Total Back Newsletter

July 2011 Newsletter

HOW TO CARRY A BACKPACK

Watching students carrying their backpacks on a college campus can be a chiropractor’s nightmare, for much damage is in process to young backs that will show up years later in multiple back problems. “A lot of people are wearing their backpacks too heavy, which is harming their backs and their health,” said Allison Gross, a chiropractor at the EnCana Wellness Center at Mount Royal College in Calgary, Alberta.

And Jim Krumpak, a chiropractor in Youngstown, Ohio, said heavy book bags could cause eventual disc injury, bone spurs, thinning of discs and nerve irritation. He said backpacks should be about 15 percent of a person’s body weight.

At Youngstown State University, a survey of 50 students showed that students carry book bags that weigh anywhere from five to 30 pounds. “Heavy book bags can certainly affect young adults. Most studies have focused on high school students, but they can also apply to college students,” Krumpak said.

The biggest backpack sins include carrying the bag on one shoulder, failing to use the waist strap and letting it rest too far down the back, Gross said, suggesting the following tips: On the 15-percent-of-body-weight rule, “closer to 10 percent is better,” she advised. Use a backpack that has shoulder straps that are at least two inches wide and padded. Always use both shoulder straps.

“If your bag is slung over one shoulder, even with a light weight, it’s unhealthy for the spine.” — The top of the backpack should be at shoulder level and the bottom no lower than the top of your hips. Use the waist straps to make sure the backpack fits snugly against your back.

May 2011 Newsletter

AN EDUCATION IN EXERCISE
Get The Most Out Of Your Workout

Lesson 1
Before starting an exercise program, you and your health professional need to understand what your immediate goals are. Are you trying to lose weight? Increase strength? Train for a particular sport? Do you have any swelling? Pain? Weakness? Are your joints stiff? Once you know what you want to accomplish, it’s a lot easier to figure out where to start. Research shows that immediate results usually motivate people to continue what they are doing. If your goal is to decrease joint stiffness through stretching, but then you decide to start with strengthening exercises that don’t address the stiffness you could lose motivation. If you’re trying to lose weight, but don’t do any fat-burning exercises, you won’t get the results you want (certainly not in the time frame you want). Always remember to have short-term goals and work from there.

Lesson 2
Exercise should consist of three clear phases. Begin with five to 10 minutes of warm-ups. Keep in mind that a “warm-up” is not the same thing as stretching. Warming up means doing low-intensity range-of-motion exercises that increase your body temperature. This increase in body temperature heats up the joints and muscles, preparing them to handle the rigors of exercise. Warm-ups can include such things as simply walking back and forth, moving the arms and legs in pain free ranges of motion, or a slow and steady ride on a bicycle. It’s really just about getting your body moving and getting heat to your muscles.

The second phase is the exercise itself. It can be strengthening, aerobic training, strength training, etc. The third phase is a cool-down phase, which can include stretching since the muscles are warmed up enough to be stretched. Never stretch a cold muscle. Research shows that overstretching in the beginning without a proper warm-up can actually cause further injury.

Lesson 3
The type of exercise is just as important as the three exercise phases. Try to incorporate different types of programs, such as strengthening, strength training, balance training, and aerobic conditioning. Each of these affects the joints and body in different ways. By using all of them, you’ll be able to make better gains in your health.

Most guidelines recommend 20 to 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per day. However, if you are not able to do this, then break it up into five minute bouts of exercise several times a day. Research suggests that doing smaller bouts of exercise throughout the day is just as beneficial as one continuous session.

Source: to your Health –By: Jasper Sidhu, BSc, DC

April 2011 Newsletter

WALKING SPEED PREDICTS LIFE EXPECTANCY

As we age, many of us find that our walking speed gets slower. Most of us assume that it’s inevitable. It’s not. Researchers compared natural walking speed and life expectancy and came to some startling conclusion.

They combined the results of nine different studies and followed 34,000 participants for up to 21 years. Each participant was age 65 or older, with an average age of 73 years. Their natural walking speed, from a standing start, was measured and timed for short distances.

The result of the studies: Those who naturally have an above average walking speed will generally also have a longer-than-average life expectancy. Researchers were able to correlate current age with walking speed and predict the likely survival ages. For those participants age 75 and older, the information was especially on target.

Additionally, researchers realized that the information was valuable enough to be used as a standard assessment, such as blood pressure, heart rate, weight and general mobility tests.

