a weight!"  So, as I had some contact with the people producing v-pure I decided to see what the whole deal was?
It turns out that nuique make a whole range of creams & oils that are suitable for vegans & all barre one is suitable for drug-tested athletes (the 'Get Going – Warming Up Cream' contains geranium which can give a false positive in a drugs test- thanks to Pat from the BDFPA for pointing that one out).  So, I got a few different products to try out & I will go through all the one's I have tried.  I will have to get a non-drug tested athlete to test out the 'Get Going – Warming Up Cream' as I can't test that one myself.  Although I haven't got a review of that product yet, I have been able to review several of the products that I thought would be directly related to anyone interested in training or exercise of any sort.

Warming up cream

This was the first one I tested.  I have used chilli style creams before, but never really thought of them as a pre-workout product.  In the past I have used them to aid muscle soreness & recovery.  This cream does all that.  In fact if you want to REALLY heat an area I accidentally discovered the benefit of applying warming up cream to yourself then going to bed on an electric blanket - talk about warming!  By the next day my muscle soreness was totally gone, but it was a weird feeling as it felt pretty hot!  One thing I found about this is that it is a slow building heat.  As I said I've used other chilli based warming products before & this one acts more slowly than some I've tried before, so do not make the mistake of my partner & slap on another layer or two, it will work, just not as fast as you expect.  Now let's talk about what it is named  after warming-up, I'd never thought to use anything like this as part of my warm-up.  So, anyway, during this recent cold weather I've been slapping it on & then starting my warm-up & by the time I'm ready to hit the weights I can feel the very first hints of warming on the joints.  For me I used it where it was needed so if I was doing a lower body session, the knees got some & the hips, if I was really going to hammer the upper body, then it would be applied to elbows, shoulders & if necessary wrists got a rub of the cream. Using it as a pre-work out warm-up cream I didn't use it on pecs, or much of the upper back (I did use it on the lower back-especially before a squat or deadlift session).  I actually found it pretty good - this could all be in my head, but the muscles & especially the joints feeling warm, made the workout really go well.  I wasn't on my first set thinking, "Hell, that joint still doesn't feel ready", the blood was there!  I have only used this in colder weather so far.  I will give it a go as temperatures go up, but I'm betting that it works a lot better in the colder weather as a pre-workout muscles & especially joint warmer.
This product does have another use.  I found it useful for muscle soreness, DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness - also called PEMS by some people), tired achy muscles & some forms of joint issues (I'm thinking the more arthritic type of joint pain); some over-use injuries are actually better served by another of their products in my view the 'Cooling cream'.

Cooling cream

This is about the opposite of the 'warming up cream".  It does what it says on the packet really.  It cools an area down.  If you suffer from overuse issues, sprains etc, the quick application of a cooling product can help.  If you use ice, for some areas applying this after your ice treatment can improve the effect I've found.  My partner also used it on some localised swelling when she wore stupid shoes, it worked wonders with the swelling vanishing really quickly (obviously I can't guarantee it will work on every type of swelling & any cuts should be avoided as should any personal or delicate places - that goes for the warming-up cream as well).  I use this less often than the warming up cream myself, but if you suffer from overuse issues, or related issues then this could become your good friend!  Also as the temperature goes up I might actually find myself using this a bit more after training on those tired out muscles, but we'll have to wait for some warm weather to test that one out!

Foot gel

This is supposed to be anti-fungal & anti-bacterial, but as I am fungus-free & my feet do not smell too bad (which implies not too many stinky bacteria), but sometimes I am on my feet for some time & so having a foot cream is ace.  It is supposed to be 'calming of the nerves', I can't vouch for that, but I can say that especially if you have someone to apply this cream for you, it is an ace way to renew those tired old feet.  I actually found that it works two ways. 1/ It relaxes tired feet, but 2/ If you come home after a long day, but need to go out in the evening, it can actually energise those feet & let you go out for an evening so you can dance, walk or generally have a good time on newly refreshed feet.

