Live Well Physiotherapy & The Age Well Clinic

03/27/2025

Join us for a low-cost introduction to strength training. Interested in adding strengthening exercise to your regular routine, learning how to do strength training despite pain or injury, or learning how to get the most benefit out of the time you're investing in strengthening exercise? Join us to learn more.

✨ Start Building Strength ✨

An introduction to strengthening exercise for people who are interested in improving their health, mobility, and fitness with physiotherapist Jesse Robson of Live Well Physiotherapy & The Age Well Clinic. Learn how to do strengthening exercises properly and learn some exercises you can do using equipment you already have around the house. This workshop is suitable for people of all ages, and health, mobility, and fitness levels. 💪

📅 Friday, April 25
🕞 3:30pm - 5:00pm
🏫 Barss Corner Community Hall
📍 891 Barss Corner Road
💰 $10

📅 Monday, May 5
🕞 9:00am - 10:30am
🏫 Broad Cove Hall
📍 7147 Highway 331
💰 $10

📅 Tuesday, May 27
🕞 1:00pm - 2:30pm
🏫 Hebbville Fire Hall
📍 215 Century Drive
💰 $10

Pre-registration is required:
💻 Online: www.connect2rec.com
☎️ Phone: (902) 530-4100
🧍‍♀️ In-Person: Lunenburg County Lifestyle Centre (LCLC)

03/27/2025

When you have a pain, health or mobility challenge, it can be so difficult to move forward. Multiple medical appointments take up a lot of time, and each generally comes with homework that takes up even more time and energy, at a time when you're feeling drained and struggling to get by - likely in multiple respects.

The soaring heron in our office artwork (by local artist Gary Selig) represents the experience of rising and pushing through challenging times. This can be so difficult when you're depleted - and it's also key to moving forward.

When we work with clients, our focus isn't just on treating the parts of their body they are focused on addressing - it's also on holistically supporting clients, and giving them powerful knowledge and skills they can use to make progress - both within and outside of treatment sessions.

We believe in you. We know change is hard. And we know you can make it happen, and overcome the challenges you face.

02/25/2025

This week's food for thought:

What if we don't just get weak because we get old . . . we get old because we get weak?

In our culture, advanced age is often envisioned as a time of frailty and loss of independence. But this isn't true cross culturally. Many people do not expect to lose physical abilities like being able to walk up and down stairs, being able to get up from the ground, or being able to get on and off the toilet as part of their aging process. And many of them are right.

Sarcopenia, gradual loss of muscle strength, mass and function, is a normal part of aging - but losing the strength needed to perform these sorts of basic self-care activities is not. It is absolutely possible to maintain these abilities, and physical independence, throughout the entire human lifespan. People don't lose these abilities due to age. They often lose them because they've stopped doing the sorts of physical activities that maintain qualities like stamina and muscle strength and power. The body really is a 'use it or lose it' machine, and given our culture's vision of retirement being a time of ease and relaxation, many people stop challenging their bodies as they age, causing them to lose physical reserve and ability at a rapid rate.

Much of the physical and cognitive decline that we have come to expect with aging is preventable. You do not need to expect to wind up in a wheelchair or a diaper as you near the end of your life. You can keep swimming in the ocean, going on trips, dancing, cutting your own firewood, playing golf or tennis, playing actively with your great grandkids - whatever it is that lights your fire. Tell your friends: regular strengthening and cardio/HIIT exercise can significantly improve your physical and mental health now, but it can dramatically improve the quality of your golden years.

02/19/2025

This week's food for thought:

"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw

Turns out Shaw was right.

One of the reasons children often seem more agile, flexible, and strong than adults is the youthful resilience of their tissues. But a second reason is that they typically spend much more time engaging and challenging their bodies and minds than adults do.

Play has so much value for people of all ages. It gets us outside. It brings us together with friends, and helps us build camaraderie with strangers. It gets us to move our bodies, challenge ourselves, and think creatively. It makes us laugh.

