What's New at Physio Sport Med

Do you find yourself getting tired, slowing down, or losing focus by the time you reach the second half/third period/fourth quarter of your game?This is a common complaint that we hear from many athletes. Fortunately, proper nutrition and hydration can help you finish the game as strong as you started.



First and foremost, carbohydrates are the main fuel source in moderate-to-high intensity sports such as hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and basketball. When people think about carbohydrates, they typically think of breads, pastas, and rice, but those aren’t the only food sources of carbohydrates. You will also get carbohydrates from fruit, milk, yogurt, and sweets/snack foods such as ice cream, cookies, donuts, etc.  With this being said, you want to ensure that you consume enough carbohydrates to fuel your body throughout the entire game. When we eat carbohydrates, it gets stored as glycogen in the body. During
games, the body turns to these glycogen stores for energy to fuel the exercise. Unfortunately, our bodies can only store a limited amount of glycogen. As your glycogen is depleted, your performance will suffer because your main fuel source is no longer available. Proper hydration is also important for performance. Losing as little as 2% of your body weight in fluids due to dehydration can cause fatigue and negatively impact performance.

Everyone is unique, so what works for one person may not work for another. However, there are some general recommendations that can help you perform at a high-level for the whole game.

1. Drink water throughout the day so that you can start your game completely hydrated or at least close to hydrated. It may be difficult to meet fluid needs during the game or event due to digestive tolerance, therefore, you want to start as hydrated as possible (without overhydrating).
2. Eat a meal 3-4 hours before the game/event with more carbohydrates, moderate protein, and a limited amount of fat. The carbohydrates from this meal will help to fuel your body. Although protein and fat play an important role in the diet, they take a bit longer to digest and may cause GI upset if eaten in large quantities before exercise.
3. Try adding a small carbohydrate rich snack 1 hour before the game if tolerated. Examples are fresh or dried fruit, pretzels, or crackers.
4.  Introduce a sports drink, such as Gatorade, during the game. Sports drinks contain fast digesting carbohydrates to help fuel your exercise. You may not need a sports drink throughout the whole game, so trial alternating between sips of sports drink and water.

Finding what works best for you can be difficult. If you need help navigating your diet, contact me at the clinic and I’d be happy to sit down and chat with you.

Following injury, or as we age, gardening and yard maintenance can seem daunting.    The demands placed on our back, knees, and hands can lead to hours or days of aching and stiffness – but this can be avoided at all ages and states of health.   Over time, staying active will keep your joints and bones healthier.   It is easy to fall into a cycle of inactivity leading to joint pain leading to more inactivity.    The key is moderation and movement patterns.  Learning to listen to your body and knowing how to use it efficiently will let you return to your garden.   Take Control.

However, taking control on your own can be tough.  Often our clients state that they don’t know where to start.    Others say that they are nervous of making a mistake and causing more pain.   We are here to help!   The staff at Physio Sport Med are trained to look at the movement patterns and strength imbalances allowing us to teach you how to move your body more efficiently.    We will start you at your specific level of exercise and break the cycle of pain and get you back to hobbies that you love.   Our goal is to keep you active longer into the season and as you age. 

Although every patient is assessed and analyzed individually, here are some healthy habits that everyone can benefit from:

1. Switch it up:   Change activities every 15 minutes to avoid over working one joint or muscle.  If you are stooped pulling weeds, then change to raking or another activity in standing.
2. Ergonomic aids:  From grips on your hand tools, to the shape of the rake, to squatting and sitting stools there are hundreds of aids out there that can reduce the energy and effort of yard work.
3. Bend appropriately:  For years, we have heard that bending at the knees is essential to save stress on your back.   This is true, but for many squatting creates knee pain and is difficult to do.  Sitting, kneeling or even bending at your hips can be used to spread out the stress on your legs, back and knees
4. Spread it out:  Rather than doing hours of gardening in one day, spend a short amount of time frequently through out the week
5. Stretch it out:  Gardening is exercise.   It is helpful to warm up a little before starting and to stretch after you are done.   Walking around your space for five minutes before starting will not only let you assess the work ahead of you, but will increase muscle and joint flexibility. 

Today marks the beginning of Local Food Week.  This past Saturday, I had the chance to kick off Local Food Week by attending my local farmers’ market.  I bought a bunch of fresh vegetables while I was there including rhubarb, asparagus, kale, and mini cucumbers. I also got to spend the morning getting some exercise by walking around the market on a beautiful, sunny day.  What more could you ask for? 

Why should you consider buying seasonal, local produce?

1.Help support local farmers and preserve local farms

2.Save money
Typically, seasonal produce is less expensive than food sold outside of it’s typical growing season.  If we think about the principle of supply and demand, there will be a greater supply of any given fruit or vegetable when it’s in season.  This allows producers and grocery stores to sell the product for less.  Local food can be less expensive because it doesn’t have to travel as far to get from the farm to the market or grocery store.

3.It may taste better
This is subjective, and it depends on the transportation/storage times prior to you purchasing your produce. In general, if your fruits and vegetables are reaching you faster because they are grown locally, they will probably be fresher and taste better.  However, I can’t guarantee that local food will taste better. 

If you want to buy seasonal fruits and vegetables, take a look at Foodland Ontario’s Availability Guide here to discover what is in season.  If you want to buy local produce, look for the Foodland Ontario logo when picking your fruits and vegetables at the grocery store.

For local, seasonal produce and a fun morning on the town, check out your local farmers’ market!  For those of you in Oakville, your local farmers’ market opened Saturday June 3rd and will be open every Saturday from 8am-2pm until October 28, 2017.  You can find the Oakville farmers’ market at 115 George Street.

Let us know in the comments below how you plan on celebrating local food week!