A brilliantly warm summer continues - the wind & rain all but faded from memory! Too hot & humid to rush around in the city so everything slows down several notches. Together with the ongoing feast of tennis & football I'd say everything has pretty much ground to a halt....

I love the fact that everyone sets up in the street to watch matches & every so often a great roar goes up. It's fun, relaxed & brings everybody together. Also amazing to watch all those athletes & see how fit they are. After the epic Wimbledon match, my ears pricked up - how were those players going to recover before the third gruelling day of play? By having a full body massage! We know about physios, coaches & trainers but to hear massage being one of the roads to recovery was music to my ears. Top athletes know that both before & after sport, massage helps increase circulation to the muscles & drain the excess lactic acid. This helps keep their bodies in good condition & prevent the stiffness that inevitably follows exertion. The flipside to pushing yourself to the limit is how much pressure their bodies are under & the number of injuries that accumulate over time.

Most of us will never be in that category but prevention is always better than cure. Keeping muscles healthy on a regular basis prevents injury later on. You feel better & move better, not to mention escaping expensive bills further down the line or even having to take time off.

But maybe you find your feet swell in the heat, as if you're wearing a pair of invisible socks or your skin fees too tight? Then it could be down to fluid retention. A good tip is rest up when you can, literally feet up, keep moving at other times & do your best to keep cool. Not always easy so a spritz of cooled floral water - I like chamomile - is excellent. Sprayed over feet & ankles from time to time it not only feels refreshing but works. An MLD treatment would work well for you, helping to stimulate lymph flow & drain the tissues of fluid. MLD also works a treat during pregnancy, when legs can feel particularly tight.

The summer is really a wonderful time to not only get fit but take care of ourselves!