That’s not to say you should intentionally start walking faster. Your body picks it’s own natural speed. However, it wouldn’t hurt to have your doctor do a test to see how fast you normally walk. It can be done easily in a hallway of the doctor’s office by a nurse or practitioner.

If you walk slower than average, your doctor could look for the reasons why, as walking speed is an indication of the overall state of your health. If a problem is identified and then remedied, your normal walking speed may increase – which will put you in a category of those who have a longer life expectancy and better body functioning.

Wear your sneakers to the doctor’s office!

Source: SENIOR NEWS LINE –By: Matilda Charles

March 2011 Newsletter

8 GREAT EXERCISE TIPS

1. HAVE A PLAN
Consistent exercise requires focus, and focus requires a plan. Outline your workouts by day, week and month so when you hit the gym, you know what to do.

2. DON’T OVERDO IT
In the real world, you’re not competing on “The Biggest Loser.” Work out for five hours a day and you’ll end up burned out, injured or both. Try 45 minutes, 3-4 times a week.

3. FIGHT TEMPTATION
We’re talking about the inevitable temptation to skip a workout. When you’re having a “bad day,” stay strong and get to the gym. Skip out and you’ll regret it; make it happen and you’ll feel great afterward.

4. SCHEDULE BREAKS
Many people are afraid to stop working out once they start, but you need time to refresh yourself and allow your body to do the same. Schedule a consistent break (3-4 days or an entire week) every few months and then start right up again.

5. BE CREATIVE
Your body and mind get bored after a certain amount of time doing the same thing. Mix things up every so often, whether it’s trying a few new exercises, changing the time of day you work out, or even changing up the setting (e.g., running outside versus on the treadmill).

6. RECRUIT SUPPORT
When it comes to exercise, some people can fly solo, and that’s great; but for others, they need a friend or spouse to help keep them on track. If you can’t do it alone, don’t be afraid to ask for help.

7. LESS IS MORE
Unless your goal is to look like a body-builder, you can put the heavy weights down. Body-weight, resistance bands and balls, and other basic equipment can get the job done just fine.

8. STAY POSITIVE
This is the most difficult tip to stay true to, but it’s also the most important. Every day isn’t sunshine and roses; that’s true in life and in your exercise routine. Some days or weeks, you won’t feel as if you’re making any progress. That’s the time to stay positive, fight through it and remember why you decided to start exercising in the first place.

Source: To Your Health

February 2011 Newsletter

HOW TO AVOID INJURY AND PAIN
By Marc Heller, DC

What are the high-risk times and events for your lower back? Why can you get into more trouble doing something as simple as picking up a loaf of bread from the trunk of the car, rather than doing something more challenging? What simple steps can you take to avoid injury and pain? Let’s get the answers to these questions and more.

TWO CRITICAL MOMENTS
When it comes to your lower back and injury risk, there are two critical times when you need to be especially careful. One is first thing in the morning. Your back is actually swollen at that time. You are substantially taller, and the discs have extra fluid in them. A careless forward bend or twist first thing in the morning can do substantial damage to your discs or other back structures. It doesn’t seem fair that such a simple thing, bending and twisting, something you have done thousands of times before, can suddenly cause big problems.

The other critical time is after you have been sitting. Long car drives or airplane trips are especially challenging. In this case, the culprit is something called “creep.” This means that your ligaments and tendons lengthen into the position that you have been in. Think of sitting in a bent-forward position, as your legs are forward. The ligaments and tendons do not provide protection properly when they have been lengthened by creep. When you first get up from sitting, you are at risk. The longer you have been sitting, the higher the risk. If you sit more upright, with good lumbar support, you will have somewhat less risk.

HOW TO AVOID INJURY AND PAIN
Don’t bend over immediately after sitting. Sitting, even in good posture, puts you at risk. The longer you end up sitting and the worse the seat is, the more at risk you are. Airlines are very risky; it’s hard to get up and move around because of the tight quarters, and the minute the plane stops, you bend over and get stuff from under the seat, or reach up and twist and lift to get your bag from the overhead compartment. After a long sit, give yourself at least a few seconds of backward bending and/or moving around to reset your spine. Then you can carefully, using your hips rather than your back, bend over to pick up something.

