Taking Care of Your Spine

Here are simple yet important adjustments to make for spine health:

• Stay active. "Whether you make regular visits to the gym, walk, bike, swim, or play with your kids, staying active and keeping your body moving helps maintain the health of your spine," Coffey says. The best exercise routine for your back and neck is one that combines stretching, strengthening, and aerobic activity. Exercise also helps you to lose weight or maintain a proper weight. Being overweight, especially if you have belly fat, can put added stress on the muscles, ligaments, and tendons in your lower back.

Standing… keeping one foot forward of the other, with knees slightly bent, takes the pressure off your low back. 

• Stretch out. "I never go a day without reminding people that they need to stretch to help their back and neck," Coffey says. "Keeping flexible helps maintain normal joint function and a good range of motion. It also reduces the risk of injury." Many back pain problems are caused by tight hamstrings — muscles in the backs of your legs. If your hamstring muscles are tight, they will pull on the bottom of your pelvis and encourage it to rotate backward. "This can then create postural changes and put added stress on the entire spine and its articulations (where two or more bones connect)," Coffey says. If you start your day with a few good stretches, it will not only be invigorating, but also will promote your spinal health.

Lifting… kneel down on one knee with the other foot flat on the floor as near as possible to the item you are lifting. Lift with your legs, not your back, keeping the object close to your body at all times. 

• Work smart. Proper ergonomics can help reduce a lot of stress on both the lower and upper back, thus reducing the frequency of conditions ranging from stiff back and headaches to carpal tunnel and sciatica, Coffey says. Make sure your workspace — whether a laptop, phone, computer desk, or even your car — is set up for your height and functionality. Choose a chair that provides back support. Your knees should be at 90 degrees and your feet should rest comfortably on the floor. Never cradle your phone between your ear and shoulder. Hold your phone to your ear or use a headset to avoid neck pain. Also, plan regular breaks. "Staying in one position for too long will cause back muscles to tighten up and become immobile," Coffey says. Plus, she notes, a short break is good for your mental health and productivity.

March 25, 2017

 The 'Harry Potter' star has grown up into a highly sought-after actress and style icon.

   Emma Charlotte Duerre Watson, who is known for her role as Hermione Granger in the 'Harry Potter' films, was born in Paris on 15 April 1990.

Her parents Jacqueline and Chris divorced when Emma was five-years-old, at which point she moved to Oxfordshire with her mother and younger brother. From the age of six, Emma knew that she wanted to act and started attending part-time theatre school Stagecoach.

By the age of ten, she had starred in several theatre shows by Stagecoach including 'The Happy Prince' and Arthur: The Young Years' Her big break came in 1999 when casting began for 'Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone', which was based on JK Rowling's bestselling novel of the same name about a boy wizard.

Watson won the role of muggle-born Hermione Granger with Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint taking the other two leading roles. 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone' not only marked Watson's film debut but it broke records for opening-day sales when it was released in 2001.

She played Hermione for almost ten years, appearing in 'Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets' (2002), 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban' (2004), 'Harry Potter and The Goblet Of Fire' (2005), 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix' (2007), 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' (2009) and the two films of 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' in 2010 and 2011.

Due to her role in this franchise, she has become one of the most well-known and highest paid actresses under the age of 30 in the world earning £10 million. Since the end of Harry Potter, Watson has appeared in 'My Week With Marilyn' (2011) and 'The Perks of Being A Wallflower' in 2012.

She also signed on to appear in 'The Bling Ring' and 'The End of the World' in 2013 and 'Noah' in 2014.

As well as acting, Watson has modelled for Burberry in 2009 and 2010 and Lancome in 2011. In 2010, she was named Elle's style icon of the year. She also worked with Fair Trade fashion brand People Tree to design a spring collection in 2010. She is also set to finish her final year at Brown's University in 2012.

March 25, 2017

How to Perform the Single-Leg Deadlift

Stand tall and tight (the way you would hold your body in a plank, only standing).
Press your working leg’s foot hard into the floor.

