Muscle tears  seem to happen more often in cold weather, all sorts of things go brittle when they are cold particularly things that contain water like our bodies do.

The current wisdom about stretching is that if you are warming up to do something strenuous each stretch should only be maintained for a few seconds before moving onto the next one. The rationale for this is that if the muscle is more thoroughly stretched the nerve may be temporarily weakened enough (immediately preceding) a vigorous activity  to be damaged through sudden over-extension. A large recent study concluded that pre-workout stretching offers no benefits at all.

Warm-down (after you play) and stretching for the sake of extending your natural flexability is a different matter, taking a minimum time of 20 seconds for each stretch will eventually improve your flexability if you pick the right exercises and do them often enough (3 times a week).

Whether warming up or warming down stretching should never be jerky, smooth and gradual helps prevent injury and gives you faster results.

Walking or skipping warms the body quite well as can calisthenics, any physical activity half way between what you are doing and what you intend on doing can prepare you for physical exertion.

Percussive Self Massage can warm your body up for exercise, you see Tai Qi students hit their arms, legs and bodies with their hands before they commence their routine, you will see athletes of the Chinese track and field team do this too before competing. If you have never tried warming up this way give it a try, you might be pleasantly surprised.

“Warming up” is not often recommended as a thing worth doing for sedentary workers but having a brisk walk around the office for a few minutes several times through the day has a similar benefit to using the same activity before exercising. Warming up is all about giving your blood circulation a boost whether you are about to exercise or not.

An extended warm up can be an exercise routine in itself if you are recovering from an illness or returning to activity after a long break. When the weather is cold warming up has added practical value.

Warming up uses calories too if you are not very fit a long warm up can actually be a light work out for you particularly if you are of advanced years.

Even though stretching is not currently in favour as an exercise preparation, there is probably no harm in doing it if you are preparing for a stretching class.

It is widely known that our ears play a big role in our sense of balance, anyone who has ever had a middle ear infection has probably noticed a tendency to feel a little dizzy or off balance until the infection goes away.

What isn’t as widely known is that there is a phenomenon known as proprioception which also has an important role in keeping us balanced and coordinated, proprioception is thought to be controlled by our joints and muscles. If you were to stand naked in a warm dark room with your arm extended from your side it is not your sense of touch that tells you your arm is sticking out because there is no sleeve around it to give you that sensation. It is your sense of  proprioception that makes you aware of your body’s position in space.

Proprioception affects the whole body but is most important in our neck and ankles, it is thought that the role that the proprioceptors play in our neck is to coordinate our head movement with using our eyes,( think about the myriad of subtly different positions you can move and hold your head in). Head movements are also a communication tool , when we talk in an animated fashion we move our head continually to emphasise different words and for dramatic effect. We can read a lot of body language from how people move their head and eyes- both common place and fascinating.

As for our ankle proprioception it is a marvel of physics how well we can move on our feet given how short and narrow they are in comparison to our body height. Proprioception is thought to enable us to do this, proprioception is like an onboard stabilizing and steering computer system.

Proprioception is adversely effected by poor circulation and muscular tightness, this explains why our balance and coordination may feel less effective even if our ears are fine and the balance and movement centres in the brain are functioning normally. If you have been uncharacteristically clumsy and bumping into things lately press into your neck and calf muscles and see how they feel. If there is any soreness or tightness there may be a relationship between your tight muscles and reduced ease of movement, it might be time to get some acupuncture or massage. Proprioception is also positively influenced by exercises such as yoga and tai qi.

The highest bone in your spine is the atlas (also known as C1). If C1 is misaligned it can cause  dizziness, clumsiness and uneven muscular tensions. Poor posture can cause this.

The muscles in your feet play a big part in balance too, if standing on one foot is much easier on one side over the other it might be time to do some Self Massage to your feet and exercise them.

Good posture is important for a variety of reasons, firstly it’s healthy, when you stand and sit straight it’s easier to fully inflate your lungs (go on, try it now, try taking a deep breath without straightening your back). Your stomach has more room too to do what it must when your back is straight , indigestion is more likely to happen when we slouch forward.

Over many years bad postural habits can damage your joints and even deform the shape of your vertebrae (spinal bones), when this happens standing straight becomes difficult (if not impossible) and even painful.

Good posture has another important advantage too, it just looks better, people appear more confident, dignified, trustworthy and attractive when they stand, sit and walk straight. How many times have you seen a person with a nice face and well proportioned body spoil the whole effect by slumping their shoulders and sagging to one side. Stand infront of the mirror yourself and ask yourself what looks better, good or bad posture.

Bad posture looks lazy, it makes you look tired and older than you really are.

The good news is that you can do something about it, exercise regimes such as Yoga, Tai Chi, Pilates, Alexander Technique and Feldenkrais can all help you on your way to better health and posture. Even better still get your body prepared for corrective exercise with acupuncture and massage, it really does make exercise easier to do so you can get results faster.

If you are tall don’t try and hide it, you will only wreck your back if you do. If you have large breasts holding your shoulders forward to disguise that will damage your spine too, teenage girls are particularly susceptible to this. For women with particularly large breasts the actual weight of breast tissue can pull your upper forward, breast reduction surgery can help with this. Try and look confident even if you are not that will help your posture too.

Your posture and body language will usually be the first impression you make on others, before a person is close enough to get a propper look at your face and eyes they are already unconsciously beginning to form an opinion based on what they can see.

Nobody gets a second chance to make a first impression so make it a good one.