When you sit, don’t slump. Slumping reinforces the risks, making it more likely for something bad to happen to your discs or joints or muscles. So sit up straight and keep your back in neutral. Neutral means that you keep a bit of a lordosis (inward curve) in your lower back, keep the lumbar spine from slumping forward, stay more upright. This simple action can make a huge difference. Like any habit, this will require you to “Just Do It” for a few weeks.

Talk to your doctor about these and other high-risk moments for your lower back, and what you can do to relieve low back pain or avoid the pain altogether.

Source: To Your Health –By: Marc Heller, DC

January 2011 Newsletter

HEALTH & FITNESS MYTHS
By Dr. David Ryan

These days, there’s plenty of inaccurate information out there about health and fitness, and unfortunately, the average person can’t distinguish myth from truth. The infomercial “gurus” aren’t about to help you out, but we will. Let’s dispel some of the more common health and fitness myths.

I) THE LONGER YOU EXERCISE,THE BETTER YOUR RESULTS
Many people think that the longer they exercise, the more weight they will lose. The reality is that in most cases, the more you exercise, the more you stimulate your body to burn fat. That’s good, but it also increases production of a hormone called cortisol, which often causes your body to store more fat as fuel for the next time you work out. The key to optimizing weight loss is to exercise for approximately 45 minutes per session. If you want to exercise more during a day, that’s ok, but divide up your workouts so you only work out for 45 minutes at a time. (For example, work out for 45 minutes in the morning and 45 minutes at night.) That’s what the pros do to lose weight fast.

2) NO PAIN NO GAIN
So, what’s the general rule? If you have any pain that is sharp, stabbing, or causes numbness, talk to your doctor immediately. If you have pain that lasts longer than two days and is dull or aching, talk to your doctor. That said, most pain can be controlled while you exercise; if you keep that pain level below 50 percent of what you think is the worst pain possible, you are likely not hurting yourself.

That’s important because inactivity doesn’t usually help; most chronic conditions are made worse if you don’t stimulate circulation in the affected area. For example, a major cause of chronic lower back pain is poor circulation; chiropractic manipulation and simple exercises help provide and restore normal function and circulation to the affected area. If you don’t use it, you will lose it.

3) YOU DON’T NEED TO BE AFRAID OF A LITTLE CORN SYRUP
Is corn syrup safe? The American Society Nephrology’s 42nd annual meeting featured a paper that suggests high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) has a direct effect on hypertension (high blood pressure). In addition, there seems to be a link between obesity and HFCS. A study from the University of Colorado Denver Health Sciences Center reviewed 4,528 adults with no history of hypertension who were 74 grams of HFCS per day (about 2.5 soft drinks per day). In all cases, blood pressure increased, mostly due to weight gain. It is getting so bad that the University of Florida has proposed a “Fructose Index” to better assess the risk of carbohydrates and their relationship to obesity.

The biggest problem is related to the way the body absorbs and stores the sugars from HFCS. Most sugars require insulin, but HFCS is passively absorbed as soon as it enters the digestive tract. If you are not burning energy at a high rate, your body instantly starts converting the HFCS to fat, bypassing the liver in the fat production process. Table sugar (sucrose) is made up of glucose (normal blood sugar) and fructose; for years it has been the content of fructose that many experts have pointed to as a concern. So, in this case you should be afraid of a little corn. In fact, run away from it, keep your children away from it and us naturally occurring sweeteners instead. (This isn’t an easy task, I know; next time you’re in the grocery store, read some labels and see how many foods contain corn syrup / high-fructose corn syrup.)

Source: To Your Health –By: David Ryan, BS, DC

December 2010 Newsletter

WHY ARE THE FEET SO IMPORTANT?
By Kevin Wong, DC

Have you thought about the important role your feet play in your daily life? On face value, your feet touch the ground whenever you’re standing, walking or running, and they are extensions of the legs, which help move you. But your feet are much more than that. After all, they are the foundation of your body, which means keeping your feet healthy can help keep you healthy.

RELEVANT FOOT ANATOMY: THE THREE ARCHES
Foot anatomy plays an important role in foot function. For example, do you know now many arches each foot has? If you answered one, you answered like 95 percent of people do – incorectly. Each foot actually has three arches: one on the inside of the foot, one on the outside and one across the ball of the foot. These arches are all important and must all be functioning properly to facilitate healthy movement and weight-bearing.