Slide your non-loaded leg back behind you while keeping that ankle dorsi flexed (your toes flexed toward your shin). Your toes should be just a few inches off of the floor.

Inhaling through your nose, slowly hinge at the hips to lower your torso forward, toward the floor, and simultaneously bend your front knee. Let your back leg raise as far as is comfortable while making sure to maintain a neutral spine.

Keep the hips and shoulders level with the floor.

Exhale with a tension breath and press the working foot into the floor to return to standing.
Before adding weight, first use only your bodyweight to pattern the proper movement slowly. Practice hinging at the hip while maintaining proper alignment and tension, before adding weights.



Essential Tips to Get the Most from the Single-Leg Deadlift
1. Do it barefoot.
By gripping the floor with your toes you will feel more rooted to the ground, which will improve your balance and strengthen your feet. As you grip and create a more stable base, this allows you to focus on the tracking of your hip, knee, and toe as you descend into the hip hinge.

It will also help to increase your proprioception, that is, your ability to sense the position and movement of your body parts in the surrounding space, without having to look. Having good proprioception improves your balance, agility, and coordination, helps you move more efficiently, and reduces your risk of injury.

2. Watch your knees.
Performing the SLDL too quickly prevents you from owning the “sticking points” (the parts where, when performed correctly, you might struggle a little more, literally getting stuck in those parts). One common error I see is valgus collapse, which is when the knee caves inward. While this is sometimes due to a weakness or lack of motor coordination in the hip stabilizers (gluteus medius specifically), it can also happen simply due to performing the descent too quickly, so make sure you take your time controlling the movement.

3. Keep your back leg straight.
Like the deadlift and Romanian deadlift, the SLDL is a hinge with a neutral spine. Prior to hinging, it is important to plant the front foot and extend the back leg straight behind you. When you start this movement with the back leg bent, it can cause you to hunch or round your back as you hinge forward. Rounding your spine in this position, particularly while lifting a heavy weight, can cause back pain and greatly increases your risk of injury.

4. Bend the front leg for greater activation.
As you hinge at the hips, allow the knee of the front leg to bend slightly for greater depth, to increase recruitment in the hamstrings, quads, and glutes. This right here make the SLDL more efficient than a straight-leg (or stiff-leg) deadlift, which doesn’t recruit as many muscle fibers.

5. Keep your body in a straight line.
It is important to keep the hips and shoulders square to the floor and not raise the non-working leg too high. Raising the leg too high will cause you to arch your lumbar spine and lose that very important glute contraction on the back leg.

Instead, think about extending your body from the top of your head to the very tip of your heel of the back leg in a straight line. A helpful cue here is to visualize reaching with your your heel to try to touch a wall behind you that is too far away for you to actually reach. By thinking about reaching behind you toward a wall, you will deepen your hinge, maintain alignment, and recruit more muscles.

6. Check your technique before going heavier.
After you have spent time practicing the slow bodyweight SLDL, record a short video of yourself to see if you have perfected the movement.

March 25, 2017

Barcelona’s defeat in the Champions League fixture against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday brought a personal milestone in Lionel Messi’s career with the Argentine forward going five club games without scoring.

According to ESPN FC, the 28-year-old is still waiting to hit the magical 500-goal mark for club and country after netting against Bolivia from a penalty shot on March 29, 2016.

Champions League: Griezmann double dumps Barca out of Europe

However, the Argentine has failed to score against Real Madrid, Real Sociedad and twice against Atletico Madrid in Barcelona jersey.

It has been 452 minutes since Messi last netted a goal, his longest run since 2010 (when he went 474 minutes without scoring).

Messi brings up 50 as Argentina down Bolivia

The Ballon d’Or winner will surpass the 2010 mark if he fails to score in the first 23 minutes on Sunday when Valencia visit Camp Nou for La Liga fixture.
According to some sports channels : A latest news is comming tha Messi  is suffering from a injury. If this news come true it can blow up barca fans. Even big starsmcan jave bad times.We wish he will gain his form soon.

March 25, 2017