Warming up oil

I must confess I haven't used this one pre-workout even though it's a warming-up oil.  One of my hats is I'm a massage therapist & I have used it to massage a few people.  The oil has a nice texture & you will need to use less than you expect when you massage (either yourself or others). It is a warming oil, so it can be used on the joints of arthritic clients & the warming effect & increased blood supply can be very beneficial.  It can also be used by athletes to aid recovery as increased site specific blood flow does appear to aid recovery (that's personal, anecdotal evidence I haven't actually researched that, it just seems to be the case).  Also for really tired people this will really knock them out if you give them a softer massage.  They will often fall asleep on the couch or make it home & really sleep soundly with the benefit of the massage & the warming oil.  I wouldn't use this & gentle massage if you've had a long day & plan to go out, but if you have specific arthritic or muscular pain areas, then rubbing some on before you go out could help relieve the pain enough to enjoy the evening (just remember to wash your hands well as there is few things worse than rubbing chilli into your eyes or if male using the bathroom & getting chilli where you REALLY don't want it!)

There were some things that looked really good, but have bee products in, so they are ok for vegetarians but not us vegans.  They are all obvious as they have stuff like beeswax in them, so a quick read will tell you if they are ok for you to use.  I have got some 'Get Going – Warming Up Cream', but the review on that will have to wait until I can find a non-drug tested athlete to give it a go.  But those are the products I've tried so far - I'm guessing it is going to be similar to the warming-up cream?  There are a whole load of things in the sportique range from aftershave balm to deodorant so it is certainly worth checking out if you are after any body care products, as I said a few aren't vegan, so check the ingredient (& if you would like the look of a product, but it isn't vegan then let them know, if they get enough communication they may well be able to reformulate if the demand is there?).  The stuff I have tried though I definitely like & I have found with the warming up cream a new way to improve my warm up especially on colder days & the cooling product seems ace for swelling, sprains & overuse issues where cooling down is the best approach.

For the full sportique range of body care check them out here

Post rehab at last!

Finally I'm ready to return to training that's not pure rehab. Unfortunately, I've run into a few issues. I've had to deal with - The main issue is training enthusiasm, it's hard to keep the weight on the bar down! At the moment my strength is still well above my stability in both the shoulder & the back, so although the prime movers can lift the load, I'm basically begging for a injury if I let things loose & heave up the old iron. So (for a change) I've decided to play it a little bit smarter & focus on the issues at hand.
As I said my stability was an issue so I've decided I can limit the amount lifted & still work up into quite challenging training by adding instability to my training for a cycle, I've also decided that in my core work I will return to adding flexion moves into my training (crunches, sit-ups etc). I haven't done them for ages due mainly to reading the work of Stuart McGill & others who put forward valid arguments against them....but despite the logic it seems in practice (for me at least) that a wider, less tight gut & it coincided with my only back injury ever, after going the best part of a year without any flexion for the core area, so they are back in the mix. This doesn't mean the planks, roll-outs, bird dogs etc are gone, they just share the spot-light & I'll be monitoring flexion reps, so intensity over repetitions will be the key, keep those reps low & the intensity high.
So, on with the show...

The Shrug bar

This is my shrug bar (trap bar, parallel grip deadlift bar or whatever else you'd like to call it). It's got 2 sets of grips, so you have a normal 1" grip or you can turn it over & it has a 2" grip handles if you prefer. I also have some bits you can add on & make it 7 foot, so it fits nicely into a power rack.
This is the first type of deadlift I'm doing. As you don't need to do that 'bar wiggle' to get the bar around your knees like you need to with a straight bar & the weight is more centred it makes for an easier lift. I've also been doing upright shrugs with it as well on a rack.

I've found some unusual ways to use the shrug bar as well. One I'm going to be using for a while will be the unstable shoulder press.

My training area is kind of small, so these pictures can be a little hard to make out, but in a nut shell the shrug bar has the talons added (that extend it to 7 feet), then it's put on the safety squat rack, then you add some weights to the bar, but the weights are hung from resistance bands

The band is double knotted - yes I was starting off with 1Kg on the bar, embarrassing, but add a little every week & starting extra light are the best idea when coming back from an injury.

I find using the 2" grip handles of the shrug bar are good for this one as it sits comfortably in the hand & makes the height perfect for me.