FACTORS THAT AFFECT YOUR FEET (FOR BETTER OR WORSE)
Genetics: You cannot outrun your genes. Flat feet or excessively pronating feet run in families. Parents pass it on to their children. If one parent has flat or collapsed arches, their children will have it also to some degree. If both parents have over pronated feet, their kids will usually over pronate as well.

Surfaces: Concrete and stone are the worst surfaces for the feet. Generally, the harder the surface, the more stress on the arches and the faster they will collapse. Dirt, rubber tracks, carpeting and grass are all softer surfaces that offer some cushion to the feet and help to reduce strain and shock.

Shoe Types: If you look inside almost every shoe, sandal, flip-flop, boot, etc., you will notice that there may be some inner arch support. Hardly any shoe has outer arch support or support for the arch under the ball of the foot. For this reason, looking for “good” shoes is often a myth. I suggest that you take your shoes into your pediatrist’s or chiropractor’s office so they can look at them for you. It is too difficult to list the “good shoes” for you because the best brand or type for you varies based on your feet and your lifestyle.

PUT YOUR BEST FOOT FORWARD
Good foot and arch health doesn’t just happen; one person might be more inclined to develop foot problems than another, but the fact is, with the amount of time we spend on our feet and their role in our lives, it’s really just a matter of time. My message is simple: “I cannot tell you how bad your feet will get in the future if you don’t bother helping yourself now but if you’re already in pain and decide not to do anything about it, I guarantee things will only get worse with time. This is not to scare you, but to emphasize how important your feet are and teach you to look at your feet in a different way than you may have before.

We spend much of our lives taking our feet for granted – if we are lucky. If we’re not, we suffer one or more of the painful, often debilitating conditions that can affect the feet. That’s why your feet are so important and why you need to take care of them. Talk to your doctor about the importance of foot health and what you can do to ensure the lifelong stability of your foundation – your feet.

Source: To Your Health –By: Kevin Wong, DC

November 2010 Newsletter

RUNNING ON EMPTY
By Dr. Perry Nickelston

Are you running on empty? Is your life spiraling into one prolonged episode of fatigue? There are many factors that can contribute to fatigue, including stress, poor eating habits, altered sleeping patterns, poor breathing, lack of exercise, too much exercise, and sometimes an underlying health condition. Most of the time, fatigue can be traced to one or more of your daily habits or routines. More than likely, you already know what’s causing your fatigue; you’re just not doing enough about it. Let’s take a closer look at some of the most powerful changes you can make today to fight fatigue.

FIND A REST STOP
Whatever happened to getting eight hours of uninterrupted sleep? When was the last time you actually hit that goal? Almost never, right? That’s a shame because adequate sleep is one of the most effective ways to help your body recover and regenerate from the stressors of life. It is paramount to do whatever you can to get eight hours of sleep a night.

REV YOUR ENGINE
Exercise is a fantastic way to combat fatigue and increase energy while becoming healthy. The key is to not exercise so much that you end up sending your body into a state of overtraining and more fatigue. More is not better with exercise; better is better. It is recommended that you exercise 20-45 minutes three to four days per week. You must allow sufficient time for your body to recover from intensive workouts, so adequate rest is crucial if you want to achieve optimal results. If you overdo it, your body will let you know with fatigue and/or injury.

SCHEDULE MAINTENANCE
Simply put, don’t put off until tomorrow anything that you can do today, whether it’s changing your car’s oil, going to the grocery store or doing any of the daily tasks that get put off again… and again. Get organized and make a plan of action to complete tasks. Procrastination leads to mental stress and anxiety. It’s the dread of anticipation that will take it out of you every time. To minimize the risk of perpetual procrastination, make a list of the “Top 5 Things to Do Before Noon” each day. Whatever task you want to do the least should be at the top of the list. Get these tasks over and done with before midday, and you won’t spend the day worrying and stressing about getting them done. Then you can start on your To Do List for the remainder of the day.

FUEL UP
Eating frequently helps to maintain normal blood sugar levels, preventing energy crashes. If you wait too long between feedings, your insulin levels spike, causing your body to go on a hormonal roller-coaster ride. You will feel surges of energy followed by sudden crashes with tiredness, fatigue and lethargy. It is very difficult to maintain a normal state of energy with big swings in metabolic hormones.