Play gives us a tool for pursuing almost all of the foundations of health and healthy aging simultaneously: positive thinking, physical activity, social activity, brain challenges, pursuing valued goals, and mental health. And we love it. It doesn't feel like a chore. It awakens our spirits and brings us joy.

Feeling blah this winter? Energy low? Tired? Stiff? PUT YOUR PHONE DOWN and:

-Go sledding
-Go skating
-Hit beginner pickleball
-Dig out a deck of cards
-Get your dog's or cat's favourite toy out from under the couch
-Freeze some coloured water in pans and use the frozen blocks to build a fort
-Put some food colouring and water in a squeezey bottle and go paint some snow

Do it now. Do it every day. You'll feel better in no time.

02/06/2025

Our FREE Restore Postpartum Rehab Program is currently accepting applicants for a Feb 21 - March 28 program, running Friday mornings at 9:00am at the Royal Canadian Legion in Chester Basin, in partnership with Our Health Centre.

Our bodies undergo enormous change during pregnancy and postpartum. Many changes that can turn into larger challenges down the road (e.g. weight gain, incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, deconditioning, pain, diastasis recti, depression and anxiety) can improve significantly via regular exercise. Our program offers a considerable dose of the types of exercise we know benefit mamas most: pelvic floor and core muscle training, strengthening exercise, and high intensity interval training. It also equips participants with the knowledge and skills they need to exercise at home or at other fitness classes in ways that will benefit their physical and mental health (and the physical and mental health of their children) and enable them to recover from pregnancy and birth-related health challenges.

Email programs@ourhealthcentre.ca for more info or to register. Big thank you to Our Health Centre Foundation for their support and enthusiasm for this unique program.

01/30/2025

It's common for people experiencing challenges such as back pain, hernia, or pelvic organ prolapse to be told by well-meaning healthcare providers that they shouldn't lift heavy things.

If the person lives a long life however, this advice can really backfire.

Because part of normal aging is sarcopenia (gradual loss of muscle mass, strength, and function), as we get older, particularly if we interpret "don't lift heavy things" as meaning that we shouldn't do strength training, we get weaker and weaker. This means that as time goes on, it takes more and more effort to do everyday tasks.

Next time you spend time with someone in their 80's or 90's, notice how much effort it takes them to get out of a chair or go up stairs. If they've lost a lot of strength, these tasks can require an enormous amount of work - which typically means that the person is really straining their tissues, holding their breath, and bearing down - which are probably the activities the healthcare provider who originally encouraged them not to lift heavy things was trying to prevent.

Being able to lift heavy things is an important life skill. If you slip and fall when you're 75, 85, or 95, it's really important that you have enough strength to get back up.

Lifting heavy things and doing strength training are also very safe - even for many people who have been advised to avoid heavy lifting. Learning how to manage intraabdominal pressure while lifting, and modifying movements so that they feel good and are safe and helpful for your body can enable you to build strength, while often reducing discomfort and disability associated with conditions such as back pain, hernia and pelvic organ prolapse.

If you're struggling to manage your everyday activities after being told to "avoid heavy lifting", or you'd like to build strength or set yourself up for healthy aging, visit a physio who can help you build a rehab plan and get you back to the activities you love - and the ones that set you up for comfort, confidence and independence in later life.

01/09/2025

Hot off the presses just in time for our FREE Restore Postpartum Rehab Program beginning tomorrow and again in late February in collaboration with Our Health Centre:

This new systematic review highlights the potential of exercise for mitigating postpartum mood disorders, showing that accumulating 80 minutes of moderate intensity exercise per week postpartum can significantly reduce the severity of postpartum depression and anxiety, and reduce the risk of developing postpartum depression. That's as little as 15 minutes 5x a week!

https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2024/12/28/bjsports-2024-108478

And here's another showing that postpartum pelvic floor muscle exercise can reduce the prevalence of postpartum urinary incontinence by 37%, and subjective symptoms of prolapse by 56%, while postpartum abdominal exercise can significantly improve diastasis recti.

https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2024/12/17/bjsports-2024-108619

We will be doing all three of these types of exercise at our postpartum rehab program! Tell your friends about this great free program supporting mothers' physical and mental wellness.