Other stuff

You have to watch your shoulder rotation while you get back that strength/stability you need, so I tend to use a safety squat bar for anything that involves the bar on the back. For a cycle or 2 this will be my main bar for any work where the you put stuff on your back

This is my safety squat bar, some bits that aren't obvious are where you add the weights is set slightly forward, so as you add weight the bar 'locks' onto your shoulders. You do not even need to hold the bar for it to stay on your back!

Note, in the picture above how the 'prongs' that go over the shoulder naturally dip downwards. The more weight you add the tighter the bar 'grips' the shoulder. For anyone with shoulder issues these bars are a god-send!

On the picture above you can clearly see that when the weights hang straight down the prongs are dipped.

This bar is great for anything where you need a bar on your back. One think to bear in mind. As the weight is slightly forward of a normal back squat position, if you squat it actually feels more like a front squat (or maybe mid-way between a front & back squat feeling?). For stuff like calf raises you can hold the uprights for extra safety if necessary, for split squats you can grab a side rail or the upright if balance goes. You can also do a modified form of eccentric training by going down using only legs, but using legs & an arm pull to aid the standing portion of the lift.

As well as relying heavily on those two bars I'll be experimenting with other ways to lighten the load & focus on the stabilisers rather than the prime movers for a cycle or two, so unstable push-ups (on low gymnastic rings, stability ball or other unstable surface), sand bag work (so shoulder & squat, shoulder & press, maybe even curl the thing, who knows?), I'll be testing out some thick bar work to see if I can develop the same intensity as a heavier weight on a normal bar (I have got the hand size of a young girl, so we'll see how that one goes!). As I recover maybe even unstable bench press (adding weights similar to how I loaded the shrug bar above, so hanging from elastic resistance bands - or I have some ultra-hardcore looking chains I could hang from those). I've also been doing a load of shrug variation to improve scapulae function, so traditional upright shrug, bent over (Kelso) shrug, chin bar shrug (various grips), push-up shrug (shrugging in the push-up position - the chin & push-up style can be done with a weight vest for a fun variation or a dip belt for the chin versions add resistance as necessary) & I'm trying out some other stuff for this week before I settle on a cycle to really dig in & get some rewards from a strong stabilising system, then begin the real work of getting my strongest ever for 2012!

I don't think you need to do this to get well. Doing l-flyes, some band/strand style pulls & some other classic rehab stuff will work the shoulders, planks, bird dogs, moving up to Turkish get-ups will certainly help rebuild the back. I'm basically adding this in for variety & to keep things interesting. Having to juggle light shrug bar where the weight is bouncing around on bands is somewhat challenging when you have a shoulder stability issue on the mend, whereas pushing up a light shrug bar can be a real de-motivator. So this is a fun exercise, I'm going to enjoy. I just thought you'd be interested in some of the less usual ways I'm approaching the recovery from my setbacks I've had this year.
Any questions, ideas or anything else then post below

Xmas Back Injury 2010

This is a very personal post about my Christmas injury.  On the 27^th December I bent over & suffered a bad back trauma.  This was the second time in as many months I’d suffered an injury to the back.

I began digging into the research & resources all about back issues, the causes of back pain & possible corrections for my condition (NOTE: I’m not a medical professional.  I am a qualified massage therapist & personal trainer, so any actions I use to correct my perceived issues may not be suitable for you.  Always run any exercise program past your medical adviser before you use them).

First off I discovered an interesting fact.  In an acute injury, the injury often recovers at the same rate whatever protocol you use.  That is whether you go to a chiropractor, an acupuncturist, or just use pain killers & bed rest; many acute injuries (one’s that clear up quickly) tend to take the same amount of time to recover whatever you do.  So, the person who said to you “Wow! I went to this person & I was better within 2 weeks!” is just as likely to have improved at the same rate with no intervention at all!  You can get pain relief by using other protocols, but not improved healing on an acute injury.  Chronic injuries are different (injuries lasting 3 months or more), these do seem to be affected by manipulation, possibly acupuncture & several other protocols. 