Try consuming three regular meals and two snacks per day, waiting no longer than three hours between meals. Never skip breakfast. Breakfast sets the tone for the day in terms of your metabolism. Combine macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates and fats) each time you eat. Limit simple carbohydrates such as juice drinks, bread, pasta and crackers (especially the refined variety), and processed foods, as these are known to cause mood swings from blood sugar changes. Combining macronutrients normalizes the glycemic index effects of foods on your blood sugar levels. This index traces how much blood sugar spikes in relationship to the foods you eat. The lower the glycemic index number, the better for your body. Finally eat more protein and fibrous carbohydrates to reduce digestive fatigue on the body.

Source: To Your Health –By: Dr. Perry Nickelston

October 2010 Newsletter

Sleep Soundly
By Kevin Wong, DC

1) Your Mattress
Most people buy a new mattress when their old one “wears out,” meaning that it’s tattered, torn, excessively stained and/or otherwise unappealing to sleep on. Generally, it is not a good idea to keep a mattress longer than 10-15 years due to the wear and tear you put it through. Depending on the quality, it may last longer or shorter. Going to a store and lying on a mattress for a few minutes is not enough time to make a decision on something you will have to lie on every night for years to come. You need to test it out in a real sleep environment to make sure you can experience rejuvenating sleep. After all, why pay good money to end up tossing and turning every night?

Choose a mattress that has a trial period so that if you do not like it, you can return it and get another. Most good mattresses come with trial periods of anywhere from 90 days to up to five years, depending on where you buy them. Do not buy a mattress if you have no ability to return it. They cost far too much money to have buyer’s remorse later.

Again, in terms of which specific mattress type/style to choose, it really boils down to how it makes you feel/sleep. Some people prefer a firm mattress, while others like a softer mattress. As long as it adequately supports your head, neck and back during sleep (meaning you don’t sink into it excessively or don’t hurt the next day from lying on something that feels like your hard floor), it’s what makes you sleep well that matters most.

2) Sleeping Position
Okay, so you’ve picked out your “perfect” mattress; now how do you sleep on it? From a health perspective, the best position for sleep is on your back with a pillow under your knees. The pillow should be comfortable for you and help take pressure off the small of your back. The second-best position is on your side with a pillow between your knees. The pillow between the knees must be thick enough to keep your thighs hip-width apart. On your side also means you need a supportive pillow (I’ll explain what kind of pillow in just a minute).

The most undesirable position for sleeping is on your stomach. This is because you need to turn your head to either side in order to breathe, which can cause neck pain. Often I notice that people who sleep on their stomachs also throw one or both arms over their head, which can lead to pain in the shoulders as well. Please try to avoid this position, as it is not healthy for your body.

3) Your Pillow
Think about how you like to sleep before you choose your pillow. People who sleep on their back need a thinner pillow than those who sleep on their side. There are so many pillows to choose from, but my best advice to you is to take your current pillow to your chiropractor and let them analyze it for you.

Your head should not be lifted so high that it cranes your neck. While on your side, your pillow should cradle your neck so that your spine forms a 90-degree angle with a line through the shoulders. Don’t be fooled! Just because you have an orthopedic or fancy memory foam pillow doesn’t mean it is right for you. In fact, it could be one of the causes of your sleep problems. Again, let your doctor evaluate your pillow and discuss the best option to maximize your sleep.

Source: To Your Health –By: Kevin Wong, DC

August 2010 Newsletter

Get Up and Get Moving
Big Benefits Of Physical Activity
By Drs. Ronald Klatz and Robert Goldman

1) Help Your Heart
While a routine program of physical exercise has been shown to reduce the risk of premature death in people with coronary artery disease, Richard V. Milani, from the Ochsner Clinic Foundation, and colleagues investigated how psychosocial stress influences the effects of exercise training. The team followed 522 cardiac patients, including 53 who had high stress levels and 27 control patients who had high stress levels but did not engage in cardiac rehabilitation. The study subjects were offered 12 weeks of exercise classes consisting of 10 minutes of warm-up, 30 to 40 minutes of aerobic exercise (walking, rowing, jogging, or similar), and then a 10-minute cool down stretch.

The classes were given three times a week and subjects were also asked to engage in one to three exercise sessions a week on their own. The researchers found that the subjects who became physically fitter during the study period (by exercising) were 60 percent less likely to die in the following six years. Exercise also helped reduce stress levels from one in 10 patients to fewer than one in 20 patients, which lowered the overall death rate for stressed subjects by an impressive 20 percent. Now that’s a great way to lower your stress and increase your life span at the same time!
Source: Richard V. Milani, Carl J. Lavie. “Reducing Psychosocial Stress: A Novel Mechanism of Improving Survival From Exercise Training.” American Journal of Medicine, October 2009.

