Exercise at the Gym Won't Fix This

When you have Forward Head Posture (FHP) your neck literally doesn't work right. FHP and loss of the normal curve (lordosis) go together all the time. Losing the curve means the muscles don't work properly.

Going to the gym and pumping iron (which I do encourage people to after their spine has been corrected) simply won't fix the problem.

The reason is that you have postural muscles. Going to the gym only helps with phasic muscles. What's the difference?

Postural muscles cannot be controlled by thinking about them. Phasic muscles are can. In other words- you can choose to flex your arm (biceps) but you can't choose to wiggle one of your backbones.

Our program is specifically designed to work with your postural muscles.

Dangerous Posture

Do you know the most common presentation of an injured spine? It is called Forward Head Posture (FHP).

It is where the weight of the skull is in front of the balance points in the neck, back, or pelvis. It causes serious compromise to your health.

According to research from University of Southern California it causes gut problems, lung problems, pain sensitivity problems, and overall poor spine function.

Shealy Institute says posture regulates EVERY physical and mental function of the body including; pulse, blood pressure, breathing, and mood.

The thing people seem to have a hard time with is that FHP can cause little pain until it is really advanced.

Most patients presenting in my office have over an inch of FHP and some have had over 3 inches. That is severe and is obviously much more difficult to work with.

The secret to optimum health is to stay proactive. And remember, everything of value takes maintenance- your house, your car, and your body.

Treated Like You Are Already Dead

So here is the challenge: adjustments restore function and are profoundly important for proper neurological balance but adjustments alone can’t change the structure of the spine.

Muscles react, under nerve-controlled reflexes, to applied forces. Adjusting a vertebra back into alignment and expecting it to stay (like most chiropractors) works great if the patient is already dead. No Reflexes!

Every living patient takes rehabilitation to change the structure of the spine. Our rehabilitation works with the muscle reflexes instead of against them. This allows you results that adjustments alone can't get.

Healthy Eating or Dieting?

Have you ever noticed that some people are always on a diet. They are either just finishing one, sufering through one, or just finishing one.

The problem is that diets are meant to be short term. But, eating is something we will do for the rest of our lives.

So ask yourself this- do you want to diet off and on with your weight going up and down like a yo-yo? Or would you rather learn how to eat to gain strength, vitality, and youth? The difference is the way we think about and perceive eating.

Instead of thinking about not getting to eat sugar and foods (I use that word lightly) that are like poison in our system- think about what you do get. You get to eat foods that taste good AND deliver strength and energy.

When the decision to eat better happens the changes become life-long because you are not on a diet. You simply eat better.

You will probably lose inches. But more importantly you will have a better quality of life with stregth, energy, and a youthful feel. That is worth it.

Get the Most of Your Joint Supplements

So what is the deal with supplements? Are glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate really any good? What about MSM? The answer is yes and no.

Let's get an understanding of the process first. I'll use MSM as an example (mostly becasue it is short and easy to type). MSM is a comound particle. In order to get where it needs to be and be effective it must be carried there. Guess what carries it? You got it- WATER.

So the first challenge is taking a good supplement but not getting enough water. The supplement would then appear to be ineffective. Hence, many people say they have tried MSM but it didn't work.

Try taking your joint supplements with at least 12 ounces of water. (More info- see my post about drinking enough water). Be done with chronic dehydration and you will see a difference in pain anyway.

Next, you have to understand something about a joint or a disc. THEY HAVE NO BLOOD FLOW. That's right- they are avascular. The only way they get rid of waste and bring in fresh nutrition is through movement.

And not just any movement- it must be specific to the joint involved. It fascilitates 2 processes- imbibition and osmosis. Imbibition is to simply take in fluid. Osmosis is the movement of water due to concentration gradients.

So the moral of the story is- water and movement or your joint supplements are useless!

Happy New Year Resolutions

So it's that time again. Most people make their resolutions and it takes about 8 days (national average) for them to vanish. Most people tend to make unattainable resolutions or resolutions that are not specific enough to be useful.

