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.

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.

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If you’re a desk jockey and are troubled by bad posture, here are a few things that I suggest to address this issue.

• Stay active. Any kind of sport will generally improve things and put you in a better mood and hence more likely to stand tall than slouch.
• Perform these exercises a few times per week.
• Use a foam roller and a RAD Roller.
• Do some sessions with an Alexander Technique teacher.
• Read the Overcoming Poor Posture book.

Have you tried any of the methods above? Let me know in the comments section.

Figure 1. source

For some cultures, tea is more than just a drink. For the Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Russian, and English people, tea is a profoundly important part of their lives. In China, in particular, each regional group has its own philosophy of tea, and each ideological trend reinvents the implications that a cup of tea has in one’s day.

Great tea comes from remote mountains. Whether it’s white, green, or black, it conveys the essence of its natural surroundings. I’m not talking about overly processed tea that you can get at any store. I’m talking about delicate, potent, and clean tea that makes a world of a difference.

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In 2019 I had the opportunity to train at a center here in Barcelona (GlobalPerformance) that specialises in isoinertial training methodology and equipment. It was the first time I did this type of training so I took some notes.

This is a type of training originally developed for outer space use since it doesn’t rely on gravity as the traditional weight machines do.

In the video below, you can observe some exercises that can be done with the pulleys and flywheels used in this type of training.

The nice thing is that the machines could be attached with a monitor that took note of each concentric vs eccentric movement of my muscles and measured the variation between them. In just one session I was able to observe the weak points of my body and that gave me a very good indication of what I need to be working on for gaining further strength while at the same time preventing injury.

This type of training is excellent for tennis and padel training as there’s a lot of emphasis on correct posture and using the whole kinetic chain effectively for every movement, and this can transfer very well to our oncourt performance.

When you’re going abroad, it is of utmost importance to set up yourself with good travel insurance.

By travel insurance, we usually mean insurance that will cover your emergency health needs such as hospitalization, ambulance costs and transportation back to your country if needed. Such travel insurance will also include protection against damage to luggage or personal property including theft. It will also compensate you for flight delays beyond a certain number of hours, as well as cancellations.

So how do you get travel insurance? Here are the options. I will be mentioning Spanish companies but the concept applies anywhere.

1. Buy Dedicated Travel Insurance

There are many companies offering travel insurance as their main service. A few examples are Zurich, AXA, Allianz and Europ Assistance.

You could also use a travel insurance aggregator to compare offers from various providers at once. One of my favorite aggregators is Hey Mondo.

2. Use Your Credit Card’s Insurance Facility

Many credit cards offer travel insurance as part of the card’s perks. I currently have the ING Direct credit card which features travel insurance as one of its benefits. It’s also free, which is a great deal. Note that to be covered by the card’s insurance, you usually need to purchase the flight tickets and book the hotels from that card.

Here’s what Ing Direct’s website says about the travel insurance benefits of its credit card:

¿Quieres irte de viaje muy tranquilo? Paga el billete con tu tarjeta de crédito y disfrutarás de un seguro de accidentes de viaje con una cobertura de hasta 150.000 €.
Además, si pagas con ella tu billete, hotel o cualquier otro concepto relacionado con tu viaje, disfrutarás también de un seguro de asistencia en viaje con una cobertura de hasta 4.500 € que incluye gastos médicos, daños al equipaje, retrasos en viajes y responsabilidad civil.

N26 Black and N26 You also offer comprehensive travel insurance; they partner with Allianz for this.

3. Use Your Private Health Insurance

Here in Spain, I’m insured by Sanitas private health insurance, and as part of the package I get emergency health insurance worldwide, with a limit of €12,000. This is usually enough for most travel needs.

Here’s what Sanitas say about this:

The policy has cover abroad for emergencies, in the course of 90 consecutive days in any country worldwide, up to a maximum of 12.000 per insured and year.

If you need medical assistance abroad, please first contact us at +34 91 345 65 84. You can make a collect call and we will provide you with all the instructions to achieve the best medical care.

If you wish to expand your coverage abroad, you can contract Sanitas Travel, an insurance which offers international healthcare and services such as compensation in case of death or baggage coverage. It is a custom insurance according to the number of days, transport, number of travelers and destination. You can find more information at sanitas.es.

4. Use the European Health Insurance Card (only in the European Union)

If you are tax resident in the European Union and you’re paying social security in your country of residence, you are entitled to get the European Health Insurance Card. This will cover your health emergency expenses abroad in the same way as you would be covered if you needed any services back in your country of residence. It’s important to remember that this is only valid for countries that are a member of the European Union.

5. Insurance For Digital Nomads

If you are a digital nomad or travel several times a year, I highly recommend using Safety Wing, as it’s travel insurance built specifically for this new breed of workers with laptops who travel as part of their lifestyle and work. It is also great for insuring your entire team if you run a remote company.

Things to Keep in Mind

Remember that every policy has particular limits, so please do read the policy document carefully. If you’re traveling to places where health care costs are high, such as the USA or Canada, make sure you have higher limits on your policy. For those countries, I would recommend having a limit of €100,000 minimum because an overnight stay at a hospital due to a broken leg or arm can really cost a lot of money there.

If you have kids, make sure that the insurance you plan to use also covers them. If not, take out a separate insurance policy for them.

Although I am covered by my private health insurance, I take out separate insurance specifically for any days I plan to spend in the USA or Canada. Note that the private health insurance only covers medical expenses, and does not provide cover for cancellation of the trip due to flight changes or illnesses, for example.

If you have kids I recommend taking out a separate insurance that also covers these events, especially when the cost of the trip is elevated or it’s a long trip, since kids can be very unpredictable and can get sick pretty easily. As an adult you can grin and bear a trip when sick, but with an infant or child things are much more uncomfortable for them and for you as a parent.

As always, leave any questions in the comments below and I’ll do my best to give you good answers.