Fitness | - Part 4

July 24, 2012July 25, 2012

What Stress is Doing to Your Health

A stress is any stimulus that requires your body to respond or adapt. Although in certain situations stress can be good (resulting in improved focus and performance) living with chronic stress can lead to a multitude of health problems ranging from anxiety and depression to cancer and heart disease. Today we are succumbing to stress at an accelerated rate- not just because we have more of it- but also because we can handle so much less.

There are three types of stresses: environmental, physical and emotional. When your body perceives a stress, your nervous system responds. Known as the“fight or flight” response, the sympathetic nervous system becomes stimulated-resulting in increased heart rate, increased blood flow to the extremities, increased blood pressure and better vision. Stress hormones, such as adrenalin and cortisol are released by the adrenal glands, all of which prepare the body to fight or flee the danger by increasing muscle strength, stamina and heightening the senses. Continue reading “What Stress is Doing to Your Health”

July 13, 2012July 13, 2012

How to Maintain Your Adjustment

The end goal of chiropractic care (at least in our office) is to retrain the spine to maintain its proper position so that the body can naturally heal and adapt to any problems that may occur in everyday life. This is why when you first begin chiropractic care, you will likely have to visit on a fairly frequent basis, but over time, your visits should occur less often and adjustments will likely be quite minor. This is a good thing. It means that your spine is, in fact, learning to retain its proper shape and position.

However, like any healthcare initiatives, caring for your adjustment is not just your chiropractor’s job. The patient needs to take responsibility and do what they can to maintain the adjustments they receive. Doing so will help expedite the spine’s retraining process, but it’s also just good practice for your body. After all, a backbone and spinal cord that are in the proper position provide optimal performance for your entire body, enabling you to live a healthy, happy, pain-free and productive lifestyle.

So what can you do to help maintain a chiropractic adjustment? Continue reading “How to Maintain Your Adjustment”

May 1, 2012June 20, 2012

Improve Your Golf Game with Chiropractic

Every spring and summer, patients are wondering how they can improve their golf game for the season. One word…Chiropractic. Golfers, by the nature of the game, develop asymmetrical conditions and therefore can benefit from chiropractic care. Such care can specifically help to restore balance and lay the foundation for high-level athletic performance.

Regular chiropractic adjustments can improve your game on many levels. The repetitive nature of the swing makes it critical that the muscles are at ease and the joints of the spine can be moving smoothly. Yes, eliminating low back pain helps the golf game, for sure, but improved bio-mechanical function of the body takes the game to the next level and helps shave strokes off your score.

Professional and amateur golfers turn to chiropractic care as one of the best strategies for maintaining health on and off the course and achieving the best possible performance. Household names including Tiger Woods, David Duval, and Padraig Harrington are just a few of the professional golfers who rely upon chiropractors. Lets find out why. Continue reading “Improve Your Golf Game with Chiropractic”

April 26, 2012April 27, 2012

Why You Want a Strong Core

Your core – the muscles around your abdomen and pelvis – is a pivotal area of the body to keep in shape. Why? Because the core is a key player in whole-body health, pure and simple. Think of your core muscles as the sturdy central link in a chain connecting your upper and lower body.

Not to mention, most physical activities depend on stable core muscles, which, in turn, promote balance and stability. Without a stable core, your low back, hips, pelvis and abdomen are more prone to dysfunction and injury. Unfortunately, a typical day for most people includes sitting in the car on the way to work, sitting at a desk all day at work, sitting in front of the television at night, and then laying down to go to sleep.

When you become more sedentary, you inherently become less flexible. Your muscles shorten and become weak from inactivity, making you prone to injury. In addition, weak or inflexible core muscles can impair how well your arms and legs function (remember it’s your central link). This will in turn drain power from many of the moves you make. Properly building up your core makes all of your daily movements easier. A strong core also enhances balance and stability. Thus, it can help prevent falls and injuries during sports or other activities. In fact, a strong, flexible core underpins almost everything you do: Continue reading “Why You Want a Strong Core”

January 17, 2012January 18, 2012

Conquering Osteoporosis Naturally

The medical literature defines osteoporosis as a disease characterized by abnormalities in the amount and architectural arrangement of bone tissue that leads to impaired skeletal strength and an undue susceptibility to fractures. Wow. Let’s try that again in plain English: Osteoporosis means “porous bone.”

If you look at healthy bone under a microscope, you will see that it kind of looks like a honeycomb. If you have osteoporosis, the holes and spaces in the honeycomb are much bigger than they are in healthy bone. This means your bones have lost density or mass, which in turn means they have become weaker. Osteoporosis complications (fractures) affect 1.8 million people each year and account for roughly 40 million dollars in health care costs each day.

Shocking Fact II: Osteoporosis is under your control– it is a LIFESTYLE DISEASE. Sure, there may be a familial tendency, but that just means that if you live your life the same way as your family before you has, you will probably get the same diseases. People often fail to realize the degree of control you have over your health. If you have a genetic disposition to any type of life-threatening condition, fearlessly take the proactive steps to reduce the chance that it will affect your life and live your life to the fullest. With that in mind, here are the 4 steps to defy your heredity and ensure you have strong healthy bones throughout your life: Continue reading “Conquering Osteoporosis Naturally”