2) Build Strong Bones
Wolfgang Kemmler, from Freidrich-Alexander University (Germany), and colleagues analyzed data on 246 older women enrolled in the Senior Fitness and Prevention Study. The researchers found that women who exercised had higher bone density in their spine and hip, and also had a 66 percent reduced rate of falls. Fractures due to falls were twice as common in control subject vs. the exercise group. The authors’ conclusion: “Compared with a general wellness program, our 18-month exercise program significantly improved [bone mineral density] and fall risk.”
Source: Wolfgang Kemmler W, et al. “Exercise Effects on Bone Mineral Density, Falls, Coronary Risk Factors, and Health Care Costs in Older Women: The Randomized Controlled Senior Fitness and Prevention (SEFIP) Study.” Archives of Internal Medicine, January 2010.

3) Grow Brain Cells
In that a number of previous studies have suggested regular exercise improves brain health, David J. Creer, from the National Institute on Aging, and colleagues studied the underlying mechanisms dictating how exercise improves information processing. The researchers prompted adult mice to use running wheels, finding that doing so increased their number of brain cells and enabled them to perform better at spatial learning tests compared to mice that did not exercise) The exercising mice were better able to tell the difference between the locations of two adjacent identical stimuli, an ability that the team found to be closely linked to an increase in new brain cell growth in the hippocampus portion of the brain.
Source: Creer DJ, et al. “Running Enhances Spatial Pattern Separation in Mine.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Jan. 19, 2010.

Source: To Your Health –By: Drs. Ronald Klatz and Robert Goldman

June 2010 Newsletter

1) Dynamic Warm-Ups
How can you possibly expect to get maximum results if you don’t establish a base foundation and get your body ready to perform? The purpose of a dynamic warm-up is to prepare your body for your workout. It’s value comes from taking your body through all the planes of functional human movement, including bending, twisting and rotating.
Example dynamic warm-up exercises: Squat-to-stand movements (10 reps), lateral lunges (10 reps), and reverse lunges with twist and overhead reach (five reps each side).

2) Interval Training
What’s the best-kept secret when it comes to intense workouts? Studies have shown that about five minutes of high-intensity exercise, consisting of eight rounds of 20 seconds of exercise per round followed by 20 seconds off for recovery, is superior to 60 minutes of continuous cardio. Read that one more time so it sinks in! An important thing to remember when implementing this into your program is to never substitute duration for intensity. When working only a short period of time, you must ensure that your exercise form is perfect on each repetition.

3) Timed Workouts
This is a similar concept to interval training, except the “bursts” of exercise are a bit longer and you’re generally doing only one particular exercise at a time, rather than performing a whole-body workout all at once. The purpose is essentially the same: to maximize the benefits of a resistance training program by creating maximum metabolic disturbance. That means you burn up body fat keeping your heart rate constantly elevated while training. Your metabolism never reaches an equilibrium set-point due to the alteration in timing.

4) Super-Set Training Using Your Body-Weight
Intensify your weight training by adding “super sets” of body-weight training to truly engage your muscles. Super-setting is a technique in which you take an exercise targeted for a specific muscle group and immediately perform a similar exercise with no rest. With this technique, you don’t use weights or machines for the second exercise. This is a time-efficient, intensive way to maximize strength and lean muscle development. Best of all, you can use this principle for any workout.
Example exercise, Chest Combination: flat-bench dumbbell presses (15 repetitions), super-setted with wide-grip push-ups (25 repetitions). Back combination: machine pull downs (15 repetitions), super-setted with body-weight pull-ups (maximum number of repetitions you can perform).

5) Recovery and Regeneration
Working out breaks your muscles down; in order for them to heal properly, you must give your body adequate time and opportunity to rest. Without appropriate recovery time, you risk overtraining, which can lead to injury and lethargy. Moreover, too much exercise limits your progress and your body becomes catabolic, meaning it begins to degenerate. Eventual loss of lean muscle mass and bone density occurs. How can your body thrive when you do not allow proper healing? No amount of exercise will positively affect your body if you are in a state of overtraining. Serious weight training creates microtrauma; tiny tears and strains in your muscles and connective tissues. To ensure that you are not damaging your body, it is recommended to weight train no more than three times in a seven-day period.” Incorporate regeneration programs such as active isolated rope stretching and myofascial foam rolling techniques on rest days for accelerated recovery.

