Newsletter
Once a month (usually about the 10th) we send out a complimentary newsletter to over 3500 subscribers. It contains short articles and relevant industry news that you'll enjoy reading. Also if there are any special offers, they'll be put in the newsletter first.
Archives
July 2010 - Progressive overload Vs. Genetic potential- June 2010 - From Gym to Gmail - The Future of Fitness Part Two
- May 2010 - From Gym to Gmail - The Future of Fitness Part One
- April 2010 - Worst Interviewees - EVER!
- March 2010 - Managing Quality
February 2010 - Valentine's K.I.S.S. and Exercise and ageing- January 2010 - New Year, New Hope
- December 2009 - Why December is the 'Month of Guilt' and Custom made hips
- November 2009 - FIA news and Meniscal cartilage tears
- October 2009 - 10 ways to get the job you want AND Meniscal cartilage tears in the knee
- September 2009 - Inhouse or Freelance Personal Training?
- August 2009 - 7 reasons to be part of the fitness industry and beat the crunch
"10 ways to get the job you want"
Being qualified just isn't enough nowadays!
You have to use a competive and confident approach to give yourself the best chance of getting the job you want.
Here are 10 tips you should try (I've used some and staff I've employed have too, so they do work!):
1. Find out the name of the person who would be your line manager if you were given a job. E.G. Fitness Manager, Lead Coach etc.
2. Send an email with a CV directly to the place you'd like to work, not head office.
3. Putting a photo on your CV helps personalise your CV and makes it unique in a pile of CV's.
4. Keep CV short, no longer than 2 pages. NO spelling mistakes!
5. Follow up the email with a visit in person to the place you'd like to work.
6. Enrol on other courses (such as Circuits, Studio, Exercise Referral) to increase your skill set and employability.
7. During interviews, slightly mirror the interviewers' body language and keep an open body (no folded arms).
8. If you're already in the job you want and want to step up he career ladder - do what others won't do and you'll get noticed. Work hard, work late, help out etc.
9. Join up to health and fitness groups and magazines.
10. Sounds simple, but it works - smile!
Simon Bubb © October 2009
Meniscal Tears in the Knee
by Mr Ian McDermott, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon
The multiple and widespread benefits of exercise and sport are now well appreciated, and exercise is being strongly promoted nationally, not least in an attempt to counter the epidemic of obesity and its related medical conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease.
However, with increased levels of exercise comes an increased risk and probability of exercise / sport related injuries.
One of the commonest joints of the body to injure is the knee. Within the wide spectrum of knee problems that are seen by physiotherapists, specialist knee surgeons and other allied healthcare professionals, some of the most common injuries are tears of the meniscal cartilages.
The meniscal cartilages are two crescent-shaped wedges of elastic fibrocartilage sitting inside the knee joint between the end of the femur and the top of the tibia; the medial meniscus is on the inner side of the knee and the lateral meniscus on the outer side. The menisci act as shock absorbers and load sharers inside the joint, and it has been shown that loss of a meniscus causes a significant increase in the long term risk of knee arthritis, leading to pain, stiffness and ultimately to major knee replacement surgery.
Meniscal tears are very common in sports such as football, squash and netball, where there is a lot of heavy impact on the knee, especially if combined with twisting on the knee whilst it is in a flexed position. Meniscal tears can cause pain, swelling, clicking, giving way and locking of the knee.
The meniscal cartilages have a very poor blood supply, and so unfortunately, a large proportion of meniscal tears cannot heal. If a meniscal tear is bad enough, then the likelihood is that it will, unfortunately, need surgical treatment.
Traditionally, meniscal tears used to be treated by open total meniscectomy, which means that the knee was opened up with a sizeable incision, and then the whole of the meniscal cartilage was removed. However, since about the 1970s, people have begun to appreciate the true importance of the menisci, and with the advent of arthroscopic (keyhole) surgery, the emphasis now is on preservation of meniscal tissue, as much as is possible.
The potential increased risk of arthritis after meniscectomy is proportional to the amount of meniscal tissue damaged and resected. Therefore, arthroscopic trimming of damaged meniscal tissue now focuses on partial meniscectomy, removing just the minimum amount of tissue possible.
However, ideally, if a meniscal tear can be repaired, and if it has a good enough chance of healing, then meniscal repair really should be attempted.
Unfortunately, only about 25% of meniscal tears are actually repairable. However, for those tears that are repairable, techniques now exist that allow extremely effective suturing of the menisci, with a fully arthroscopy (minimally invasive) technique. The success rates for these repairs can be as high as 90%, and this can restore a normal, fully functional meniscus to the patient, with no increased risk of arthritis in the future.
Notes on author:-
Mr Ian McDermott is a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon in the Sports Orthopaedics UK Group, working in London Sports Orthopaedics and also in Northwood Sports Orthopaedics. He is an Honorary Professor Associate in the Brunel University School of Sport & Education, a Council Member and Trustee of the Royal College of Surgeons, and a Council Member and Fellow of the Faculty of Sport & Exercise Medicine. Mr McDermott is also the Honorary Secretary of the UK Meniscal Study Group.
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