For someone who does not go to the gym to all of a sudden start going 5 days a week- probably not reasonable. Saying "I am going to get healthier" also not good. What does that mean? What does healthier look like? Is it a weight goal? A clothing size? Lowering cholesterol by X points?

Reasonable goal setting includes attainable and specific(measurable) goals. Some goals for the most common resolutions:

1. Spend more time with family.

Better: Spend 20 minutes per day with my spouse and kids with no TV, computer, or other distrations. (Sounds easy, right? Try it.)

2. Get in better shape.

Better: Go to the gym 2 days per week to lose 15 lbs and 2 inches from my waist by February 28. (specific and measurable)

3. Eat healthier.

Better: Eat a salad with at least 1 meal each day with a good salad dressing (no sugar).

The idea of setting smaller goals seems silly to most people. We all think we can accomplish huge changes. The truth is we can- but not so suddenly. Starting with a smaller reasonable goals with a deadline allows us to take measurable steps towards the bigger goals. It also allows us successes along the way that we can be proud of.

Understanding Brain Health

Did you know your nerves are these really cool message transport systems? They work in scales of thousandths of seconds (milliseconds). The brain is a trillion nerve cells working together.

Your brain (nerves) needs 3 things to stay healthy:
1. Oxygen- remember we can go weeks without food, days without water, but only minutes without oxygen.
2. Glucose- sugar is the brain's favorite food. There have even been some recent research articles that suggest the brain may be able to produce insulin. Talk about really wanting that sugar.
3. Activation- the old "use it or lose it" is really true. The coolest part is that 90% of the signals into the brain (activation of nerve pathways) comes from "midline"- eyes, nose, ears, and SPINE.

So how do you activate the most nerves? By doing the largest variety of things that you can. Do crossword puzzles, do picture puzzles, listen to music (new stuff, too not just familiar songs), and MOVE.

Move arms and legs and most importantly your backbone! Spend 8 minutes on a wobble chair daily. Do 3 minutes of neck traction. Make sure the joints of the neck are moving properly by getting adjusted. In the spine, the closer you get to the head the higher the concentration of nerve endings.

Not sure if your backbone is moving correctly? Call me or stop by.

Little Things That Make a Big Difference: Salt

I am going to share something VERY controversial. I use salt.

I like the taste and what it adds to my food. I am not woried about high blood pressure because of it. In fact- in my own "case study" it lowered my blood pressure from 140/90 to 117/75.

I do use a specific kind of salt- they are not all the same. It MUST BE electrolyte balanced, non-chemically tampered, unheated, unprocessed in any way other than literally grinding it to the desired size. There are only 2 that I know of that fit this requirement. One is RealSalt (available in my office) and the other is Himalayan Pink.

Not sure about this? After all we have all been thumped on repeatedly about the dangers of salt. Consider that in a hospital when they hook an IV into someone they don't use pure water. They use saline solution. Can we say SALT WATER?

Little Things That Make a Big Difference: Water

Did you know that your body is more than 70% water? The discs are as much as 90%! Water is so vital for every function in the body that it even has a rationing system for when we don't drink enough. The 1st system to dry up is the muscles and joints (musculoskeletal system). This means increased aches and pain. The next to suffer is the gut and digestive tract. Finally, the nervous system loses out resulting in headaches, dizziness, even coma and death. Think of the morning after a night of heavy drinking. A hangover is really dehydration in a massive way.

How much should you drink? Most adults need half the body's weight in ounces. So, if you weigh 160lbs- drink half that or 80 ounces of water- each day. Yes, you will be in the restroom a lot more but only at first. Within 2 or 3 days most people get used to the increase and the peeing slows down.

Unfortunately, coffee, tea, and soda don't count towards your water. They actually make it worse. There are some "green" drinks that can help in a big way. That gets us into a discussion of pH and that is another post.

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