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Learn 7 Upper Back Stretches to release tightness in your upper back, shoulders and neck.
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7 Upper Back Stretches For Pain Relief
Exercise
GLOBAL ONLINE STRETCHING STUDIO LAUNCHES IN THE PANDEMIC
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The new fitness trend Hits London shortly before lockdown, blowing east from LA and New York, and west from Moscow to Dubai.
Introducing Good Stretch – a global online stretching studio based in London, streaming daily live stretching classes and offering physical classes weekly in Kensington with limited numbers due to Covid-19.
Our virtual sessions are delivered by our team of highly qualified Good Stretch coaches, led by co-founder and lead stretching coach Ana Moore. Ana is a firm believer that professionally-supported stretching can help to relieve stress, ease muscle pain, boost a range of motions and even elevate your mood.
Why is stretching so important for us?
Stretching is one of the most undervalued exercises that can help you live a healthy lifestyle.
The pandemic has changed our lives and many restrictions have made it more difficult for many people to get in their daily workout. Spending more time at home and working from a kitchen table or a makeshift home office has become our new normal, bringing high levels of discomfort.
Stretching can build self-confidence whilst lowering to stress, improve blood circulation, build muscle and help lose weight. By intensely stretching your muscles, you’ll become leaner, more flexible, and lighter on your feet.
At Good Stretch we offer live daily 50 min classes via Zoom, these whole body stretching classes will loosen you up, take away stiffness and increase your range of motion.
Our expert coaches will tailor each class to your needs, just let us know what you want before each class.
Who should do stretching classes ?
Stretching is for everyone. You don’t need to be very flexible at all to do the class.You can go at your own pace. Everyone would gain from this right now as we are not moving enough. It is also good for those who don’t like yoga but realise they need to give their muscles full range and ease pain.
Fellow co-founder and owner of Good Stretch Aida Yahaya said: “The idea for Good Stretch came from the frustration that, although London is full of yoga classes, there are very few professional studios that specialise in providing effective training for stretching in central London. Having experienced the popularity of stretching classes in other parts of the world, nothing beats that great feeling and self-confidence boost after a good stretch. We wanted to give more people the opportunity to achieve that feeling too. When you’re stretching, you’re not only working on your muscles, but you’re calming your mind, and you get a release of endorphins which makes you feel better when you leave class.
With the rapid increase in online virtual sessions taking over the internet by storm, we assure you that our sessions are like no other in terms of flexibility and fun! It’s new, innovative and artistically simple”
The benefits of stretching are unrivalled. Even after one session with Good Stretch, members will notice progress and difference.
Good Stretch launched in London, at the beginning of 2020 and has reached a global audience. We are offering daily live stretching classes via Zoom, classes on-demand and one class per week in our Kensington studio.
How to Avoid Overheating | Great tips for chronic illness and exercise
Overheating is a common issue that people living with Multiple Sclerosis. You don’t need fancy and expensive equipment to prevent overheating. We suggest using a fan, drinking water and having a low room temperature to prevent your body from overheating during exercises.
Stretches for Spasticity With Multiple Sclerosis (Easy to do and Guided!!)
Stretches for Spasticity With Multiple Sclerosis (Easy to do and Guided!!)
Study finds obese people with pattern of later waking and peak activity later in day at higher risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease
New research presented at this year’s European Congress on Obesity (held online, 10-13 May) shows that people living with obesity with the so called ‘evening chronotype’ – that is, a pattern of later waking and peak activity later in the day – have a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes (T2D) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) than those who both wake and have their peak activity levels earlier (morning or intermediate chronotypes). The study is by Dr Giovanna Muscogiuri, Assistant Professor in Endocrinology at University Federico II, Naples, Italy, and colleagues.
This study (carried out at University Federico II, Naples) compared people living with obesity with morning chronotype (MC), evening chronotype (EC) and intermediate chronotype (IC). Previous studies have shown that people with EC have disruptions to their body clock (known as circadian rhythm) that can alter their metabolic processes, due to over-activation of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis, which is a collection of linked body systems that control our reaction to stress, digestion, the immune system and various other functions. EC is also often associated with sleep disturbances. The aim of this study was to investigate if EC contributes to the risk of developing T2D and CVD in people living with obesity, beyond sleep disturbances and other clinical characteristics.
In this cross-sectional study, 172 middle-aged adults (72% females; mean age 52 years; mean body mass index (BMI) 32 kg/m2) were consecutively enrolled during a campaign to prevent obesity called the OPERA (obesity, programs of nutrition, education, research and assessment of the best treatment) PREVENTION project that was held in Naples on October 11-13, 2019. Body measurements and personal data were collected, and sleep quality was assessed by a common score known as the Pittsburgh Index. Chronotype was evaluated by a standard assessment called the Horne-Ostberg Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire. Based on their scores, individuals were classed as being a morning (score 59 -86), neither (42-58), or evening (16 -41) type.
Chronotype was classified as MC in 58% of subjects, EC in 13% and IC in 29%. Subjects with EC, when compared to IC and MC, reported a tendency to follow an unhealthy lifestyle, performing less regular physical activity and being more frequently smokers. Across the whole population, a lower chronotype score was associated with a higher BMI. All results were statistically significant.
Although subjects belonging to MC, IC and EC categories had similar BMI values, subjects with EC had a significant higher prevalence of CVD and T2D compared to other categories (see Table 1 and 2 of full abstract). Statistical analysis was performed to evaluate the associations of chronotype with T2D and CVD. After adjusting the analysis for age, gender, BMI and sleep quality, people with EC had a 6 times higher risk of having T2D and a more than four times increased risk of CVD compared to the MC. EC also showed a 19 times higher risk of having T2DM and a four times higher risk of CVD compared to IC, with all results again statistically significant. However, no statistically significant differences in risk of T2D or CVD were found between MC and IC.
The authors conclude: “Our study found that evening chronotype represents an independent risk factor for cardiometabolic diseases beyond sleep disturbances, age, gender and BMI. Hence the assessment of chronotype should be taken into account in the management of obesity because promoting an alignment of daily activities according to the body clock or ‘circadian rhythm’ of people living with obesity might reduce their risk of developing metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.”