With the CrossFit Open kicking off, we asked one of our expert team, Richard, to give his top tips for athletes competing and taking part in it. Not only does he work with a lot of CrossFit boxes across Dublin, but he’s competed in the Open himself so has experience with what really happens and what you’ll be facing with the workouts.

Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is the feeling of pain and weakness that begins to set in after a person tries a new exercise for the first time. The symptoms of DOMS can begin to manifest hours after the exercise is carried out, becoming more noticeable the following day, and peaking about 48 hours later.

Skiing is an interesting sport, in that even the least sporty person in the world might take it up if given the chance. Maybe this is because of the scenery, the lack of competitiveness, or the fact that there are slopes for people of all skill levels, but the fact is that skiing is a popular sport for people of all ages and from all walks of life. But if you have never been skiing before, it can be hard to know how physically demanding it is. Can sliding downhill really be that difficult?

Pillows are something we use pretty much every night of our entire lives, so it’s not surprising that we each have our own personal pillow preferences. Over time, we tend to get used to certain types of pillows, and end up gravitating towards pillows that are hard or soft enough, stuffed with down rather than polyester, or use some sort of memory foam. But even if we have built up these preferences over the course of our whole lives, liking a certain type of pillow doesn’t necessarily mean it’s good for you.

We’ve all heard of whiplash, with the condition featuring regularly in both TV and film. In many of these storylines, the characters are usually involved in some sort of minor fender-bender, and immediately embark on a comedic display of pain in the hopes of securing a big insurance payout. But for many people, this is where their knowledge of whiplash ends. In order to better understand this common condition, we are going to look at exactly what happens when you get whiplash.

Although many people see the start of a new year as a sign of the opportunities that lie ahead, many others suffer from what is known as the “January blues”. Also known as the holiday blues, this is a form of situational depression, and can easily be confused for similar conditions, such as Seasonal Affective Disorder.

When we think about staying healthy, we tend to think about exercising and eating well. But another one of the most fundamental factors of our health that is frequently overlooked is our sleeping pattern. The quality of our sleep has an enormous impact on our mental capacity and mood, which in turn have a huge effect on our ability to stay physically fit. The power and importance of a good night’s sleep should not be underestimated, so here are a few tips to help you get the best rest you can.

Every January, people all over the world commit to exercising more and getting back into shape. But over 70% of people will give up on their goals before the achieve them, with about half of those giving up before mid-February. The most common reasons given for quitting early are that the new routine is too hard to stick to, or that people simply can’t find the time to follow through on their commitments. Here, we’re going to look at a few ways you can set your goals and become part of the 30% that achieves them.

For most people, January is not exactly the time of year to go on long walks, cycle along the coast, or even to just go outside and play with your friends or children. January is cold, it’s wet, and for most people, it gets dark before we have even finished work.

Whether you commit to running a few times a week to try and be a bit healthier, or you are training to pull a train with your teeth at the next Iron Man competition, anyone who works out should be commended for doing so. But regardless of whether you are a beginner or a veteran at the gym, you are always at risk of getting injured. Unfortunately, there are some very prevalent myths about injuries in the workout world, so in this post, we’re going to look at 5 of the biggest myths about getting injured.

We all know that one person who can pop their thumb out of place, bend their fingers back almost as far as they can bend them forward, or contort their limbs in a way that can seem completely unnatural. Commonly referred to as being double-jointed, this is actually a result of a condition known as hypermobility.

Physiotherapy is often thought of as something we must endure after sustaining an injury, or perhaps undergoing surgery. With damage to our bodies restricting the movement of our muscles, ligaments, and tendons, physiotherapy aims to gradually restore our mobility to pre-injury levels or beyond. But despite our preconceived notions, physiotherapy is not always finished in a few weeks or months, and can sometimes be required indefinitely.

For most young people, the only time they will experience hip pain is when they bang it on the counter as they walk by. But despite the fact that so many people associate hip pain with pensioners, it is not unheard of to experience it in your youth. Usually when this happens, there are a few issues that are the most likely cause, so below are some of the most common causes of hip pain in young people.

To really excel as an athlete requires a lot of hard work and devotion to exercise. Those who are most committed to fitness will take steps every day to ensure that they are constantly making progress. Two of the most fundamental pillars of a good fitness regimen are diet and exercise, but the importance of rest is overlooked all too often.

Whether you play sports or work out to keep in shape, the likelihood is that people who exercise regularly will sustain injuries at some point. We are all taught the importance of stretching before exercise from a very young age, but other than the relatively vague explanation of “warming up”, not everyone can explain how exactly it helps. Even fewer people can explain the benefits of cooling down, or stretching after a workout. Both of these are particularly important when recovering from an injury, and here we are going to look at exactly why this is the case.

Getting a massage is not simply a matter of lying face down on a table and letting a therapist start working. There are many different types of massages, each designed to deal with different issues. The kind of massage you should request depends entirely on what you hope to get out of it, so we’re going to look at some of the most common types of massage, and what they can help you with.

Joint replacements are common procedures, but that doesn’t mean they are entirely minor. Typically, we use our joints on a near-constant basis, so as soon as the surgery is done, you will realise how much you miss being able to freely move the joint in question, which is why physiotherapy is so important.