The real issue with an acute back injury is what you do after recovery as re-injury is much more common if you do nothing.  So, what are the issues that arise in acute back injury - that is a back injury where the pain goes within a few weeks- we are NOT talking about chronic back injury here.  Although some of the advice below may help a chronic back sufferer, see an expert & run it by them as some conditions can be made worse by inappropriate exercise.  First off are the multifidus muscles that run up the spine.  There is some speculation (with research to back it up...but not absolute proof) that these muscles can be oddly affected by injury.  In the area of an injury the fast twitch muscle fibres of the multifidus appear to shrink (the fast twitch muscles are the ones that react quickly & strongly to any change), the muscle also begins to get hyper-stimulated & so are more activated than they need to be (again ONLY in the area of the injury).

For those who don’t know what the multifidus muscles are.  They are a whole group of muscles that run up each side of the spine, they kind of grip one vertebrae to another all the way from the top to the bottom (sometimes they cross two or more vertebrae).  They are one of the main groups of muscles that facilitate spinal movement.  You can only really feel them down by your waistline (& a little above), they are bands of muscle each side of the spine, but as they go up other muscles sit on top of them, so you cannot feel them directly anymore.  So think about it, if these guys are ‘gluing’ your spine together & helping to support the skeletal frame & they only cross one or two vertebrae, then what happens when one gets injured, shrinks & get’s hyper-stimulated?  It will be pulling inappropriately when it doesn’t need to & it will not be able to react to a sudden movement like bending over, twisting or even reacting to a sharp change in balance.  Also remember this will happen on ONE SIDE of your spine only, so what does the other side do, what do the structures immediately above & below do, what happens to the whole spinal support structure?  That depends really on where it is, how bad it is & what you actual do.  There is worse to come.  Apparently the multifidus muscle has this weird atrophy that shrinks the fast twist muscle & it does not appear to rebuild very easily without specific work, which is bad...but it CAN be rebuilt, which is VERY good news!

As well as the multifidus you have to look at the other muscles of the body.  So, checking out glute & hamstring strength (especially left to right asymmetries), hip flexor tightness, adductor tightness, internal-external hip rotation, quadratus lumborum (QL) tightness (again left to right differences can be common here).

In my own case I found the following:

•          Tight right QL

•          Weak right glute

•          Weak right Hamstring

•          Some anterior pelvic tilt

•          Some multifidus asymmetries (my bird dog had gone to pot)

So, that’s what I found when I was able to test myself after the second incident.  I believe the first back issue (caused by a poor deadlift) actually caused some multifidus issues, but prior to that I had been developing some left to right asymmetries for some time, pushing much more on the left side than the right.  This was mainly due (I believe) to some nerve damage I have on my right big toe that makes balance a little harder that side & so the body is shying away from fully committing to that side during the big lifts?

So what exactly happened on the 27^th December?

OK I will bare all (literally) in these pictures below.

 

In both pictures I am attempting to stand up straight without flexing.  The pictures are taken on the morning of the 28th Dec & the 2nd Jan. Within 6 days I am back to near symmetry!

Here’s what are you seeing on the 27^th December photo?  The right hip is being raised by an ultra tight QL, you can’t see this so clearly, but the spine is completely flattened when seen from the side (no I’m not putting up side shoots as I was naked!  You’ll just have to trust me), the lower spine lost all extension all the spine looked completely flat when seen from the side top to bottom.  The spine took on a scoliosis-like look as it literally appeared to snake up my back, the left shoulder & scapula are raised.  The glutes ‘disappeared’ (again seen better from the side, but I think you can see this well enough here).  The whole back lost any muscle tone, the lats switched off as well – this is the first time I’ve actually witnessed muscles being visibly inhibited & structure being visibly altered in such a drastic way through one injury that took mere days to right itself.  For comparison I’ll put the 2^nd Jan photo up, so 6 days later I was nearing total symmetry again, the back has regained its natural curvature & the scoliosis-like effect is gone, the glutes are back, the scapulae & shoulders are near level.

So, everything’s ok, right?....WRONG!