01/06/2025

Underrated health tip:

Find an activity you really enjoy that also happens to support good health - through spending time outside, connecting with others, and/or being active, for example.

If you already have an activity you really enjoy that meets these criteria, and you haven't done it for a while (because many of us still haven't gotten back to our pre-pandemic-let-alone-pre-smartphone activities and social lives), consider setting an intention to get back to it in 2025.

There lots of claims out there about what type of exercise (or diet, or self-soothing practice, etc. etc.) is best for maintaining good health. You may be surprised to learn that studies show that the most effective type of exercise (and diet, etc.) for improving long-term health is a type that the person doing it actually enjoys - because they will do a much larger volume of it over their lifetime than they will of some fad or specialized routine that feels like a chore.

More importantly, there's more to life than eating enough protein and maintaining good bone density. Get out there and have some fun.

12/24/2024

Thank you to all the wonderful:

-gas station attendants
-daycare workers
-healthcare providers
-home support workers
-mail carriers
-truckers
-snow plow drivers
-grocery workers
-many many others who are rarely recognized for their important and deeply valued work

who are at work today and throughout the holidays, making the holidays safe and merry for others.

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season. xoxo

12/10/2024

Pet peeve alert!

Something I find really sad and disappointing is hearing from older clients that when they went to a healthcare provider with concerns about their balance, the only treatment they were offered was being told they should use a walker.

Many people, healthcare providers included, are not aware that balance is a skill - it gets better with practice, and worse when you're out of practice (and most of us are, as we get older and stop skating, riding bikes, and doing cartwheels). Balance can improve at any age, with training, and many people with poor balance who need a walker are able to significantly improve their balance, and no longer require a cane or walker after working on improving their balance - even people in their 90's.

The other aspect of this recommendation that really saddens me is that while tools like canes and walkers definitely have their place, long-term, balance exercises are a better solution for most balance impairments walkers. Why? Sometimes you have to take your hand off your walker to open a door - and if your balance has continued to decline because you were advised to use a walker rather than working on your balance, eventually, it's likely that you will wind up at high risk of falling any time you let go of your walker for a moment. Also, one in three Canadians winds up with dementia - and when people who need a walker get dementia, often they begin to forget to use the walker, or how to use it properly, putting them at very high risk of falling.

Tell your friends and family: balance is a skill. It can improve at any age. Having good balance can literally save your life in your later years, by preventing falls, broken hips, head injuries, and long-term care admission. It's worth putting effort into maintaining or improving it.

12/08/2024

Our beautiful new office space is ready to welcome you at 902 Athletics!

-warm, cozy lighting + lots of natural light
-extra comfy bed
-quiet and private

And as always:

-45-60 minute appointments, with all treatment time spent one-on-one with your healthcare provider
-4 gyms full of great rehab equipment
-treatments available at the pool or hot tub!
-the best receptionists
-direct billing
-an accessible, welcoming space
-a great team of cheerleaders
-conveniently located in Bridgewater (just off highway 103)

12/06/2024

Returning to exercise after childbirth can be a challenge for many women - not just because of time constraints and caregiving responsibilities, but also because it can be pretty challenging to listen to your body and figure out where and how to start when your body feels completely different than it ever has before!

Canada's national guidelines for postpartum exercise recommend returning to exercise within the first 12 weeks postpartum - for nourishing postpartum physical and mental health. This is in opposition with the well meaning advice women often receive from family members and healthcare providers to take it easy for many months postpartum.

The FREE Restore Postpartum Rehab Program we offer in partnership with Our Health Centre is designed to help women regain strength and resilience following the challenges of pregnancy, childbirth, and motherhood. Registration for our January & February programs is open now - contact programs@ourhealthcentre.ca to register.