Physical strains such as neck and back pain are more common than you might think. They can cause serious and long lasting challenges, discomfort and affect your overall quality of life.

Guardian journalist, Simon Usborne, uncovers the secrets to staying fit in your 40s, using some famous examples, and a quote or two from our very own fit in your 40s expert, Alexei Sharp.

The shoulder has the greatest range of motion of any joint in the body. To allow so much movement the joint needs to be ‘free’ to move and can become unstable without its complex ligaments and muscles to keep it in motion.

The term sciatica describes the symptoms of leg pain and possibly tingling, numbness or weakness that originates in the lower back and travels through the buttock and down the large sciatic nerve in the back of the leg.

‘Good’ posture is achieved by maintaining core stability, spinal length and activating the deep spinal antigravity muscles. Gravity has an invisible effect on the body all of the time and the effect is greater on a slumped posture than in an upright position.

Your Achilles Heel is the back part of your heel, where the tendons connect to the calf muscle. Once injured it can take longer to be cured because of the lack of blood flow to the affected area.

Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (PFPS), which is also known as runners knee, chondromalacia patellae and anterior knee pain, is a generic term used to describe pain at the front of the knee and around the knee cap.

Neck pain can arise unexpectedly or as the result of an injury (such as whiplash) following an incident (such as a car crash).

Libby Sharp, clinical director, recalls a walking holiday in beautiful Greece & managing an ankle sprain en route.

After a lifetime of loving exercise, Martin Love lost his motivation. But where had it gone? And could he get it back? Plus, five experts on how to maintain your mojo

Black Friday, an occasion previously alien to those outside the US, is now most definitely a worldwide event and we are happy to hop on the bandwagon. The wearable health tech market is expanding at warp speed, as awareness of our ongoing health advances. In the spirit of this, we’ve reviewed some exciting brands that may catch your attention for the sales today or as a stocking filler at Christmas for that (very) special person.

Anxiety can be a paralysing and crippling emotion, stopping us in our tracks and getting in the way of all aspects of our lives. Anxiety can sap our motivation at any time and can be a huge barrier to success. How do we motivate ourselves to do something, when that something is the last something we want to do?

If you participated in a Marathon recently, congratulations on your fantastic achievement. You may be basking in the well-deserved glow of your achievement, and so you should. The endorphin high alone must be an amazing experience but once that fades, there may be some aches and pains to remedy. Your body has taken a pounding and will need some due care and attention. If you can be proactive, you will recover more quickly and reduce the risk of injuries developing.

Emma Raducano’s amazing win at the US Open Tennis last Saturday is the stuff of legend and a sporting success for the ages. She became the first qualifier to win any major tennis championships, didn’t drop a set throughout the tournament and at just 18 years old, in only her fourth professional event, to achieve what she has, is simply amazing.

From a fitness perspective, however, non-contact boxing fitness training is a fabulous way to get or stay fit, enhance coordination, balance and cognitive function and generally maintain your motivation in a fun and energetic way, with long-lasting upsides to positive mental health.

A successful lifelong pursuit of cardio fitness will likely help to prolong your life and lead to a more fulfilling, healthier and happier existence. Yeah, yeah but I hate cardio…

If you can get past the hate, and want to know how fit you are and what you can do about it, then a VO2 Max test is a good place to start.

The sporting life is a lifetime of ups and downs, highs and lows, condensed into a mini-life. With the Tokyo Olympics now in full swing, there has already been plenty of triumphs and disappointments but the overwhelming experience is one of the unifying, uplifting and motivating elements that sport plays in our lives.

Having an Olympic Games during a global pandemic and with no spectators is a difficult scenario to conceive and the fact that the Games are taking place at all has divided opinions hugely, but The Olympics are a much loved and hugely anticipated culturally essential global event, and they are also an essential part of the sporting ecosystem on which the very survival of many sports depends.

July is certainly a packed month on the sporting calendar with the Euro Footie championships having just ended (wipe away those tears, forza gli Azzurri), the Tour de France cycling in full swing and The Olympics starting later this month, but the jewel in the July crown most years must surely be the tennis at Wimbledon, which finished last Sunday, a game we can both love to watch and play!

Here at FitFor Towers we are all delighted and relieved that physical fitness is back on the national agenda, and as ever we are ready to support you with your fitness goals.