I put myself through a pretty extensive screening once I was able to move correctly.  I found my ability to do a bird-dog on one side had become problematic (that may be a multifidus issues), the weak glutes & hamstring on the right, tight right hand side QL, some anterior pelvic tilt, limited internal hip rotation (worse on the right), tight adductors on the right, I’d also developed a tendency to ‘tail tuck’ at the bottom of even a bodyweight squat.  Obviously I have a lot of work ahead of me!  Looking at the issues it becomes clear that I’ve been developing these issues for some time & only now are the ‘symptoms’ starting to show.  So, this probably isn’t going to be an overnight fix.  So, what are my plans?

Well first off I bought an inversion table.  It seems like that will help with the immediate symptoms while I try & deal with the ongoing problems & hopefully aid in warding off another back issue while I work on the problem. 

 

Enjoying a first go on the inversion table (there's 

even the box it came came still in the background)

Next up I began a rehab protocol, that consisted of:

•          Plank

•          Side plank

•          Bird-dog

•          Hip Hiker (standing on a step & raising & lowering the hip)

•          Internal & external hip rotation (you do external hip rotation as tight external rotators can sometimes stop a hip internally rotating)

•          Glute bridging

•          Bodyweight squat (working on keeping the form super tight)        

•          Hip adduction

•          Hip abduction

•         Leg curl on stability ball

•     Self myofascial release on the back, glutes, hamstrings & hip flexors (try using a tennis ball down the back.  Start with the ball at the top to one side of the spine, arms by the side, raise the arms first above your head, then across the body, wiggle a little.  Now move the ball down a cm & repeat – do that down both sides of the spine to experience some real pain!).  Check out a quick guide I did on self myofascial release (SMR) at pdf version (right click & 'save as') or MS Word version (right click & 'save as') for  some details on how to do simple SMR.

That along with the inversion was the foundation of the rehab, but as things move along I will start to introduce some unilateral lifting (like split squats, suitcase lifts, one arm overhead pressing etc).  Why unilateral? Well think about it, I have a left to right imbalance, if I just ‘work harder’ on the bi-lateral squat or deadlift for example I’ll just reinforce the improper movement dysfunctions I’ve already developed.  I have to learn to strengthen both the left & right hand sides on their own, until the right can learn to ‘keep up’ with the left.  I suspect that due to the nerve damage in the right big toe that I may need to revisit unilateral lifting a few times a year to make sure everything stays in balance.

I’ve suffered a setback, that is very true.  I’ve had to re-evaluate my goals, set some things I had planned for 2011 onto the back burner for this year...but, I’ve found an issue, I have found a weakness, which begs the question “If I fix the weakness, how strong will I get?”.  If I fix myself right will 2012 be a really record year for lifting & gains?  How much have I been held back by being imbalanced?  These are exciting questions that I hope to answer over 2011.  Let’s hope I can rebuild a more symmetrical strength that translates into much better lifting & much better results.  That’s my goal for 2011.  I don’t want to just get back to where I was before the whole ‘back issue’ started, I’d like to soar beyond it, using the new knowledge I have discovered about myself to really improve beyond what I would have been able to if this issue hadn’t come up.

If there is sufficient interest I don’t mind putting up stills or even short youtube clips about my rehab adventure, let me know below if you’d be interested in following the adventure?  But do bear in mind, this is NOT a prescription for back injury recovery.  I am not a doctor, nor am I qualified to diagnose.  If you intend to incorporate any exercise or rehabilitation protocol (even chiropractic work or acupuncture etc) then always run it past your back specialist first as each condition is unique & each person is slightly different, so always check first & even if you get the go ahead NEVER work into pain.   You cannot beat a bad back into submission, it will always have the last say if you try to go head to head in a ‘suffering contest’.  So, be sensible, take things slow, & aim at slowly returning to full physical function (or as ‘full’ as your condition allows).  Any questions, ideas or anything else just write below.

Finally this was a pretty hard post to write.  Baring your all (in the case of some of these photos it was pretty damn close!) & confessing your own mistakes is quite a hard thing to put up online & let the world read.  Hopefully you’ll all take some time & not just post a comment, but to check your own bodies out, fix any asymmetries or other issues before a problem rears its ugly head & puts you onto the sidelines for a while.  Prehab should be an issue every athlete or lifter takes seriously.  Hopefully I’ll be taking a lot more care of the ‘little things’ from now on as by doing that I can keep lifting & hopefully still keep making gains for many years yet!