Source: to your Health –By: Perry Nickelson, DC

May 2010 Newsletter

Eat to look young!
A healthier approach to growing old is to exercise and eat right. And eating right is even more important than previously presumed. New research shows that a diet rich in certain nutrients may prevent and reverse skin aging more effectively than expensive treatments. A study of more than 4,000 women found a strong correlation between aging skin and poor dietary habits, such as getting too few vitamins. Stock up on the following foods to help your skin stay smooth, supple, and young—no matter your age.

Berries, particularly raspberries, cranberries, and strawberries, are excellent sources of ellagic acid, an antioxidant that helps protect skin against sun damage. Although UV radiation can cause melanoma, sun exposure also leads to fine lines, discoloration, and age spots. According to research from Korea, ellagic acid protects skin against UV damage by blocking the production of MMP, or matrix metalloproteinase—enzymes that destroy collagen. Ellagic acid has also been shown to reduce inflammation, which hinders skin’s elasticity and can cause redness, puffiness, blistering, and fine lines. All berries are rich in polyphenols, powerful antioxidants that protect the skin from free-radical damage, says Tara Gidus, RD, of Orlando, Florida.
How much to eat: Consume a variety of berries throughout the week, aiming to eat a 1/2 cup or more per day.

White tea is sky-high in anti-oxidants, fights cancer, boosts heart health, and protects skin. Scientists in London discovered that white tea blocked enzymes that break down collagen and elastin—a protein that makes skin elastic and prevents sagging—better than 23 other herbs and plant extracts. “Because white tea is the least processed of all teas, it has a higher level of antioxidants,” says Pittsburgh’s Rita Singer, RD. White, red, black, and green teas are also high in polyphenols, she adds.
How much to drink: Singer recommends at least 2 cups of white tea daily, but some studies suggests sipping as many as 4 to 6 cups a day for optimum benefits.

Spinach has one of the most impressive nutritional profiles of any vegetable, with more than 80 distinct nutrients. One cup of fresh spinach provides almost 200 percent of your daily vitamin K, which inhibits calcification, says Cees Vermeer, PhD, a biochemistry professor at the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands. Not only can calcification cause hardening of the arteries, it also limits skin elasticity, leading to wrinkles. Because the body cannot store vitamin K for long periods of time or in large doses, benefits are best obtained through food. Spinach, along with other dark, leafy greens, is also a rich source of skin-enriching vitamins A, C, and E.
How much to eat: Gidus recommends one cup of spinach at least three times weekly. Vitamin K is fat soluble, so eat your greens with a little olive oil to help absorb the nutrient.

Source: Natural Solutions –By: Wendy McMillian

April 2010 Newsletter

Running is one of the best forms of aerobic conditioning for your heart and lungs. It can significantly increase your metabolic rate and the amount of calories you burn, leading to loss of excess body fat. Those who run regularly are also less likely to experience bone and muscle loss due to the body’s positive response to additional physical demands.

Pay attention to your shoes:
Shoes wear out after 300 to 500 miles. You often can’t see the wear, but, your knees, hips and back will feel it. Visit a running specialty store for quality shoes and talk to your doctor for suggestions on the best shoes to get. Not just any shoe will do.

Run on different surfaces:
See how many different surfaces you can run on in a month: asphalt, gravel, trail, grass, track, treadmill and beach. Each stresses your leg muscles in a slightly different way, helping to prevent overuse injuries. (If possible, avoid concrete, the hardest and most harmful surface for runners.)

Keep a training journal:
A journal can be a great way to maintain motivation and consistency. Keep it filled with running times, routines, motivational quotes and how your body reacts to various routines. You should have a documented road map for reaching your running goals.

Introduce high-intensity interval training into your running routine:
Alternate, pace, speed, tempo and rest periods during a single running session. For example, keep a steady pace for a mile and then sprint for 30 seconds. Do this for several cycles and notice how your heart rate and muscle fatigue threshold increase by your efforts.

So, now that you know more information than the “average Joe” about running, it’s time to take that first step toward a healthier you. Every great journey starts with a single step; now just put one foot in front of the other to see how far this new journey takes you. I have a feeling you will discover a passion for the open road you never know existed. Welcome to the wonderful world of running.

Source: to your Health –By: Perry Nickelson, DC

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