Health, Wealth & Happiness
An important part of injury prevention and better performance in sports is the ability to be able to perform movements without being inhibited by flexibility issues.
Here are the top flexibility screening exercises you should be doing regularly and striving to achieve excellent scores on:
Growing up in Malta, I used to drink Nescafe instant coffee, which is pretty low-quality stuff, but that’s what was popular at the time. I used to add milk to it and probably go through a whole pack of sugar-loaded Italian biscuits. Not the healthiest point in my life for sure.
Up until my twenties, coffee wasn’t a really big thing for me. I believe it was when I went to live in Chiang Mai that I really got hooked on it. Thailand and Chiang Mai in particular has a very strong coffee culture, and they have amazing coffee and baristas.
I started to educate myself about coffee, and eventually learned that many Italians carry a Moka pot wherever they go for their morning coffee fix. I adopted the habit and the Moka pot became my brewing method of choice for my daily coffees. I also bought a french press around that time, and I use that one when I want a bigger cup of coffee that I can sip on slowly while working.
I’m a big fan of Brompton bikes and own several of them. On this page, I’ll be listing a few of my favorite resources and products.
Over the past 25 years or so, I’ve been practicing sports on a very regular basis. I’ve tried several different sports, with football and cycling being the main ones in my twenties.
Then, in my thirties, padel became my main focus, with other racket sports (beach tennis, tennis, frescobol) complementing it. Cycling was still present, although mainly as a means of transport.
I’ve spent a fair amount of time in gyms too, although never on a consistent and serious basis over a number of years. Over the last 3-4 years, however, I’ve learned a lot about anatomy and proper technique while working with personal trainers during my padel preparation training.
All these activities, together with pretty good genetics, have enabled me to stay in the “above average” section of the population when it comes to fitness.
However, I recently came to the realisation that I have never been fully happy with my body, always missing that extra bit of optimisation and strength.
I was born with hypermobile joints, especially in my knees, ankles, elbows and shoulders.
Hypermobility is a connective tissue condition (usually inherited) in which the body’s collagen is more elastic than the ‘norm’, leading to increased flexibility. For some people, notably musicians, gymnasts, dancers and sports people, this natural flexibility gives a very useful advantage, though it leaves them more prone to injuries such as sprains and dislocations. In others, it can cause clumsiness, lack of spatial awareness and joint pain.
If I’m not making any conscious effort to stand differently, my knees will hyperextend backward and my ankles will cave inwards.
An example of knee hypermobility – quite similar to my case.
It’s very easy for me to twist my ankles outwards if I’m walking on uneven terrains or during certain sports like football, where the grass provides a cushioned and slightly unstable landing pad for the feet. I’ve been aware of this condition for many years, but during the last year or so I’ve been struggling with pain around the right ankle especially. The pain intensifies after I play padel or tennis, and can linger for months unless I stop playing for a month or two.
I’ve decided to see what I can do to deal with this condition, and in this post, I’ll be documenting my journey. The start date is November 2020.
Note that if you have just injured your ankle, the best thing to do is to follow the RICE methodology and apply heat or ice as necessary, and see a specialist. You might eventually also use EMS to treat the injury.
